Ah, success stories. It’s great to be able to write about so many of our alumni who continue to make films after they leave the school. Both our One-Year Filmmaking Program and 5-Week Filmmaking Workshop turn out top-notch filmmakers who take the lessons learned at FilmSchoolSF and put them to practice on a wide variety of projects.

Filmmakers Heather Donnell and Chris R. Smith took the 5-Week Filmmaking Workshop way back in 2008. You may recall a previous post on their film “Shadow Angel” from October of last year. Here we are almost in 2011 and Chris and Heather have shot their 4th film together and show no signs of slowing down.

This fourth film is titled “On It” and was shot a couple weekends ago in Dogpatch. The film, first developed by Heather during the workshop, puts a boyfriend and girlfriend on the same crowded MUNI bus.

ON IT is about a relationship under pressure and the complications that get in the way of the couple’s attempts to communicate. Six months into their relationship, Craig and Angela each have something important to tell each other, but can they find the courage to say it? One bus ride changes the course of their relationship forever.

Of course, for a story set on a crowded bus, you actually need to shoot on a crowded bus. Ever resourceful, Chris and Heather rented an official San Francisco MUNI bus complete with driver and inspector, sourced a dozen or so extras and spent 5 hours doing gentle laps around Esprit Park in Dogpatch. The duo used the popular fund-raising platform, Kickstarter, to gather the nickles and dimes needed to pay for the bus rental. Within a short time they were able to raise 103% of the money needed – $4,280!

While the film is still in post-production, you can watch the great time-lapse video of the 5-hour shoot. “On It” was picked up by a few local blogs, too. Laughing Squid, SF Egoist and MUNIDiaries.

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