(upbeat music) - Utah Education Network's Students and Focus Program is created for students by students, showcasing their amazing work.

The host of the program, Katie Neal, is here to tell us all about it.

Hi, Katie.

- Hi.

You're on the other end now.

(laughs) - I know.

I'm not usually here.

(laughs) - Yeah.

So why don't you start by telling us a little more about the whole program, and kind of why it was created?

- Yeah, so like you said, it's a show for students by students.

We just know that students are creating incredible work that deserves to be shared beyond the classroom.

- So I know what you do is, and you put some of those on UEN for people to see.

- Yeah, so we feature student films, and this could be documentaries or short films.

And then we also have student spotlights, where we actually recognize student producers and the films that they've made.

- All right.

Okay.

And I want you to like think of some films that you've aired that especially stand out for you.

- Yeah.

Oh my gosh, I've had so many.

I've actually made a couple, 'cause I'm a college student at Salt Lake Community College currently, so I've had a couple of my own documentaries on the show.

It's just topics and issues that are important to the students submitting, so it's completely up to them.

We've had, gosh, I've had one on like fast fashion, you know?

- [Mary] Yeah.

- I'm trying to think of others.

- [Mary] Kind of everything.

- Yeah.

- I'm sure you get the gamut of everything.

- Yeah.

It's a spectrum.

We accept films from the elementary to the college level, so we get all kinds of films.

- Wow.

Elementary school students are making films.

- Yeah.

- They're a lot more advanced than we were.

(laughs) - (laughs) Yeah, right?

- Yeah.

And so I know you also talk about kind of opportunities in the whole film world.

- Yeah.

So we also feature industry spotlights with professionals from the film industry, television, broadcasting.

And this ranges from directors, cinematographers.

One of my favorites was a producer on Napoleon Dynamite, Jerusha Hess.

She was really inspiring.

So just showing students what careers and opportunities are out there for them.

'Cause there's so many in film, and I feel like they usually think, "Oh, I'm gonna be a director and be a cinematographer."

But there's also production supervisors.

There's gaffers, editors, so.

- [Mary] Right.

- Yeah.

- Well, it's a great program, and I look forward to seeing some of those.

So thanks for being here.

- Yeah, thank you for having me.

- And if you'd like to know more about what's coming up and what UEN is doing with Students in Focus, go to uen.org/studentsinfocus.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact".

(upbeat music) - Local events, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

Here on Contact, we introduce you to local events and organizations that serve your neighborhood.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to appear on our show, please visit pbsutah.org/contact.