The glamour of the camera, the romantic mystique of showbiz, the stories that make us laugh and make us cry—it’s these traits that give the movie industry its notoriety. And although Hollywood is often the source for the latest and greatest of this continually-evolving industry, we really needn’t look farther than the halls of Liberty for what could be the next “big thing” in filmmaking. We have a movie-maker in our midst: senior Ash Herrild.
The story starts in Leavenworth in 2011, where a lot of the filming took place for “Switchmas,” a movie in which Herrild was acting.
“On the days I wasn’t called, I would walk down to the set and the director would let me watch the monitor with her in her tent. I got to see all the crazy things that went on behind the camera and I was hooked,” Herrild said.
Up to this point, Herrild had always wanted to be an actor, but he gradually came to realize that his true calling was in filmmaking.
“There was one time in particular that I told a girl she wasn’t delivering a line correctly, to which she responded, ‘You’re not the director.’ It was then that I had the amazing idea to actually become a director,” Herrild said.
It was with friend and film partner Bellevue High School junior Noah Davenport that Herrild started making movies in the seventh grade.
“At first, we mainly just made extremely low-quality videos we thought were funny,” Herrild said.
But, as Herrild will tell you, his filmmaking career has progressed significantly since then.
“Noah and I started writing and directing movies more seriously from then on, and I have had the honor of making videos for my community,” Herrild said.
Above all else, Herrild is most inspired by his work for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, a film festival for filmmakers 24-years-old and younger.
“I got to walk the red carpet and saw a film I wrote, directed, and starred in, called ‘Worst Case,’ play in a movie theater,” Herrild said.
For Herrild, filmmaking is more than just a career.
“Having this passion has made me a substantially better person. I’ve become someone who values expression and individuality,” Herrild said.
And where to go from here? Herrild has a few ideas of where he wants to take his work.
“I want to be a filmmaker for the rest of my life and I want to share my knowledge and experiences and feelings and thoughts and creations with the world,” Herrild said “I see myself becoming one of the greats.”