Cedar Springs — By the time he graduated from Cedar Springs High School, senior Ian VanderLugt had already crossed a major item off his professional to-do list: He wrote and directed a feature film, and debuted it to a packed house at a local theater.
In early May, during a free screening event at Kent Theatre, the student-director premiered “Trick Your Neighbor,” an hourlong film about a contentious family inheritance, which he’d been laboring over throughout his senior year.
About 200 people — including friends, family and members of the Cedar Springs school community — attended the premiere, which Ian said was a rousing success.
The production process wasn’t without its challenges, though, and there were times when Ian didn’t think he’d be able to pull it all off.
“It was very tricky, and I lost a lot of sleep,” Ian said. “So many roadblocks.”
He spent months writing and rewriting the film, and he said he only just managed to wrap everything up in time for the screening. He was still tinkering with the project just hours before the premiere.
“I even re-recorded voice-overs the night before,” Ian said, adding that he finished editing the film about an hour before the screening.
But it was all worth it to see his name on the big screen, next to the word “director,” Ian said.
During the premiere, Ian hosted a brief Q&A with attendees, posed for photos and mingled with the cast and viewers.
Next, Ian hopes to take the film on the festival circuit. He said representatives from Grand Rapids Film Festival caught a piece about the premiere on WOODTV and invited Ian to submit “Trick Your Neighbor.”
In the fall, Ian will be attending Grand Rapids Community College, and he’s considering transferring to a four-year university to continue studying film.
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