Leapyear Studios to celebrate film school opening in Braintree building Friday

Mansfield will officially open its first film school ― Leapyear Studios ― Friday afternoon with a ribbon cutting on the third floor of the Braintree building on East Fifth Street.

Classes at the new film school, operated by producer/editor Jennifer Enskat and cinematographer Andy Gardner, officially begin Monday.

This week Enskat said their goal is to bridge the gap between traditional film school education and the industry expectation for new hires and interns.

"They (traditional film school) teach storytelling, theory and cinematography, in general. They do teach some fundamentals but not the specifics of equipment, jargon and the production process that someone needs to know to effectively work at a production company, and the focus in school isn't on that," she said.

"We know this because every new hire we work with, we have to teach them what the gear is called, how it works. They simply don't know. They've gone to film school for four years and barely touched some of the gear," she added.

Enskat said that's not where Leapyear Studios stopping.

"That is what gave us the idea for the school in the first place. The Ohio Arts Council has recognized this gap is an established need statewide and they gave us a very generous grant because of that, which has been matched, to pay our teachers. We call them teachers but they don't really work as teachers normally, these are all people who work in the business," she said.

Will teach problem solving like it's done on actual shoots

"This is their day job." Enskat said. "They will be alongside us working to teach the students the various crew positions and problem solving the way it's done on actual shoots."

For starters, Leapyear Studios has classes for beginning filmmakers, those people who are really curious about what goes on behind the camera. One is for adults, where people can go to LeapyearStudios.org and sign up. This class will be taught round-robin style with students getting a chance to work each crew position as they make a short film, meeting one weekday evening and Saturday afternoons for three weeks.

The other class is for high schoolers, ages 14 to 18, at Richland Academy, with whom Leapyear Studios is partnering. Interested students can contact Richland Academy directly to sign up.

"Over the course of eight weeks (at Richland Academy) we will make a short film from pre-production to final edit," Enskat said. "It is a comedy about ghostbusters and should be a lot of fun. The students will all have the opportunity to try all the crew jobs and learn the jargon while using professional equipment." This class starts Oct. 13.

Yet another example is a class, "Set Ready Crew Intensive" which runs Oct. 9-12 from 1 to 4 p.m. and is for people who may be film school grads or self-taught independent filmmakers who are ready to look for a job in the business, she said. That class will be taught at Leapyear Studios at the Braintree site by Gardner and two guest artist teachers who have worked for years in the business in various capacities on films, television shows and commercials. The students will work with the gear from a two-ton grip truck and will also take part in a field trip to watch a professional crew in action the following week on a television show.

Leapyear Studios is partnering with Wayne Center of the Arts in Wooster to offer an introductory workshop that shows how to create a project from preproduction to final edit as part of introducing a film program at that location. This workshop will be 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 18 in Wooster at WCA.

The local nonprofit also offers scholarships to students. "Community outreach is important to us. Students can apply for a scholarship on our website," Enskat said.

The sense of community is natural for Enskat. Her late father, Bob Enskat, was the plant manager of the former Ontario General Motors from 1976 until he retired in 1989.

Actor, singer, producer, director Enskat returns to Mansfield

An actor all her life, Enskat's first job was for the children's TV show, "Romper Room," at age 4. Among her credits are professional theatrical productions, feature films and hundreds of national television commercials.

"Because of that we've had a number of inquiries if we are going to offer acting classes at Leapyear Studios," she said. "Not yet but maybe down the road. I still do acting jobs on occasion but I've shifted gears some to the production side now and I love it."

Enskat can now add film festival awards for her producing and editing to her resume.

As their company website indicates, Gardner has more than 30 years of experience behind the camera, with a long list of well-known clients and many accolades, including two Emmy Awards.

"Shifting my focus to teaching feels like a natural move,” he said, “I’ve always been that guy on set who took the recent film school grad under my wing to help them make the adjustment from the classroom to the real world. I plan for our program to create that bridge and I will bring in industry professionals from various disciplines to share their expertise, as well. Now I'm just shifting that to an actual school."

Because Enskat and Gardner continue to work in the business, the guest artists are especially important to teach classes, should they be scheduled out of town.

"Andy is going to D.C. in a couple weeks to film 'The Honor Flight,'" she said. "Last week he shot 'Cash Explosion' for the Ohio Lottery. We know we're in good hands with our guest artists."

Leapyear Studios' offerings

Leapyear Studio's client list is diverse, from corporate entities needing a short video or commercial; to indie directors with a screenplay they need produced; to a nonprofit wanting a documentary that not only involved the shoot itself but raising the funds to travel to a third world country for filming; to a local health care provider, wanting to partner for an addiction and recovery program.

"We relish the opportunity to work with varied people and companies both near and far. Many shoots have been near to our studio in Ohio but have also taken us to New York City, Illinois, Iowa, Jamaica, and Malawi," Enskat said.

"We can see prospective students are interested in the school because of our prior resumes in the business. In addition, some production companies have said they want to recommend our Set Read class to their new hires."

For more information about Leapyear's film projects and the school, go to Leapyearstudios.org

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Leapyear Studios partners with Richland Academy, Wayne Center of Arts