For a young man only in high school, he has a very impressive resume. He has created two films, one with an Internet Movie Data Base page, and is currently working on two more films.  His special effects are beyond the average high school student’s ability.  With today’s modern technology, he is well ahead of the game.  He is Hawthorne High School senior student Gabriel Sung.

Sung developed an interest for filmmaking in 2009.  He was fascinated
by visual effects and posted several clips on Youtube.  “As I improved my skill,” Sung stated, “I began to provide visual effect and motion graphic work to other Youtubers—some burgeoning professionals in the music and entertainment industry.”

As Sung continued to learn about filmmaking, he also began to disagree with some of its aspects.  He particularly did not like the lack of story development in movies; it seemed as if filmmakers would sacrifice a good story line in exchange for mind boggling special effects.  He recalls watching movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and feeling the plot was terrible and confusing.  He thinks the filmmakers were just trying to show off the latest in special effects.  “I decided to take on film myself to hopefully change this mindset,” Sung said.

Sung, inspired by directors like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, plans to pursue a career in filmmaking.  He was mesmerized while watching movies by Peter Jackson such as The Lord of the Rings and District 9.  He stated, “The extraordinary crafted battle scenes in conjunction with a rich, powerful story moved me on a cinematic degree.”

He understands it is challenging to break into the film industry and realizes it may take time.  Sung stated, “I am content with directing numerous independent films for some time and focusing on delivering content through the Youtube medium.”

Sung has created two short films so far, Heaven and Earth and Tale of Warriors.  He entered Tale of Warriors into two film festivals, the Sundance Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival.  Slamdance granted Sung an IMDB page for the film.

His two latest projects are Task Force Z and Sentinel, both of which are short films.  Task Force Z is a short film with a different take on the classic horror/zombie film.  Sentinel is another short film about conflicts between humans and their super human counterparts.

Maybe one day Sung will have his name among the greats such as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.   Whatever Sung does in the future surely will make Hawthorne proud.