About our Studio
We are an up and coming Production Company based in Amherst, Massachusetts that is trying to make great movies… and oh yeah, we’re kids. Riverwolf Productions was founded by Joshua Wolfsun and its first film premiered in May 2008. Less than a year later, in February 2009, Riverwolf's second film, The Paper premiered, and was accepted into a national film festival. Also in February 2009, Riverwolf Productions premiered Student News, its first television show. Student News currently airs once a month on Amherst Community Television, Hadley TV-5 and Frontier Community Access Television, and is entering a third season this fall. Most recently, in April 2010 Riverwolf Productions premiered a pilot episode for a half-hour youth sketch comedy show, Lights Up From Youth in the Valley, which is returning for a second season, airing once every two months, this fall. Riverwolf's third film, "The Bard" will be premiering in October 2010. We work with a very low budget, and very limited equipment, but we want to make and produce great television and film - that's what we've done and that's what we're going to keep doing. This is just the beginning…
ANNOUNCING:
In 1593, two playwrights ruled the stage in London, Christopher Marlowe (Alec Nelson) and William Shakespeare (Jaimison Bust). On May 30, history recorded that four men met together in a Deptford lodging house. At the end of that night, one great playwright was dead. Lost to history, however, there was one more man in the room. In Riverwolf Productions' third film "The Bard," you get history, drama and murder most foul. The Bard will be premiering publicly on October 22nd at the UMass Renaissance Center.
Television
Riverwolf Productions' first TV show, Student News, premiered on February 2, 2009. This half-hour show airs on Amherst Community Television, Channel 12, Hadley Community Television, and on demand through the ACTV website. New episodes come out approximately once a month and are repeated frequently over the weeks that follow. The mission of Student News is to provide a free speech zone for young people and a forum for news that affects youth, reported by youth.
Riverwolf Productions' second TV show, Lights Up From Youth in the Valley, is a clean, yet edgy exploration of life in the Valley through the eyes of teens, and is entirely student-written, produced, acted, and edited. It premiered in April 2010, and is returning for a second season this fall. Lights Up is sketch comedy that showcases youth at their most funny, incisive, smart, classy, and satirical. With a full cast of youth, Lights Up will aim to always be funny, mostly mining humor from everyday life, school, community, and the foibles of youth, parents, teachers, school administrators and politicians. By turns silly, sweet, or shot through with social commentary, the show’s good-natured ribbing of adults, teens, schools, the show itself, and the country at large is intended to entertain through humor.
Film Updates
Riverwolf Productions premiered its second film, The Paper (written and directed by Joshua Wolfsun), on November 20, 2008, to cast and crew and their families. It premiered publicly at the YouthFilm Festival, in Northampton, Massachusetts on February 21, 2009. The Paper also was accepted into the KIDS FIRST! Film and Video Festival, where, from April 15 to July 15, 2009, along with 74 others, it was screened at film festivals across the United States.
Links of Interest
Below we have some links that we think are interesting and good to check out for anyone who's interested in what we do.
ACTV - ACTV (Amherst Community Television) runs the three local access channels in Amherst, Massachusetts. A great partnership has emerged between Riverwolf Productions & ACTV, and they have been extremely helpful, especially with Lights Up and Student News.
Student News on Facebook - If you are a Facebook user, become a fan of Student News you can follow it in your news feed! Lots of links and information, as well as regular updates, are posted to the show's Facebook page.
ACLU (MA Chapter) - Features a Student' Rights web page with links to fact sheets and other information on students' rights, including free speech rights and the right of students to be provided with a safe school environment that is conducive to learning.
Student Press Law Center (SPLC) - SPLC is an advocate for student free-press rights and provides information, advice and legal assistance at no charge to students and the educators who work with them.
Building Harmonies - Building Harmonies is a youth-led program started by Amherst middle schoolers in March 2006 to provide opportunities for local youth performers, artists and writers to work together to support and organize arounnd social justice issues.
Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (Rethink) - Rethink is a group of students (who call themselves Rethinkers) in New Orleans who are bringing youth voice into community-wide dialogue on rebuilding the schools after Hurricane Katrina. They believe that no one deserves a voice on rebuilding New Orleans schools more than the students who go to these places every single day. Rethinkers first visited Amherst in 2006 as part of a Building Harmonies (see above) benefit concert, and they provide Student News with periodic updates on their progress.
Hampshire Shakespeare Company - The Hampshire Shakespeare Company puts on quality productions of Shakespeare plays every summer. This past summer, the Young Company put on Twelfth Night, and the Mainstage featured Henry IV, Part I and Twelfth Night.
Bubble Trubble the Movie - This full-length independent movie was shot in the summer of 2007. It is directed by Sonia Arrubla, and Joshua Wolfsun acted in it along with Luisa Levine and Yoshi Fields. Bubble Trubble is due to come out in 2010.
