While it may not be the Oscars, a group of Abbotsford filmmakers got their moment in the spotlight recently as they took home the Best Picture award at the Young Moviemakers gala.
This annual program gives B.C. students between the ages of five and 18 the opportunity to bring their very own films to life.
The courses take them through the processes of script writing, acting, editing, and everything else needed to become a bona fide filmmaker.
Dozens of short films are submitted each year, with the winners for Best Picture and Best Performance announced at the red carpet awards gala at the beginning of the following year.
At the 2026 awards gala, it was a group of Abbotsford filmmakers who got to take the stage and accept the Best Picture award for their project titled Ring of the Nerds.
Asher Loewen, Beau Winship, Grayson Weismiller, Dowon Koo, Doyle Koo, and staff director Jun Hyung Kim brought this short film to life, which follows the story of two kids getting bullied before fighting back with the help of a magic ring that turns them invisible.
Coming in just under four minutes, this video features more than just Abbotsford talent, with local locations like the Abbotsford Recreation Centre also being heavily included throughout the film.
Loewen, who plays one of the two kids being relentlessly bullied, said his most memorable moment of the film was doing the slow-motion chase scene through the rec centre.
The lead bully role was portrayed by Weismiller, who inherited his passion for acting from his family, with his uncle being Johnny Weissmuller, who played the original Tarzan from 1932 to 1948.
Young Moviemakers co-founder Levente Mihalik said he is incredibly proud of all the hard work the young aspiring filmmakers put into these projects each year, and he has high hopes for what the future of this program holds.
“The longer this goes, the less we do, and the more lives it changes and affects,” said Mihalik.
A number of Young Moviemakers alumni have gone on to have illustrious careers in Hollywood, including Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Peter Bundic and Virgin River’s Grayson Gurnsey.