They came, they saw, and they shot a movie on location in Belize and now 16 graduates from Grover Cleveland High in Los Angeles are back home tonight after spending three weeks filming in Belize. The California kids worked with Youth for the Future's Governance Unit on the yet to be named short film. 7NEWS was there for the orientation, we joined them on location, and yesterday we were invited to the farewell as the youths headed back to L.A. They say the movie will only be about 20 minutes, but the experiences they gained will be last much longer.
Tanya Ezrol, Los Angeles
"We have just about finished the movie. We have one small scene to do in L.A. but basically its all done. So we have all the filming done here.
It was really amazing because we came together so well. As you can see everybody is behind me so sad to be leaving each other. But it was also a lot of work. I don't think of us knew making a movie would be this much work."
Linda Blease, Movie's Director - Belize
"It was very fun shooting with these guys. We learnt from each other and it was really fun. We had our little ups and downs but besides the mosquitoes and everything it was cool, straight."
Felix Yung, Movie's Director - Los Angeles
"The mosquitoes were bad, look at my feet. The mosquitoes were one of the worst problems ever."
Linda Blease,
"They were amazed by many of the things that we have and stuff like having rice and beans in a burritos which we are not used to. It was like a whole hour-long conversation about us having only chicken in our burrito and they having rice and beans in theirs. The cultures are so much the same but yet so different. Its like really cool. They enjoyed themselves and so did we."
Lydia Salazar, Los Angeles
"It was great. It was something I didn't think I was going experience. I thought I was going to get like home sick but the people really kept everything together, everybody was like united, everyone stayed strong and went on with making the film."
Paul Morgan, Belize
"Well it was fun because we saw them making the movie and its like we were in but we were out at the same time. We saw from the directors and all the posts going from top to bottom. We had to film the fun moments and the sad moments and when anyone argued and all that stuff but it was good."
Keith Swift,
What will you take from this?
Ryan Longsworth, Belize
"For one its easier for me to work with these guys now. It was weird because first when these guys got here the Americans and the Belizeans were like segregated. But now it's like a big family, its not American or Belizean anymore, it's the crew. I will always remember them like one family. Its going to hurt when these guys leave."
Some of their Belizean counterparts will join them in Los Angeles later this week to begin editing. The movie will be out later this year.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift