SALT LAKE CITY — In his senior year of high school, Tommy Pepper thought his future was set. He was a predetermined business major — until he picked up a camera. That's when everything changed. He helped write, pitch, produce, premiere, and secure funding for his film "Happy Thoughts" through a program called Pitchnic through the nonprofit Spy Hop.
"'Happy Thoughts' is about an 18-year-old Vietnamese American boy, and his family, going through the traumas and aftermath of suicide, and being able to kind of go through tragedy, and being able to come down, and back up with your family," Pepper explained.
Most film students don't see a full production opportunity till late college. Pepper lived it as a teenager thanks to Spy Hop's Pitchnic.
"The industry is becoming harder and harder and more difficult, so to be able to have a space where youth art is celebrated, it really motivates me and helped me find my voice as a director early on," Pepper said.
Pitchnic is just one program inside a bigger mission. Spy Hop is a youth media arts nonprofit that has programs in film, music, audio and design for those ages 8-25 — all free of charge.
"We try to remove as many [barriers] as we can, so location is one thing — the proximity of having TRAX, the bus stop right at our center, that it's free for our young people and trying to make young people understand this is for them," said Spy Hop executive director Larissa Trout.
The organization also creates a great student experience through allowing participants access to professional equipment, and with peer mentors like Sorrel Howard, who now helps students in the audio program.
"I really love recording other bands. Other youth come into the studio with their garage bands, and they get an almost professional recording," Howard said.
As for Pepper, he's continuing to submit "Happy Thoughts" to film festivals and already writing his next project: a Vietnamese nail salon TV show he plans to produce and direct. And when that future big moment comes?
"I'm going to name-drop Spy Hop, John Nelson, the whole crew," he said.
You can learn more about Spy Hop, their programs, and their upcoming summer camp at spyhop.org.
