Ryan Harvey, a Sonoma State University Communications student who graduated in 2020, impresses viewers every year with his submissions to Campus Movie Festival. However, in late June he became the first Sonoma State student to place first in a national competition, winning the National Comedy Award at Terminus, the world’s largest film competition for students, with his film “Citrus Dawn”. Along with the title of best National Comedy, Ryan Harvey’s film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. 

“I was the general manager for Studio Blue at Sonoma State for two years and I was the digital producer/editor for Seawolf Living on campus. Citrus Dawn was my 5th film made for Campus Movie Fest. I participated all four years of college and won at the local level with all five films. My Junior year I created a film titled “Hotline Apocalypse”, which earned us national nominations for Best Directing, Best Production Design, and Best Comedy. Didn’t win anything, but getting nationally nominated was a big deal. That was the first time SSU had national finalist nominations, or so I’m told. That film also got picked up on Amazon Prime which was awesome. Coming off that we really wanted to up our game for Citrus Dawn,” Harvey told the STAR this week. 

Citrus Dawn takes place in an apocalyptic dystopia where scurvy runs rampant and the only hope for survival is for our main characters to find the stolen oranges that were taken after another character (Andy) “forgot” to lock the fruit storage shed. The story begins with our main characters, played by Karina Pugh and Christopher Goodman, heading off to fight the “scurvy boys’’ for their missing fruit. 

“I had worked with Ryan Harvey on a film for CMF the year before which was nominated nationally, but lost in the end. After that, we spent the summer brainstorming ideas and figuring out the logistics. In the film, I played Maxine, the experienced fighter who helps Andy to defeat the Scurvboys.” Pugh stated how she became involved in Harvey’s film. 

Christopher Goodman commented as well: “I played the lead, Andy, where he must embark on his quest to retrieve the stolen (and coveted) oranges. While I acted in the film, I helped Ryan develop the idea and provided insight on the script, and produced it. It was mainly Ryan’s brainchild, but we all played huge parts creating what it became.” 

As many know, creating a film can be incredibly taxing and time consuming, “The process felt very long but very worthwhile. We worked through January of 2019, mainly brainstorming the core concept of the film, and spent the subsequent Fall semester writing and producing the film. It was definitely the most effort we’ve put towards a project; we knew that if we wanted to go far in the competition, it required a lot of forethought and preparation,” Goodman commented. 

For any of those inspired by Ryan Harvery and who may be thinking about giving a go at CMF yourself, Harvey says, “Honestly CMF can be really intimidating. I almost didn’t participate my freshman year. People have been taking it pretty seriously at Sonoma State (which is awesome) but that should in no way dissuade anyone from entering. Even though it’s competitive, everyone is really friendly and willing to help. It’s a ton of fun and it’s unlikely that you’ll have a better opportunity to try filmmaking if you haven’t before. I’d say the best advice I can give is to plan ahead. Try to have a script and storyboard prepared before the production week. A lot of the time people think that because it’s a one-week festival that they can’t start in any capacity beforehand. That isn’t the case, and having your preparation done beforehand can really improve the quality of your final product.” 

Karina Pugh adds “I would encourage anyone to participate in CMF! You don’t need any experience, it’s free, and it’s a great bonding experience with your friends. It’s not about making an amazing film, it’s about having fun making it!”