2015 2016 peregrine issue 3 by ThePeregrineOnline

Jersey Village High School 7600 Solomon Houston, Texas 77040

Gold Duster Colonel represents high school

Peregrine The

Volume 44 Issue 3 February 2016

Famous Alumnus

Music, video director advises JVTV

Gerardo Garcia Staff Reporter Lights, judges, mats, 500 dance directors, and 200 girls competing stood before Caitlyn Tellez, senior, at the All State Regional Dance Championship. “There were a lot of people there, and I got to know some of the girls especially the other Cy-Fair ISD kids. We eventually got to do the performance, and a lot of what I saw was the lights, and a lot of heads. It was kind of cool just to be dancing with that many girls in front of judges and 500 directors,” Tellez said. This was Tellez’s eighth year of dance and first year being the Colonel for the Gold Duster Dance team. Last year she was the junior lieutenant. The colonel is required to go to the All State Regional Dance Championships. Tellez represented JV at the dance competition alongside 199 girls, who represented their own schools. “Caitlyn is a great student and leader. She is dedicated and motivated and talented in many aspects. This is my fourth year with her, and I am very proud of her,” Courtney Nelson, Gold Duster director, said. Tellez devotes most of her time to Gold Dusters, but mainly to dance in general. She is not only busy being colonel of the school’s dance team, but she is always dancing, if she is not dancing with the Gold Dusters then it’s for her own pleasure. “We used to dance in the same dance studio when we were little and that’s where we met. Then, we saw each other again when we got to high school. Caitlyn is a great leader and I loved having her as officer,” Cynthia Garcia, senior said. Tellez has formed friendships that have lasted outside and inside of school because of her devotion to dance. “We have been friends since freshman year, because we had the same dance class. She is always dancing, even outside of school,” Breanna Wagner, senior, said. As a Gold Duster Tellez has practice almost every day and it has kept her grounded all through high school. “Gold Dusters has given me a large group of friends, 45 other girls that I am best friends with. We are own community,” Tellez said.

ALWAYS DANCING. Performing together at the Annual Christmas Choir Concert Caitlin Tellez, senior,and Deana Harris, junior, show their love for dance. Photo by Lauren Middleton

SPECIALIZE, SPECIALIZE, SPECIALIZE. As Joseph Kahn, 1990 alumnus, film, video and music director shares his story of success with JVTV students, he offers them a different perspective on pursing careers in the film industry. Kahn was recently awarded a 2016 Best Music Video Grammy for Bad Blood with Taylor Swift. Photo by Christine Le

Christine Le Contributing Writer Returning to his high school for a session with the Jersey Village TV (JVTV) broadcast students, Joseph Kahn, 1990 alum and film, video and music director shared his story of success on Friday morning. Kahn carries the distinction as being named by Buzzfeed as the most important music video director of the modern era. “The only thing I could really do that allowed me to imagine but didn’t require using my hands, was cameras. It wasn’t about how the cameras work, it was about the pictures that I could see in my head. It’s like being able to arrange things without having to touch it. That’s what it came down to, it was the one art form that I could do where you could be smart but not too smart, and you didn’t have to touch but you could be artistic,” Kahn said. Kahn found his passion for filmmaking at an early age through an odd realization. Throughout his high school experience, Kahn came to the understanding that he would have never reached the academic standard that was set and what was expected from his parents. As an artist, the first aspiration was to become a comic book artist, but that was laid to rest because of his overly sweaty hands. With the passion that developed at that early age came a success that has included working with top music artists, including Taylor Swift, Brittney Spears, U2, Janet Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child, Chris Brown, and many more as well as the making of two feature films, Torque and Detention.

“While everyone else is believing in themselves, I’m working for 10 hours a day. If you want to be the best, you have to have insane levels of dedication,” Kahn said. “The industry is not as smart as me,” he added. Kahn returned to the school to talk to the JVTV students at the invitation of Cindy Stoker, JVTV teacher. He was in town filming and Stoker took a chance and sent him a text message to ask if he had time to come talk to her students. “He talked about getting a specialization in the industry and I think that cleared up my mind on what to do because I didn’t know if I needed to go after one certain job or just generalize, but now that he said specialize, I know to find one thing and be the best at it,” George Rosales, junior, said. Kahn gave advice from his point of view of the industry to JVTV students that gave them a different perspective on pursuing careers in the film industry. “This industry is so competitive, but from an inside perspective, awards don’t mean anything. I’ve won many awards but I swear not a single award has changed my view on anything. The only thing I care about is if I’m getting better as an artist,” Kahn said. With Kahn’s in-depth advice from 26 years of experience in the industry, JVTV students took his pieces of wisdom into consideration to better their skill and to further their passions for film. “I would like to follow in Joseph’s steps in some ways, where I can come with ideas and collaborate with whatever clientele I am working with and not have many restrictions,” Edwin Chavez, senior, said.