Last month, a group of Wilson High students strolled up Pine Avenue armed with camera equipment, a prompt and a time limit. Their task was to create a short documentary film based on the theme of “Through the Years,” and they had just eight hours to cultivate their documentary from start to finish.

The students, along with their digital media teacher Thourn Heng, scoured Long Beach’s Downtown district in search of inspiration. As they walked, they noticed a number of businesses that had closed down since the start of the pandemic, and their teacher pointed out just how much Pine had evolved over the past few decades.

Amid all that change, one stalwart business in particular caught their attention. The students decided to explore the recent history of the Johnny Rockets on Pine Avenue  just north of Broadway, and feature its employees in their award-winning documentary titled “Perseverance of a Little Burger Joint.”

Students Benjamin Tinsley, Kimberly Soto, Sopheary Yean and Aidan Pettyjohn submitted their film to the Crazy 8’s competition for the 2022 Student Television Network National Convention right here in Long Beach. The Bruins quartet was awarded second place in the short documentary category, which featured submissions from schools all across the country.

“When I found out we won second place I couldn’t believe it,” said Yean. “I didn’t think we would’ve placed that high in the competition, and knowing that we did makes me feel proud–not only for myself, but my classmates as well for putting all our hard work into it and giving it our all.”

Students from Wilson High School won second place in a documentary film competition after making a film about Johnny Rockets in Downtown Long Beach. Photo courtesy Wilson High School/Thourn Heng.

The group had modest expectations for this year’s competition, given that it was the first time a team from Wilson had ever entered. Furthermore, the other teams traveling to Long Beach arrived with larger groups of students and more high-end equipment. But that advantage didn’t stop the Bruins from earning an impressive runner-up finish.

“Going in we weren’t expecting to win anything,” admitted Tinsley. “We were kind of just expecting to get the scope of it. We came with our five-person team, but there were people there with probably 30 or 40 people representing their school. They had insane gear, and their teachers have been doing it for like 20 years.”

Even though Wilson hadn’t participated in the competition before, Tinsley did bring some filmmaking experience that he’s accrued during his high school career. He was the first freshman to win the Cherry Hill Film Festival, and he’s used his free time during high school to create his own short films. The junior said he has plans to attend film school and become either a director or cinematographer.

“Perseverance of a Little Burger Joint” opens with b-roll clips of Downtown Long Beach shot by Yean, with narration provided by Pettyjohn. Once the documentary focuses in on the Johnny Rockets location, multiple staff members are interviewed to share their experiences at the restaurant during the pandemic.

One of those interviews was conducted fully in Spanish, with Soto asking the questions and then providing English subtitles for viewers. The bilingual nature of the documentary helped show Long Beach’s diversity while also making the film stand out from the competition.

“We didn’t really think about making a bilingual documentary, but he just happened to be there and was the oldest staff member at the restaurant,” Soto explained. “We decided to include him to add some spice and show that Long Beach is more diverse than other places .. To be able to speak two languages, that helps a lot in the entertainment industry. So it was really nice getting to do something that I don’t normally do, like translating.”

Soto said she has plans to pursue a career as a writer, but hopes to participate in the competition next year, perhaps in a different category. She and Tinsley are both juniors, and could be right back at the Long Beach Convention Center for the 2023 competition.

Until then, the experience seems to have made a lasting impression on the students, who said they not only have a renewed excitement around filmmaking, but also have a new perspective on their community and the people in it.

“You might think that it’s just a normal person doing whatever, but you don’t realize that they could have this whole crazy story or background,” explained Tinsley. “It’s such an interesting and satisfying thing to hear their perspective. And it’s also nice for them to have a platform to tell their story, because they probably have never had a platform to tell it like that.”