A feature-length sci-fi film that started as a senior-year passion project at Ballard High School screens at the Majestic Bay Theatre on Thursday, June 18.

James Brammer, a 2022 Ballard High graduate, wrote, directed, and produced A Storm of Syndicates with more than 20 classmates from the school's Digital Filmmaking Program. He began the project at age 17. The film follows a young recruit forced to choose between loyalty and conscience after his syndicate is accused of staging a covert strike.

The screening runs 9 to 10:30 p.m. at 2044 N.W. Market St. and includes a Q&A with cast and crew. RSVPs are available through Infinia Productions, the Seattle-based company Brammer founded after graduation.

The June 18 showing follows the film's world premiere at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood on April 11. It has since earned official selections at the Catalina Film Festival, Berlin Sci-Fi FilmFest, Naples International Film Festival, and Wales International Film Festival, according to Brammer's production company.

The production was shot entirely on location in Washington state, including Eastern Washington, Lopez Island, and the Georgetown Steam Plant. Cinematographer Nash Pearson, another BHS student, collaborated with Brammer during filming.

The Ballard High School PTSA provided financial support for the production in 2022, and the crew coordinated with the Seattle Office of Film, Seattle City Light, and the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission.

Four years of post-production followed while the filmmakers attended college. Brammer enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Composer Timothy Shortell, whose credits include work for HBO, Marvel, and Sony Pictures according to a press release, scored the film, with portions performed by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra in Hungary.

Steven Bradford, who has led the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program since 2019, guided the student crew. Bradford holds an MFA in Film Producing and previously ran the studio at Seattle Film Institute for a decade.

"I don't have to light a fire to get the students going; you have to rein them in," Bradford said in a profile on the school's program page. "I'm so impressed with the level of work they want to do."

The program, founded in 2001, has produced hundreds of regional, national, and international festival winners. Alumni Jesse Harris ('04) and Kyle Seago ('07) co-founded the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, now the world's largest youth film festival.

Brammer himself won a National Student Emmy in February 2021 while still enrolled at BHS.