After weeks of seeking dates, filming videos and finding outfits, students will converge on The Grand 1401 in downtown Fresno for the 18th annual Night of the Stars (NOTS) winter formal, Feb. 18.

Each class will recreate a popular movie, utilizing the plot, rewriting the script, directing and acting, filming and finally editing the film for viewing.

This year’s NOTS theme is A Night in Paris, featuring an evening filled with student-produced movies, a three-course dinner and a juice bar which served a variation of mixed drinks. Doors open at 5 p.m. for photos by Milne Photography.

The first NOTS event happened when Christopher Schultz, ’91, former FC athletic director and current FCS board member, was campus student body president. The students always wanted a formal but it was hard to get approval for a dance from the seven churches which sponsored the school. So Schultz and former P.E. teacher and leadership adviser Eunee McEntee grew the idea of an Academy Awards Night after student-created movies were shown; it has been a school function ever since.

“Movies have always captured our imagination,” Schultz said. “And the movie making production is such an amazing enterprise of talent and cooperation and effort. From planning to filming to editing, students continue to love the process of making a film that their fellows peers can view and enjoy.”

The event was actually hatched a year earlier when Schultz was a junior and member of student leadership in 1990. The leadership class attended a leadership camp at Mt. Hermon, in the hills above Santa Cruz, Calif. Leadership adviser Doug Green was open to new ideas for winter formal. It was after they expressed frustration of not being allowed to host a dance that they came up with the idea. And after a brainstorming session, NOTS was born.

“I love the collaboration that it takes to make a film and then the opportunity for people to view the movies and be rewarded for their efforts,” Schultz said. “It has been a vital experience for students for the past 20 years and I hope it continues for the next 20.”

While NOTS has not taken place every year since (1994-’96), student leaders have made the event a tradition that students often hear about while still in junior high.

While the senior class is expecting to win the 2012 NOTS Best Picture with a recreation of ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’, it is the freshman who are creating a stir with their trailer and spoof of The Blind Side.

While parents do not attend the NOTS event, they are welcome to view all the films earlier in the day. On the morning of Night of the Stars, Feb. 18, parents may come and watch each class’s movie made for the night’s event in the Music Suite. The showing will start at 9 a.m. with bagels, juice and coffee provided.

Following the showing of the movies, awards are handed out for categories, such as, Best Actor, Actress, Film, etc. In addition to these categories, we also present the Parents Choice Award; the award for the best movie as decided by the parents. Parents and the FC community are invited to attend the viewing of all four movies, followed by a voting session. Seating is limited so please be prompt.

For more information on last year and a slideshow on the event, check out Night of the Stars (NOTS), 2011 (123 PHOTOS) or Roaring ’20s-themed NOTS continues annual tradition (VIDEO).

For more information on the student leadership class, contact the current adviser Robert Foshee.