Collegiate Times

Leaton visited the orphanage with a 17-member mission team from his church, as well as his father and sister. There he filmed footage of the orphans and their lifestyle. Leaton feels that the children’s voices really come through in “Uganda.”

“I didn’t coach them on what to say. I just sat them down and asked them the basic question, ‘What brought you to Canaan?’” Leaton said. “They just had these beautiful stories to tell. I was so touched while conducting interviews with them.”

“Uganda” won Best Cinematography at the Progeny Film Festival in April 2006.

The full-length version of “Uganda” was shortened into a one-minute trailer. The trailer is Leaton’s favorite version of this film because he feels that it sums the purpose of the film up quickly.

Rachel Holloway, associate dean of undergraduate affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, was the communication department head when Leaton was a student at Tech. The “Uganda” trailer is her favorite of Leaton’s films.

“He captured so beautifully in video the work that was going on there. The thing that impressed me is he had to take what was a pretty long film and take it down for his competition piece,” Holloway said. “I think he did so much in that minute that it was really inspiring.”

The trailer won the biggest of Leaton’s awards. Leaton became the Grand Prize Winner of “Film Your Issue” in summer 2006. “Film Your Issue” is a national competition inviting all U.S. students ages 14 to 24 to make a one-minute film on any issue. The judges that year included President Barak Obama, George Clooney and the Dalai Lama to name a few.

Leaton then won the internship with Walt Disney Pictures in Los Angeles. It was Leaton’s first job in Hollywood.

“Everything was so new to me, so I was completely in awe with everything,” Leaton said. “My mentors there were some of the top executives. They were so good to me giving me hands on experience.”

Leaton said that it was a total dream come true. Some of his exciting experiences were being introduced to Johnny Depp on the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and dining with Roy Disney on board the Queen Mary.

During this internship, Leaton gained both connections and experience that would help him land future jobs after he finished college, because he already had his foot in the door of the film industry.

Scheeler spoke with Leaton after he won this award, telling him to get out to Hollywood and take advantage of the contacts he made while they were fresh.

Now that Leaton is working as an assistant editor for five different reality shows, Holloway is not surprised with what he has been able to accomplish.

“He is very passionate making film, and creating and sharing stories. So, he is doing something he absolutely loves,” Holloway said, “and I think he is a very self-directed, hard-working, ambitious young man.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Mar 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.