ADVERTISEMENTSkip

................................................................

Katie then meets a boy named Arin, who used to be a girl. They are now in a romantic relationship and have found it easy to bond over their similar life-changing experience.

Clark tackled the film to dispel any misconceptions about transgender people.

“I wanted to show that Katie is a human being with feelings,” he says. “No matter who a person is, or what they have done, they are still a human being.”

Clark says he followed Katie around for nearly nine months while he was living in Tulsa, Okla. After all that time, he had a lot of footage – but about four hours of usable footage.

“The hardest part was trying to edit down the film to meet the requirements,” he says. “I also wanted to tell a complete story.”

While Clark picked up the accolades, he’s very humble when speaking about the film.

“All I’m doing is telling a story,” he says. “This documentary was all about Katie and her life. I think these are small steps into helping make the world a better place.”

Clark says the documentary is a narrative and also features some animation to tell Katie’s backstory as Luke.

“I’m reworking a lot of the movie to make it more professional,” he says. “You can see the animation is rough and some of the shots aren’t color corrected. I’m my biggest critic and plan to have the piece finished in August 2014.”

Clark will launch a Kickstarter campaign in the coming weeks and will use the funds to enhance the film’s music, editing and animation and to cover future festival and distribution costs.

Though Clark is proud of his work, he admits to being worried about tackling a documentary with sensitive subject matter.

Raised in Tulsa, Okla., Clark says there are many people in his community who aren’t open-minded.

“It was relieving to win,” he says. “It’s nice to know that people accept the subject matter. There was some fear of backlash to the documentary. But I’ve seen this 10-minute film have a profound effect on people. This is why I make films.”

“Losing Luke” isn’t Clark’s first documentary. In fact, he graduated from Jenks High School in Tulsa, where he focused a lot of his studies in film.

Having never traveled to Santa Fe, Clark was impressed by the film program at SFUAD and decided to make the move.

“It’s been a great transition for me,” he says. “I’ve been able to come in and find great teachers and students that are so talented.”

While Clark continues to work on perfecting “Losing Luke,” he’s got nearly 10 projects he’s working on with other people.

“The root for me taking an interest in film was when I would watch ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Star Wars’ while I was growing up,” he says. “These films showed me the power of film and I desperately wanted to tell those stories.”

Clark plans on continuing to make films with a message and wants to change the world with his films.

“The stories I want to tell are needed,” he says. “I’m going to use any medium it takes to get them made. It may sound corny but I want to harmonize humanity.”

SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email film@ABQjournal.com. Follow me on Twitter @agomezART.