Campbell Woman Up For Cal Poly SLO Film Honor

CAMPBELL, CA -- Without even winning an award yet, Nikki Petkopoulos feels she has already hit the big time. The 23-year-old Campbell resident just graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with the best present of all. She's been nominated for the CSU Media Arts Award to be presented next month at the Digital Hollywood media conference in Los Angeles.

"It's an honor. I feel very humbled by the experience," she said. She's up against nominees from all over the state.

That's not bad for a college student who decided to take film as an elective in her last year as a senior. She graduated with a degree in journalism and currently works as an intern at a public relations firm in San Francisco.

Her 20-minute film called "Young American" chronicles the struggles of a biracial student who becomes a "sugar baby" to an older couple in a needy relationship between the three people. It's "loosely inspired" by varied stories that friends have shared about their escort experiences. She's also tapped into her own biracial background.

The winner will be announced at the Skirball Cultural Center on Oct. 16. The event features screenings, awards, panel discussions and what Petkopoulos is looking forward to the most -- networking opportunities in film. The award established in 1991 provides a chance for students to screen works for peers and industry professionals. The film buff plans to tweak the film somewhat and to find distribution channels.

"Ever since I was little, I considered theater and film (as a career)," she said, describing screenwriting as "the marriage between the two." Of course, there were parallel interests.

"I wanted to be a movie star," she said.

And as it turns out, she's artistic in other ways. She made comic books in the fourth grade.

--Image courtesy of Asian Croson