Building Heights provides educational and vocational programs in the film arts
for Cleveland Heights and University Heights students in grades 5-12.
We were founded in 2015 by a group of Cleveland Heights-University Heights parents supported through the CHUH PTA Council. Dedicated to facilitating a safe, inclusive, community-focused school environment for all CHUH students through outreach and programming, we partner with Cleveland Heights and University Heights businesses and nonprofits.
MISSION STATEMENT
Building Heights develops and teaches hands-on learning experiences through the art of film. Our programs create opportunities for students to explore their individual and collective creativity, learn foundational skills in all aspects of the film industry, while nurturing their imagination, confidence and maturity.
Our Founders
Jen Holland
Jen and her husband have lived in Cleveland Heights for 40+ years. They are proud parents of four children in CH-UH schools.
India Jordan-Messig
India is a married mother of three who has lived with her husband in Cleveland Heights for more than 30 years.
Lance Godard
Lance and his wife are the parents of a current Heights senior and a recent grad. They have lived in Cleveland Heights for more than 25 years.
Cliff Sweeney
Cliff lived in Cleveland Heights in middle school and recently returned to the Heights with his wife and their two children.
We’re committed to our community.
We create programs that help the youth of Cleveland Heights and University Heights – your kids and ours – discover their talents, learn new skills, and have positive experiences as they work together to create works of art.
Founders of Building Heights
Our Board of Directors
Jen Holland, Interim President
Jen has been actively involved in CHUH student enrichment for nearly 20 years and has served as the Roxboro PTA President, the Heights High PTA President, and the President for CHUH PTA Council Executive Board. In addition to being Interim President of the Board, she is the President of Building Heights.
India Jordan-Messig, Treasurer
For many years, India has been an active member of the PTA, serving on various committees, planning social events, and participating in fundraising. In addition, she served on the CH-UH district’s grading task force committee.
Lance Godard, Interim Vice-President
Lance has been involved in the district’s student enrichment programs for many years through PTAs in four CHUH buildings and Building Heights. A long-standing student of film, he first participated in amateur productions while in college. He studied film and film theory at the Sorbonne in grad school.
Cliff Sweeney, Secretary
A Creative Arts Teacher at Lake Erie Ink, Cliff has been Principal Instructor at Heights Middle School Shorts for three years and is excited to join the HMSS leadership team.
Amber Black
Amber is an independent Family Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care. She has worked as a volunteer with many organizations including College Now of Greater Cleveland- Metro, Neighborhood Leadership Institute.
Erika Hill
Erika Hill is the Executive Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) in partnership with Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and supports over 900 Northeast Ohio business owners who have graduated from the program.
Mariegabrielle James
Mariegabrielle is a Remy Cointreau Key Account Manager/Sales Specialist at the Republic National Distributing Company.
Mariegabrielle is a Heights alum, parent of students in the CHUH School District, as well as the immediate past President of the CHUH PTA Council for CHUH School District.
Shelbi Nelson
Shelbi is a Registered Nurse, actor and mom of three children. When she is not working, her hobbies include weekly movies with her family. Shelbi is a native of California and now resides with her husband in Cleveland Heights.
Kara White
The co-founder of Hemlock Films, Kara is an Emmy award-winning Director and Producer of multiple documentaries, short films, web videos, and commercials.
Sara Wolf
Sarah is a licensed social worker in the state of Ohio, who currently serves as the Community-Building Programs Manager at FutureHeights in Cleveland Heights. Sarah is a writer, activist, community-builder, and strength-based leader with 28 years of professional experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
Our Instructors
Cynthia Booker
Cynthia teaches digital video production at Cleveland Heights High School and brings our kids more than 20 years of media experience to the classroom as a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist who was an anchor/reporter at Cleveland’s WOIO-TV & WUAB-TV.
Antonio Harper
Antonio Harper is the founder of West 10G Productions. A Heights alum and graduate of Cleveland State University’s Film & Digital Media program, he was the Film Instructor for our inaugural Heights Middle School Shorts camp. In 2016, he founded West 10G Productions, a Cleveland-based independent film production studio. Currently, Antonio and his partner are in Los Angeles working on a significant production.
Andrew Montlack
Andy, a Cleveland Heights native, is a novelist with 15 years of experience in the New York and Cleveland independent film worlds. His directorial debut, Him!, screened overseas and earned the Cleveland International Film Festival’s Best Ohio Short Film. His next project, the feature-length mockumentary The Devil’s Filmmaker, was among the first wave of all-digital movies and was picked up for distribution by Alpha Video.
Tyler Maxey
Heights grad Tyler Maxey is a composer/arranger who specializes in film music, concert music, and custom-arranged scores for marching and pep bands. He is pursuing his Master’s in Music Composition at Cleveland State University. He composed the music for the short film The Baby Doll Dance (featured at CSU’s annual student film showcase and the Youngstown Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Best Area Film”).
Rémi Godard
A budding actor and filmmaker with working experience in France and the United States, Rémi recently graduated from the Cours Florent, an acting conservatory based in Paris. During his three years in their film program, he refined both his acting skills and also the behind-the-camera proficiency he gained at Cleveland State University’s School of Film and Media Arts, where he studied Acting and Directing with additional work in cinematography and editing.
Nat Dinga
Nat has an extensive background in film and TV that goes back 25 years, starting when he graduated Heights High School in 1996 to attend the Tische School of the Arts at NYU and earn his BFA (2000). Since then, Nat has worked for everyone in the film industry: directors, showrunners, producers, entertainment attorneys, and more. He worked on countless short films, then produced a feature film, Fix starring Olivia Wilde. In 2019, he earned a certificate in TV writing from UCLA while also working as a script coordinator on the network shows La Brea and Fantasy Island.