Last year, Americans spent $7.7 billion at the movies. Many of those dollars came from teen-agers. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, 49 percent of those 12 to 17 say they go to a movie at least once a month.

Some of those teen-agers have dreams of someday making movies themselves. Y-Press recently spoke with two young filmmakers from the Indianapolis area who hope to make a living making movies.

Both are attending the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Matt Thornberry, 18, is a graduate of Carmel High School majoring in cinema and television. Ben Young, 20, is a North Central High School alumnus majoring in screenwriting.

Thornberry started acting when he was 4 and says his first films were school projects.

"The first movies I made, I didn't actually make until high school, and those were movies to see how clean I could get the editing, just simple stories," he said.

Young has been interested in film ever since he was a little kid.

"Growing up, I was very much into journalism, creative writing and literature. Film seemed to me like the next step in the modern world -- it is by far the most relevant and influential art form there is right now. When I was in high school, I started making short films, and those won some awards," he said.

Both young men believe a filmmaker doesn't have to make money to be considered a filmmaker.

"A filmmaker is anybody who has a specific vision and expresses it in film more than once," said Thornberry. "Budget doesn't equal substance."

Neither student believes race and class are important to making movies. "Everybody has something important to say. Your social background doesn't dictate whether you can tell a story or not," said Thornberry.

"I think that you should have led an interesting life with a lot of varying experiences," added Young.

But both say movies should reflect diverse points of view.

"The focus of what you are doing is to try to interpret and give everyone the communal sense of their own humanity," Young explained. "It has gotten a lot better in the last 10 to 15 years as far as representation of people of different races, classes, and genders -- guys like Spike Lee and John Singleton broke a lot of really important new ground. They didn't just make movies about being African-American."

Both students appreciate the difficulty in conveying unique points of view satisfactorily. Young described some of the problems he has run into: "how to create an interesting character, how to create an interesting story, how to translate what is in your head."

But every element of filmmaking has its obstacles, Thornberry insisted.

"On the set, I have things go poorly as anyone else has," he said. "When I tried to make a movie my senior year in high school, people didn't show up. They backed out on me when they had promised me they would be there. Things like that. Then just recently, about three weeks ago, we had 24 hours to make a movie and I was editing on my computer and my computer kept freezing up and shutting down on me."

The two students believe youth is a tremendous asset in filmmaking and that recognized filmmakers (who often speak to USC students) take them seriously.

"They were all once in our position," Young explained. "They tend to be really nice guys and very respectful. But also, I think it is important to treat young filmmakers on a level playing field and not to pamper them with unnecessary recognition and praise. You have to maintain an honest sense of humility."

However, Thornberry believes society doesn't really accept young filmmakers. "A lot of people don't think filmmaking is something you can do for a living. It's just something that is a fantasy," he said, adding that his parents have always been supportive of him.

But with the new technology, it is easier for young people to make movies.

"The good thing about advances in digital video and home editing and all of that is that people who never had a chance to make a movie before can easily and cheaply make a movie and get recognized now," said Thornberry. "People know how to use video cameras, and there is just going to be so much more coming out of the younger population that people are going to have to recognize it."

The former Indiana residents offered suggestions to young aspiring filmmakers.

"Always make films. Keep doing it, no matter if you have a lot of people working with you or not. Learn everything you can about the art and technical side of making films. You don't have to have the greatest equipment, but know what is out there and know how to use it. Read all the books you can and watch a lot of movies," said Thornberry.

"Learn how to tell a good story," Young added. "Read every good book you can get your hands on and watch every good movie, because essentially what film is is translating all that great story experience one gets from literature into a more instant medium.

"You have to have respect for the story. Remember that everything else is subordinate to the story."

REPORTERS: Kristin Drouin, 11; Joey Glass, 13; Stuart McWhirter, 13; and Ethan Walden, 14.