Fifth-graders at Greystone Elementary channeled their inner Steven Spielberg by directing their own movies to be shown at PawPrints Presents, the school’s fifth grade film festival, on May 20.

Students from each of the fifth-grade classes created 2-5 minute films on the topic of their choosing. Subjects included everything from drunken driving to 9/11 to The Muppets.

“This is important because the kids are getting real-world skills,” said fifth-grade teacher Mandy Fox. “The kind of understanding of a topic needed to make a movie is deep.”

The fifth graders were involved with every part of the film-making process, including doing the research, writing the script and actually creating the movie at the Apple Store at the Summit.

“Our favorite part was seeing their enthusiasm; they were really into this stuff,” said Apple store Creative John Orso. “Some of the kids knew more about their topics than we did.”

Jacob Salathe, Luke Buttram and Cole Oberst chose to do their video on “Cryptids,” creatures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, whose existence is unrecognized by science.

Salathe said he wasn’t nervous about showing the movie because everyone who had seen it so far had loved it.

“It’s a hit,” said Buttram.

The movies were shown in two blocks: from 8:30-10:30 a.m., and from 11:30-1:30 p.m.

Before the lunch break, Fox encouraged the parents in attendance to support their children’s new film-making skill.

“It’s hard to get a scholarship for football or basketball,” she said. “But not many people go out for film-making scholarships, and they give out full-rides for those too.”