Washington Teen Screens Another at Gig Harbor Film Fest

The big film name to have passed through Washington state's Gig Harbor High School is actor Josh Lucas, of Sweet Home Alabama and Poseidon fame. Perhaps one day in the near future, current senior Bill Herling will add to that local lineage.

The 17-year-old Herling will screen his short The Fluid of Memory tonight at the 2012 Gig Harbor Film Festival, a year after debuting another short, Impulse, at the same event. He will also participate in an audience Q&A.

Both of Herling's films, the first made in partnership with now-graduated fellow student Stephen Kennedy, tackle serious themes. Impulse revolves around a young adult whose mother is in a coma, touching also on the topic of suicide, while The Fluid of Memory is about a young boy (pictured) who comes to realize how precious life is when his mom is diagnosed with cancer.

Herling's fellow Gig Harbor HS alum Lucas was at this year's fifth annual film festival on Thursday for a special presentation of the 2011 Australian-made family drama Red Dog and meet-and-greet at a local Country Club. Lucas was also presented with a Reel Magic Award in recognition of his ongoing efforts to “give back” to the Gig Harbor community.