Sydney Yockey, as a sibling will, made a film with her younger twin brothers stealing cookies. “We were bored one day, and we decided to make a movie,” chuckles Yockey of her and her now 6-year-old brothers, Hudson and Logan. “It was mainly Hudson. It was about them stealing cookies when our mom is away.” (It’s also on YouTube.) Another film clip was created with Sydney’s friend from elementary school, using a video technique. “My friend (Maddie) and I became interested in stop motion. She was the artist. I was the drawing. The drawing came to life,” she explains. The plot involves a girl receiving a letter from a friend who has moved away. In the letter, the friend says she is enjoying life in her new location and having a really good time. This leaves the protagonist, as the one left behind, feeling sad. As Sydney admits, the movement from concept to execution was difficult, but it still fed an interest the 16-year-old has in film production. “I discovered iMovie in fourth grade,” says Yockey, a senior at Bishop’s. What began as a fun hobby has progressed to her attending a recent workshop in film production at Northwestern University in Chicago, put on by the National High School Institute. The multi-talented student, who also plays volleyball and lacrosse, is now considering pursuing film in college. On the other side of the camera – actually, without a camera – Sydney sees her person and skills expanding in acting. By nature on the “more reserved” side, she is working on the stage and on the volleyball court to have a bigger presence. Both sports and drama, so to speak, are helping her take up more space. She plays outside hitter and right side hitter on Coach Tod Mattox’s volleyball team for the Lady Knights as well as for Krystal Cabrera’s Coast Volleyball 17-year-old “3’s.” In lacrosse, she is a co-captain for the Bishop’s varsity. Yockey talks about the dynamic between audience and performers in live theater. “I love making the audience feel certain emotions,” she says. “It’s like giving someone a piece of yourself.” “While acting, even in character, you can feel the energy from the audience,” she says. “You feed off that.” There is a symbiosis in which audience members can be brought to tears if the actors have been successful in their portrayal. Over spring break earlier this year, she attended a workshop in Chicago in which she was trained in the neofuturist method, “living on stage, moving away from the overacting to the more honest acting. I really pushed the comfort zone.” Her filmmaking and her interest in acting in live theater, in which she takes part at Bishop’s, involve contrasting dynamics. “Live theater is a different experience than film,” she says. “In live theater, the audience makes the play. They determine the success of the show.” Her filming hobby isn’t aimed at recording live productions. She laughs about stretching herself too thin with her three interests outside her work at school – club and school sports, acting and film. There have been moments when she is overcommitted. “I couldn’t live without any of these three,” she says. “My mom (Wyomi) has said that – ‘You should quit some of your activities; then you’d be able to get more sleep.’ But then she knows I need my extracurricular activities.” A good description of herself, Sydney says, is “I’m a jack of all trades, trying to master them all.” That’s certainly different than being “a jack of all trades, master of none,” as an observer jokingly suggests.