The next celebs from the Valley are ...

High school grads have their eyes set on the big time

Don't get them started.

When this group of students starts talking about their hopes for a life in entertainment, the proclamations of love for their craft spill out as if each is singing the lyrics to a neverending song they know by heart. But the business they find themselves on the verge of entering - the one notorious for quashing hopes for success faster than a director can yell "next"- is all about heart.

So, perhaps it's fitting.

Four students in total - three of whom attend Sharyland High School - sit upon the small, black stage in the theatre room talking about the ambitions that will soon take them to the corners of the United States.

Each has a unique dream: two actors, a model and a director - they claim flexibility and versatility, however. The actors and model plan to head to Los Angeles and the director to film school in Florida.

The Valley has a crop of young and talented who take the stage every year in one-act plays across the region. But Trista Tredaway and Lilia Fertig, directors of Sharyland High School's theatre department, want so much more than that for their students.

"Most of theater in Texas is about the one-act play competition," Tredaway said. "Our vision is not that. It's one aspect of it, but we wanted to offer much more and many more avenues in the field ... we feel that's going to make them more well-rounded."

CHALLENGES

Former members of the entertainment industry themselves, Tredaway and Fertig say they are not in the business of building passion in their students and not seeing it through. Last summer, after many months of hard fundraising, the teachers took a crop of students to New York City to audition for agents as part of Talent America. The results speak for themselves.

"When we went to the competition (and) we got some of the most call backs of all the other groups who were there when before they hadn't even thought of including Texas as a talent place," said aspiring model Ana Lorena Sanchez, a student at The Oratory Athenaeum for University Preparation in Pharr.

They were "the Texas kids." Ana Lorena, who once appeared in a fashion spread that appeared in Mexican teen magazine Tu, walked away with eight of a possible 11 call backs. One of those, NY-LA-NASH Entertainment, has offered her a full contract, which is currently in review with her entertainment attorney.

Once signed, she has a choice: New York or L.A. She is leaning toward the West Coast.

Tredaway said the connections all the students made in New York and the scouts she has brought to the Valley will serve the students well as they make their respective journeys into an industry of many faces and few names.

"The people they meet are the people who have the connections and the inside to the industry. Otherwise, they're going to have to go down there and stand in line with all the other 1,500 kids and hope to get in and hope to be seen," Tredaway, an SHS teacher of 12 years.

Patrick Mackie will be in that line because he does not have representation. But it doesn't faze him. He leans forward in his chair free of worry and explains he's aware of the tough odds he faces. He remains optimistic, saying his move to Ocean Side, Calif. - a city 45 minutes outside of Los Angeles - will be easier since he plans to live with his sister.

"He's going to fly a little blindly, but I think he can handle himself well out there," Tredaway said. "He does have one thing working for him and that's a place to stay. That's one of the biggest hurdles when kids go out there."

He has one year to make it happen. A year to get representation. A year to live the L.A. slash life: busboy/actor, waiter/actor, anything goes. A year to get the big break.

If the year goes by with little progress, he plans to attend university.

BEING REALISTIC

All the students peg school as an important part of their dream. As far too many know, there are shadows of uncertainty in the bright lights of Hollywood. Should success not come, all want something to fall back on.

Sacrifice is the name of the game. The time spent in school is valuable to an actor. The choice between class and audition can be a tough one, but no one said it would be easy.

Not two years into her career, Ana Lorena, has already made a hard choice about her education.

The well-spoken, 17-year-old was interviewed by Wilhelmina Models, one of the largest modeling agencies in the country, and had the opportunity to stay in New York starting that weekend.

"I would've been able to work. They said they'd have jobs for me," Ana Lorena remember.

But she walked away and doesn't regret it.

"It (education) is not just something I'm going to leave on the side," Ana Lorena said. "I want to be a well-rounded person in the future. I don't just want to base myself on the superficial things because it is a very superficial industry, but if you can keep your feet on the ground that's what counts."

Only a junior at SHS, Anna Fleurey, 17, already has a contract in the works with NY-LA-NASH. No ink on the dotted line quite yet, but should they request her to move before graduating or going to college, she said she would have to follow her passion.

"If this is what I want to do in the future and I'm already getting jobs, school would probably be a second priority," she said. "If it's the other way around, acting would probably be second priority."

The reality of what lies before him is what made Jose Rodriguez, 18, opt for film school in Florida over a total plunge into Hollywood. Yes, the stories of the caterer or coffee runner making it big as a director are out there. But he wants to do this right.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

Rodriguez, a personable boy, oozes charm and personality. It might make him famous one day. For now, he uses it to support the community theatre scene.

He's found outside funding and support to help him buy equipment and props for the plays he directs and even procured a small salary from the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.

He is determined to make it on his own, depending on his parents as little as possible. Film school is expensive, so Rodriguez wants his filming equipment to be the fruit of his own labors.

"They've given us our wings and it's our time to fly, and it's all on us. Mom and dad can only do so much," he said. "You have to want it so bad. It takes a lot from you but if that's your passion and that's your dream make it happen."

When Anna moved down to the Valley, she didn't know how she would advance her dreams of acting professionally. "Making it happen" seemed even further than the 1,600 miles that separate McAllen and L.A.

"I've lived in the Woodlands, which has a great community theatre," she said. "When I came down her I was a little disappointed because I didn't know what I was going to do for theatre. All I had was school, but little did I know this is the most exposure I would have ever gotten."

That exposure gave birth to the idea of pursing acting as a living for Anna. One that came much to the chagrin of her father. He may have supported the idea of one day seeing his little girls' name in lights, but the road to get there is a hard one.

"I think that's what holds him back. I have to eventually make my own decision and I'll probably have to disappoint a few people before I make them proud."

THE NEXT STARS

Patrick Mackie

Age: 18,

School: Sharyland High School

Aspiring: Actor

Moving to: Ocean Side, Calif. (45 mins out of L.A.)

Favorite actor: Daniel Day Lewis, Sean Penn and Johnny Depp

Ana Lorena Sanchez

Age: 17,

School: The Oratory Athenaeum for University Preparation in Pharr

Aspiring: Model

Moving to: She has a choice between New York and Los Angeles, leaning toward the latter

Favorite model: Alessandra Ambrosio

Anna Fleury

Age: 17

School: Sharyland High School

Aspiring: Actor

Moving to: Unsure, contract with agency pending

Favorite actress: Ellen Page of "Juno" fame

Jose Rodriguez

Age: 18

School: Sharyland High School

Aspiring: Director

Moving to: Winter Park, Fla. to attend Full Sail University's school of professional filmmaking

Favorite directors: Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Torre

COMING IN JULY:

Journal of a Journey

Nikki Rowe High School freshman Rachel Leyco is moving to Cameroon, Calif. - 45 minutes out of the heart of Los Angeles - to pursue a career in acting. This summer, read her diary as she chronicles her experiences in L.A., from her first head shots to her first audition.

OTHER VALLEY LOCALS WHO'VE MADE IT

Jo Jo Henrickson (McAllen, wrote Ladron Que Roba Ladron)

J.D. Mata (PSJA, Independent film director)

Carlos Moreno (PSJA, actor, appeared in Tranformers)

J.C. Cantu (PSJA, casting director, World Trade Center, Grindhouse: Planet Terror/Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez)

Elias "Bones" Andra (PSJA, drummer for Julien-K, 2006 Projekt Revolution tour featuring Linkin Park)

Shannon Sauceda (McAllen, model)

Ashley Moss (Sharyland, model, appeared in campaigns for Fire Jeans, appeared in J-14 magazine, named one of the faces of Estee Lauder's Fresh Face Youth Dew fragrance)

Catherine Hardwicke (McAllen, director, Lords of Dogtown, The Nativity Story, Thirteen)

Yesenia Garcia (McAllen, actress, lead in The Ticket, which won a selection to the 2007 L.A. International Short Film Festival)

Steven Escobar (McAllen, editor, Emmy-award for The Amazing Race)