Ten years after graduating from Hemet High, Philip Flores immortalized the school in a short film that helped him win the Netflix Find Your Voice filmmaking competition.

Netflix, the world's largest online movie rental service, and Film Independent, a nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, joined forces to discover the "next great independent filmmaker" in Flores, who submitted a script titled "Touchback" and created a trailer that won the nationwide competition.

"Growing up in Hemet had a tremendous influence on the script and the trailer," said Flores, 28. "I wanted to capture the small town and its isolation from the outside world, mirroring the main character's outsider/socially awkward qualities, because that's how I felt sometimes living in Hemet."

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Diane A. Rhodes / Special to The Press-Enterprise

Philip Flores, who graduated from Hemet High School 10 years ago, won the national Netflix Find Your Voice filmmaking competition.

The trailer was shot entirely in Hemet, with Hemet High used for all the school scenes. Exterior scenes were shot off Fairview Avenue in the Valle Vista area.

"In the exterior scenes, I wanted to convey how beautiful Hemet was and how intimate its environment can be since the main character and his brother use it as a sanctuary of sorts," Flores said.

"The people I knew from high school have all found their way into the film in some form or another. I think they will recognize themselves," he said.

Flores said the scenes in the school mirror his own experience going to Hemet High and feeling overwhelmed by how big the school felt as a freshman.

"The tone I want is a very realistic portrayal of teenagers and the decisions they have to make -- especially socially," he said.

With the win comes a $350,000 production grant to make a feature-length film from his script, which he developed during the past three years with Stanford University friend Max Doty.

"Independent film means a noncommercial, personal film produced with a low budget," Flores said. "We're hoping to raise a little more money through investors."

Flores majored in creative writing at Stanford, then moved to West Hollywood in 2004 and earned his master's degree in film and television production from USC. In 2008 he began working as an assistant at Bobker/Kruger Films in Los Angeles.

"I was never forced to do the safe thing," said Flores, whose father was a Hemet doctor for many years. "My dad didn't expect me to be a doctor. He just told me to do what makes me happy -- thankfully."

The competition received more than 2,000 scripts from aspiring filmmakers. Organizers identified 10 semifinalists, who were asked to submit a three-minute video short.

Through a public voting process on the competition's Web site, six films receiving the highest votes were selected to go to the final round. A judging panel that included Josh Brolin, John Sayles, Dustin Lance Black and other industry professionals selected the winner.

Flores was walking down Sunset Boulevard on his way back to work from lunch when he got the call.

"It was such a validating thing to have Netflix and Film Independent say, 'You've got talent, kid. ... We believe in you,' " he said.

Flores said Hemet High Principal Bill Black and student Juan Sotello were extremely helpful during the filming -- and in getting the word out to the community to vote online.

"I always wanted to do a high school movie while I was still close to the experience," Flores said. "This win has fast-forwarded everything."

The film is scheduled to premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival next June, according to a news release.

For more information about the competition and to view the "Touchback" trailer, visit www.netflixfindyourvoice.com

Reach Diane A. Rhodes at 951-763-3461 or dianealease@hotmail.com