Tucker Russell hopes for a little bit of “kismet” this weekend  —  in more ways than one.

Of Arabic origin, the word commonly means “luck,” “fate” or “destiny.”

It’s also the title of one of the Skyline senior’s two videos up for Northwest Regional Emmy Awards on June 15 at Seattle’s Paramount Theater.

“It makes me a little nervous, I really want to walk away with one of them,” said Russell, who would be the first from his school to earn the honor.

Two years ago, Samantha Stendal, a talented Skyline grad and University of Oregon sophomore known for a recent anti-rape video that went viral with 2.4 million views, was up for two Emmys in the high school category. She walked away empty handed.

“It would be really nice if this was the first,” said Bob Palmer, the school’s video production instructor.

Russell’s video “Kismet,” is a 3 minute, 16 second film synched to the sound of hip hop artist Mack Miller’s “Man in the Hat.”

“I always had this one image of a certain shot and from there it built itself out into an original script that I wrote for it and then adapted the song to it,” Russell said.

The video, produced by Jeremy Millar, features Russell and Morgan Huish bumping into one another on a sidewalk. The two drop their phones and glasses, unknowingly mixing them up. They later take the wrong coffee from the counter, which sets in motion a series of events that draw the two back together.

Russell’s other video was originally shot for the Issaquah School District’s Influence the Choice competition and finished first in the individual Marijuana category. It features Russell, playing a marijuana user, trying to get a friend, played by Damien Banki, to take a hit. Banki envisions what will happen if he takes the hit, with an effect of the camera shooting into his eye. The path leads to using harder drugs, eventually showing Banki passing out after snorting cocaine. The camera then shoots back out of Banki’s eye and he denies the hit.

Russell, who will attend the University of Arizona next fall, plans on majoring in film production. He hopes to continue producing short films and dabbling in feature length movies and music production  —  eventually turning it into a career. He said he looks up to a wide variety of directors ranging from the popular Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrahams to the lesser known Tyler E., a commercial and music video producer.

“I just love the fact that film combines several different arts,” said Russell, who only produced his first video two years ago as a sophomore. “You have the music, the sound mixing, the visuals and you put it all together and it makes a story that almost anyone in the world could coherently watch, listen to and get that not other art forms could do.”

The graduating senior knows an Emmy would go a long way to boosting his career.

“It would a huge deal for me,” Russell said. “I want to be remembered as one of those film makers that not just put up great films but just had an amazing message, an amazing story behind it.”

Palmer, who worked more than 30 years in broadcasting before coming to Skyline to teach three years ago, sees a bright future for his pupil.

“His talent for seeing things and understanding timing and visuals is really good,” he said. “He’ll get even better, that’s the cool part.”

The Northwest Emmy Awards will stream live from 7-10 p.m., June 15 on the Northwest Chapter of National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences website.

View the videos

To view Tucker Russell’s Emmy nominated videos and other short films, go to his website.