Sebastian Prestia is 16. He graduated from ASU Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Data Science in May ’26 with a major GPA of 4.00 and earned a Bronze Medal for Team USA in the 2017 Pan American Youth Chess Championship. He has been accepted on fellowship to UCI’s Masters of Data Science program, and wrote a full feature script of 118 pages over 7 months and 6 drafts alongside college on his own.
Sebastian’s pursuits are data science and entertainment, having written and directed multiple shorts. Self-motivated in artificial intelligence, his data science interests mainly revolve around computer vision and classification problems, and he is currently working on multiple projects in this field (see Academic Projects).
As a filmmaker, he has shot many films and written many scripts–including a 118 page feature, and is producing numerous shorts independently. He works daily to improve both his filmmaking and acting skills, applying the same discipline and analytical rigor to it as he does to his academic pursuits.
This website showcases both his academic and filmmaking pursuits. Additional details are available on his LinkedIn, GitHub, IMDB, Stage32, Backstage, Youtube, and Instagram.
His most impressive Achievements are:
- Graduated ASU Summa Cum Laude (over 4.00 major GPA, 3.99 minor) with a BS in Data Science at 16
- Accepted into UCI’s MDS program on Fellowship at 16
- Bronze medalist for Team USA
- Completed a feature film screenplay of 118 pages across 7 months, 6 drafts
Here is a chronological list of some of his achievements:
2015 ->
- Highest rated 5 year-old chess player in the US; a title he would continue to hold for the next 3 years
2017 ->
- Earned a Bronze Medal from Team USA at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship in San José, Costa Rica
2. Represented Team USA in the World Youth Chess Cadets in Poços de Caldas, Brazil
2018 ->
- Made All-American team for chess, one of the most prestigious American youth chess teams
2022 ->
1. Performed in John W. Engeman Theater for “The Sound of Music”
2. Accepted into Arizona State University at age 12
2025 ->
1. Learned the innerworkings and implemented multiple AIs in python, including–but not limited to–Artificial Neural Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, LSTMs, GANs, Transformer, and JEPA.
2. Completed a feature film screenplay of 118 pages across 7 months, 6 drafts
2026 ->
1. Graduated ASU Summa Cum Laude (4.00 major GPA) with a BS in Data Science at 16
2. Accepted into UCI’s MDS program on Fellowship at 16
3. Finished multiple short scripts ranging from 4 to 12 pages
4. Wrote, Directed, Filmed, and Edited “Suspendous”
5. Wrote, Directed, Filmed, and Edited “Procrastination”
6. Wrote, Directed, Filmed, and Edited “Overwhelmed”