A high school film class swept the competition after students claimed five of the 10 spots reserved for a statewide cinematography showcase.
PROJECTFX, the Count Basie Theatre’s Statewide Student Film Festival, is open to New Jersey students between the ages of 16 and 25. Students submitted their film entries to the theater, located in Red Bank, in the hope their movies would be chosen to move forward in the competition.
Films chosen to advance will be featured in a final showcase at Count Basie Theatre on May 5, according to the theater.
PROJECTFX officials selected 10 high school film entries this year, among the numerous movies that were submitted, according to the theater.
Five of the entries were submitted by students from Christopher Corey’s TV production class at Middletown High School South.
The films – “Pooh”, “Chaussures”, “Day Dream Journal”, “Missing” and “Sweet-ish Fish” – will advance to the competition.
“The talent level and themes of the films are inspiring, and the Basie is always humbled and honored to be a part of shining a spotlight on the stars of the future,” Adam Philipson, Count Basie Theatre President and CEO, said in a press release.
The students – whose films range from humorous shorts to slightly morbid tales of murder – said their passion to create films initiated in high school.
Although one name appears on the PROJECTFX roster, the films represent a collective effort from the class, according to the students.
“We were all interested in film, but we didn’t take an interest in the film festivals before Mr. Corey. He really showed us that our work doesn’t exist in a vacuum. He helps us get out work out into the world,” Keeley Giblin said.
When speaking with the students, Vic Pater was among a select few of other students who said they had no prior interest in cinematography before enrolling in the elective course at their high school.
“Mr. Corey showed me how to do the basics and then he let me find my own way of doing it. That inspired me to create my own films. I actually wasn’t interested in film at first, but I liked watching it. Now, this is a career option for me.” Pater said.
Pater said one her previous films, “Sock Monster”, also placed in the finals of the same competition in 2017.
“The environment of the class is really welcoming. It’s a really great class to grow as a student,” Madison Brand said.
“Pooh,” one of the dark comedies that will premiere at the Count Basie Theatre, was created by Brand, Nina Abate, Matthew Cozzi and Zach Jenkins. Pooh, played by Brand, commits a murder in the movie. Tigger, played by Abate, witnesses the murder in the film. The team said the concept behind the story’s creative process was to put an “absurd” idea into action.
“You first need to develop a story. As a beginner, you’re like, ‘How do I even make a story’? We wanted to have someone die … and have a hitman involved. Maddie randomly said, ‘I have a Winnie the Pooh and Tigger costume in my house’. It was perfect because I happened to have a bee costume in my house,” Abate said.
“We took our original idea and ruined a few childhood characters,” she laughed.
Brand and Abate also worked on “Chaussures,” a second film that will premiere at the Count Basie Theatre in May. According to the students, chaussures is a french term for ‘shoes.’
Along with two other classmates, Daniella Vargas and Jolene Gianone, the students created the black-and-white, silent film. The film depicts two french thieves who take a particular interest in stealing shoes.
“Our main challenge with this film was the weather. We decided to shoot outside. But when you have snowstorms in April, it’s a little difficult to make it look like the film was shot in one day… We thought, ‘what can we do to make this one as ridiculous as possible?’ In the movie, the characters always move their legs in a specific way and they have really sporadic jolts … All of these films have a morbid ending,” Brand said.
“Day Dream Journal,” produced by Charlie Falotico, Mitchell Hahn, Julia Railsey and Pater, features animated portions of a storyline that centers around an individual’s vivid daydreams.
The students said the creative process behind the film’s concept was an area that caused controversy among the individuals.
“We had a lot of challenges with this one … to say the least. Our group went into this hating each other. We all had different visions on how to do it. We came together and negotiated on what we wanted to do …. we pulled through. Once we overcome our differences, we put our hearts and souls into it,” Hahn said.
“Missing,” produced by Michael Smiley, Sophie Larish, Jennifer Fink, Lauren Pomedesso, and Charles Honan, is a silent film that follows the story of a detective in search of a missing woman.
“My friend said she wanted to do a murder mystery. I thought, well, what if we implement a detective? That would be fun. We, then, decided we weren’t intense people, so we decided, it’s a comedy. The prompt for our main character was to act like as much of an idiot as possible … We eventually decided to incorporate a missing girl,” Larish said.
“Sweet-ish Fish,” the final film chosen from Middletown South was produced by Colleen Kelly, Mitose McHugh, Olivia Parauda, Courtney Voehl, Pater and Giblin.
“This film began with a more normal idea, but then it got progressively weirder. We were laughing at ourselves at how weird we had made it. … I had a fish and it passed away, we based the film off of that,” Giblin said.
When speaking with Corey, he said he could not be more proud of his students.
“These students are very hard workers. To me, this class is about having a practical application for what is learned,” Corey said.
The students said they owe their success to Corey.
Finalist films will be viewed and voted on by Sony Pictures co-founder Tom Bernard; Criterion Collection president Peter Becker; visual effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner; actress and Basie board member Maureen Van Zandt; 42 West executive Scott Feinstein; production manager Kevin Hyman; Linda Safran of The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures; film editor Nina Danevic; entertainment writer and podcast host Alex Biese; director/producer Paul Bernard; and director/producer, James Burke, according to the Count Basie Theatre.
Entry to the screenings at the PROJECTFX showcase is free. Tickets must be obtained in advance.
