From the South Orange-Maplewood School District:
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. – Six Columbia High School (CHS) student filmmakers have been invited to participate in the Garden State Film Festival Showcase at the upcoming New Jersey School Boards Workshop in Atlantic City.
CHS student filmmaker Dylan Charles Meda is one of the directors of the film, “The Culinary Arts of South Orange,” which will be showcased on Tuesday, October 24th, during the annual convention of the N.J. School Boards Association. The three-minute film, a profile of Mozzarella, an Italian restaurant on Valley Road in South Orange, won first runner-up in the Garden State Arts Festival’s New Jersey Homegrown Documentary Short – High School category in March.
Three other CHS student filmmakers have also been invited to the screening: Jerett Jackson, Elliott Spilberg, and Zach Sherman.
All of the invited filmmakers were students of Paul Marigliano, who has been teaching at CHS for 18 years. He gave all of the credit for getting the showcase to his students.
“They did this on their own,” said Marigliano. “It’s great to have our students highlighted at this event that draws people from all over New Jersey.”
“It’s exciting to have our students featured at the New Jersey School Board’s Conference in Atlantic City this year as part of the Garden State Film Festival’s Showcase,” said District Fine & Performing Arts Supervisor James Manno. “It’s important for the students to see that something they did at school can go beyond the school walls and resonate with a larger New Jersey audience. I’m thrilled for them!”
“I want to congratulate all of the students who have earned this honor,” said Dr. Ronald Taylor, Superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District. “It’s great to see their talents are being recognized after they have used them to highlight one of the greatest aspects of our community, its wonderful restaurants. I want to thank James Manno and Paul Marigliano for their efforts in educating high school students and helping them develop their filmmaking skills.
I’m looking forward to seeing the film showcased in Atlantic City.”
“We are proud to present the work of these Columbia High School student filmmakers as part of the Garden State Film Festival showcase next week,” said David Schoner, Board Member of the Garden State Film Festival/Associate Director of the N.J. Motion Picture and Television Commission. “They are great examples of how young people are learning to use the power of filmmaking to tell stories and bring people’s attention to parts of life that otherwise might go unnoticed.”
