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At Summer Residency, Lights! Cameras! Action!

Partnership with Ghetto Film School provides high school filmmakers a college setting to hone storytelling skills

Posted in: Communication and Media, Education, Homepage News

Student pointing at computer monitor with video editing software
Students from the Ghetto Film School edit their short films featuring Montclair theater students.

Talented and aspiring teen filmmakers came to campus from New York and Los Angeles to learn about filmmaking, acting, writing and producing from some of the best in the business as part of a partnership between the University’s School of Communication and Media and the Ghetto Film School, an award-winning nonprofit organization.

Now in its fourth year, the residency introduces students to college life while honing their storytelling skills with University faculty and student leaders during intensive filmmaking workshops. This summer, 42 students came to Montclair, gaining experience as directors while working with actors from the University’s BFA program.

That collaboration is a signature component of the program, as a cohort of current theater students give the aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to work with exceptional talent and share ideas through the creative process, according to School of Communication and Media professors Stuart MacLelland and Vernard Gantt, who direct the program.

Montclair film and television students also work with the program as teaching assistants, aiding both in scene work as well as providing mentorship on their experiences as college students and aspiring media professionals.

“Seeing Manhattan from our building gives the high school students a big picture of what college can be and the opportunities Montclair provides for internships and careers in the media capital of the world,” MacLelland says.

Photo Gallery

Two students working on the same laptop
Montclair’s partnership with Ghetto Film School supports a critical mission of creating more opportunities to grow diversity in the film and entertainment industry.
Two students looking closely at monitor over colored video editing keyboard
The teens directed and edited short films, assisted by Montclair students in the School of Communication and Media and acted by Montclair BFA students.
The University’s state-of-the-art television and film studios provided the high schoolers the opportunity to hone their skills in a college setting.

Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters.

 

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