The rockumentary LAMBERT & STAMP — in which the birth of The Who is examined — is the centerpiece of April’s PROJECT FX Festival at the Count Basie Theatre, in which student filmmakers from area colleges and high schools compete before a panel of esteemed judges.
Press release from Count Basie Theatre
The Count Basie Theatre has revealed the films that will compete in its inaugural PROJECT FX statewide student film festival and competition, taking place at the Red Bank theatre on Sunday, April 19.
The competing films — ten entries from Garden State high schoolers, and an additional ten entries from students attending New Jersey colleges — are viewable now at projectFXbasie.com and facebook.com/projectFXbasie.The public can have their say by “liking” or “sharing” the films on Facebook, which will figure into each film’s final score. Films will also be viewed and voted on by a panel of esteemed adjudicators, including Sony Pictures Classics co-founder and Middletown resident Tom Bernard, Batman film franchise producer Michael Uslan, Taking Back Sunday lead singer John Nolan, and others.
The festival will feature panels from industry experts and professors from several New Jersey colleges, a big-screen showing of each contending film, and an exclusive evening screening of Lambert & Stamp, the upcoming Sony Pictures Classics release about underground filmmakers who stumble upon an unknown band to portray in a documentary (that band would go on to be known as The Who). The winning high school and college films will also serve as “opening acts” prior to Lambert & Stamp. Entry into the festival is free, though advance tickets must be obtained by visiting www.countbasietheatre.org.
High school and college PROJECT FX finalists are vying for the ultimate grand prize: a paid internship with Sony Pictures Classics’ offices in Manhattan. Second place winners in each category will receive Sony video cameras, while third-place finishers will receive a $500 cash prize.
Competing films in the High School category include147 by Joseph Ballavia of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, in which “a young girl writes about the atrocities that occur around her, until one of them hits very close to home;” and The Session by Dylan McCormick of Middletown High School South, in which “a man desperately needs to speak with his psychiatrist.” Competing films in the College category include Asbury Lanes by Jacob Vernick of Brookdale Community College (a documentary about the unique nightspot and the ever-looming threat of eminent domain), and Animus (a non-dialogue film about the daily torture a father suffers after losing his son to a drunk driver) by Monmouth University student Eric Massimino.
Take it here for a detailed list of festival entries and a roster of esteemed judges. For more information about PROJECT FX, contact Jonathan Vena at [email protected].
