‘Sock Monster,’ by Middletown South sophomore Victoria Pater, is among the finalists in the High School category of this year’s Project FX festival at the Count Basie Theatre this Saturday.
High school and college student filmmakers from all over New Jersey — including two from here on the Greater Red Bank Green — are among the finalists who will see their short works displayed on the big screen of the historic Count Basie Theatre when the Project FX statewide film competition invites the public to its third annual festival this Saturday.
Sponsored by Bank of America and presented in partnership with Sony Pictures Classics, the contest assembles hundreds of short-form narrative and documentary entries each year, showcasing young talent in acknowledgment of the DIY revolution that’s placed pro-grade videography and editing tech into the hands of aspiring filmmakers everywhere.
Middletown South junior Charlotte Larish is among the finalists with this entry, titled ‘When Randy Was Here.’
Finalists include a pair of students at Middletown High School South: junior Charlotte Larish (When Randy Was Here), and sophomore Victoria Pater (Sock Monster). All finalist films are available for preview at facebook.com/projectFXbasie, where the viewers can have their say by “liking” or “sharing” the films on Facebook, which will figure into each film’s final score.
As in seasons past, the finalists were selected from the field of entries by a panel of judges that included Sony Pictures Classics co-founder (and Middletown resident) Tom Bernard; Oscar-nominated screenwriter James Schamus (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain); TV writer-producer David Iserson (Mr. Robot, New Girl, Saturday Night Live, Mad Men); Basie board member Maureen Van Zandt and others. The online vote will also figure into the final result, with a grand prize winner in both High School and College categories announced at the event.
Those grand-prize entrants will be awarded $1,000 cash, an internship experience with Sony Pictures Classics in Manhattan and a Sony digital video camera. Second place winners in each category will receive a $750 cash prize, while third-place finishers will receive a $500 cash prize.
Beginning at 2 p.m., the festival will also feature a panel discussion of industry experts and an audience Q&A on breaking into Hollywood and the motion picture industry.
The public is also welcome to attend the Project FX Festival free of charge. Take it here for (required) tickets — and scroll down for a full rundown of the finalist entries.
Competing Films:
HIGH SCHOOL CATEGORY
Benjamin DeSimone (Senior, School of the Arts – East Brunswick Tech) Morning Coffee
Jasmine Guti (Senior, School of the Arts – East Brunswick Tech) Milk
David LaPorta (Senior, Shore Regional High School) Trick Question
Charlotte Larish (Junior, Middletown High School South) When Randy Was Here
Victoria Pater (Sophomore, Middletown High School South) Sock Monster
Paul Riccio (Senior, Montville Township High School) Chem Club
Lucas Savarese (Senior, Sussex County Technical School) Goldilocks
Archit Upadhyay (Senior, Old Bridge High School) Unconditional
Alex Volgyesi (Junior, Passaic Valley High School) GSA
COLLEGE CATEGORY:
Nicolas Capra (Senior, Montclair State University) Gently Down
Peter Chamalian (Junior, Rowan University) Step One
Peter Dolshun (Senior, Montclair State University) Red
John Hicks (Junior, Stockton University) Interfaith Week: A Perspective of Islam
Amanda Kaminsky (Junior, Montclair State University) Text Wars
Julian Lipoff (Junior, Montclair State University) King Me
Leigh Pietz (Senior, Rowan University) Heads
Noah Resnick (Sophomore, Ocean County College), A Calcium Cartoon
Jennifer Seitis (Freshman, Ramapo College of New Jersey), Glasses
Alexa Werrlein (Senior, Montclair State University), Tiny Worlds
