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June 14 Film Fest Will Showcase Work of East Aurora Students



In advance of the East Aurora Film Fest coming up fast on June 14 at the Aurora Theatre, I thought I’d talk to the East Aurora High School seniors in the Film Academy curriculum who will be showcasing their work on the big screen. 

I quickly learned that trying to interview the students in the popular, year-long program run by Chris Cummins and Tom Kegler is what interviewing bees in a hive might be like. Arriving at 1:30 p.m., I was struck by how busy the room was, with all 16 kids hovering around monitors, conferring and making adjustments. I was also impressed by the students’ reactions when Cummins introduced me; all 16 filmmakers were anxious to talk to me and to show off their work. 

Before the interviews, Cummins took a moment to give me an overview of the Film Academy. 

“Film Academy has three basic elements: creative writing, drama and film production. The kids are here for three periods a day; the last three periods. Theoretically, we spend one period on each of the elements, with grades given for each, but those categories blend into each other. We’ll start the year with creative writing, studying a multitude of genres like short story, essay, arc of the story and then writing. We’ll move into poetry and then scriptwriting. We analyze movies, learn acting strategies, staging for plays and video shooting and editing. We hope that by mid-June we’re ready for our Film Fest.

“Initially, Tom Kegler and I model things for the students. Gradually we turn the processes over to them as we become the producers of the films and they do all the nuts and bolts of writing the scripts, shooting the movie and getting the final version ready for Film Fest.”

I first spoke with Stephen Kapalczynski. He was going through the scenes of his project, Anima Sola, which he calls “a creepy, horror, Twilight Zone-y kind of love story.” It’s a good example of the collaborative nature of Film Academy. 

“Sierra (White-Thomson) wrote the script. Six of us went to the Roycroft Inn and shot for the whole day with four students from our class acting. I directed and filmed the shoot and Gavin and I are editing it. It will be about 11 minutes long when we show it at the theatre. The great thing about the technology we’re using now—Adobe Premier and Google Drive—is that all of the footage is in Google Drive, so we can all share our work from computer to computer. We all work on our own things and help with each other’s.”

The East Aurora High School Film Academy students gather to work on projects in their classroom at the school.
Photo by Marty Wangelin

Across the room, Tanner Francis and Ethan Ranalli were hard at work editing their film, Saving Private Ranalli, a spoof on Saving Private Ryan, in which friends sneak into a classroom and rescue their friend, Private Ranalli, while he’s taking a test in school. Here again, it was a collaborative effort involving Francis and Ranalli, Jack Accurso and Jack Misenheimer. They figure it took two weeks of shooting—including some underwater scenes in the pool—that will be distilled into a 10-minute movie.

Other entries you can look forward to at Film Fest are Renee Carlson’s satire of an injury attorney TV ad, as well as her saga of a married couple trying to get out of a parking garage. She’s also working on a reality show based on badminton. She’s off to New York University next fall to study television arts. Ethan Healy and Braden Tent are cooking up a frat guys meet the Blair Witch Project film and White-Thomson is compiling bloopers from all of her classmates’ footage. By Film Fest time, all of the students will have not only one of their projects on the screen, but they’ll have acting, directing, editing or technical credits for their classmates’ productions.

For most of the students, Film Academy has provided their first experience working with the creative processes that make up film. 

“It’s not like a regular class where everyone’s in rows and doing the same thing,” Cummins said. “It’s a workshop production class with many moving parts. Some students are better at the writing, some better at the acting, some better at editing. Kids get to find their passions.”

Stephen Kapalczynski likes the two-teacher approach. 

“It’s the best of both worlds with Mr. Cummins (who teaches English) and Mr. Kegler (who teaches art). Mr. Cummins teaches us to be good with our words and Mr. Kegler shows us the power of view and presentation. Mr. Kegler taught me that pictures can tell a story.” 

Bound for SUNY Albany, Kapalczynski will study computer science, bringing a year’s worth of high-tech computer experience from Film Academy with him.

Teacher Chris Cummings looks over East Aurora High School film student Sierra White-Thomson’s video.
Photo by Marty Wangelin

Jack Haubner added: “You don’t realize how much this class relates to other aspects of your life. It’s not just this class I have gotten better in, but my other classes. I know how to present myself, how to get along. To be able to have a class where I can write my stories is heartwarming. There’s a lot of compromise with working in a group, but to get a result that incorporated some of everyone’s ideas is a great feeling.” 

Haubner plans to apprentice with the Border Patrol next year, working with conservationists and using his newfound skills to make wildlife videos. 

While the atmosphere was upbeat and energetic during my visit, with laughter and good-natured banter abounding, there is a certain amount of pressure that comes with a workshop format. “There’s a different kind of stress,” Kapalczynski said. “A month ago we didn’t have enough material for a Film Fest. Mr. Kegler and Mr. Cummins really had to get us to focus as a group, so we could get our work done. That put stress on us, but a good kind of stress that makes us come in every day and get to work with a specific goal in mind.” 

Several of the academy members said that their involvement goes beyond the three periods a day they spend with Cummins and Kegler. They’ll come in early, stay late and get together outside of school for filming.

“There are some serious life lessons, too,” Cummins said. 

Not every film a student makes will get into the Film Fest. Sometimes you have to start over. You learn how to work in collaboration, which means compromising and listening to ideas from colleagues. All these kids are learning skills they can use. One of our grads is making videos for his college. Film Academy alumna Hope Winter is on the local news [working for WIVB-TV News 4 Buffalo]. Many realize that they can make videos as gifts. And they have the satisfaction of saying, ‘I wrote this script and now it’s coming alive.’”

Stephen Kapalczynski had the last word, “Even if you’re not going into film editing or production as a career, this class has been valuable as a way to communicate and to learn how to overcome obstacles.”

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