For the past few years, more events and organizations have been created to let Stevens students try something away from the STEM field and let them express their creativity. Recently, the Office of Residence Life held the “Fledgling Film Festival,” which allowed students to express themselves and experience a territory that is somewhat foreign.
Brent Johnson, a Resident Director for the Office of Residence Life, wanted to share his love for film and allow the students to “…venture into unknown territory and try something out that they’d potentially never tried before.” Ultimately, Johnson wanted to tap into this untapped interest and encourage students to share their creativity with their peers.
Six teams, a total of 14 students, submitted short films relating to the theme “The Underduck Story.” Each short film required the work of a director, writer, actor(s), and an editor. Films were judged based on editing, cinematography, story, acting, and sound. Film contestants were competing for the Audience Choice Award and the Judge’s Choice Award. The judging panel consisted of Brent Johnson, Steven Couras, Billy Middleton, and Niko Lambert.
Films that were submitted included “Dear Matt” (Matthew Ciaccio, Daniel Cesare, and Tony Ciccone), “The Underdog” (Ryan Lange), “Hobbies” (Tyler Kui), “I Almost Died (No Clickbait)” (Melina Dallastella), “Foot Fiction” (Rachael Kondrat, Maria Agnese, Luis Ogaz), and “SITTV” (Koby Garcia, Eric Londres, Bernard Feeney, Andrew Kinney, Alex Wiederock).
The “Foot Fiction” team took home the Audience Choice Award, and “The Underdog” took home the Judge’s Choice Award.
The festival itself had approximately 60 people in attendance with a total film run time around 40 minutes. The audience was provided with popcorn and deep-fried Oreos to snack on during the films. All audience members were entered into a raffle, and participants of the film festival received an extra raffle ticket. Raffle prizes consisted of donations from sponsors Mr. Wraps, Bareburger, Turning Point, Dunkin’ Donuts, Ben & Jerry’s, and Makai Poke Co.
Professor Middleton and Residence Assistants Koby Garcia and Niko Lambert agreed that they would like to see the program continue to build in the coming years. Johnson commented, “As Niko and Koby are both returning RAs, it is very likely that will happen next year.”
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