Brick Woman An Angelight In The Darkness

BRICK, NJ --When she was a young child, Stephanie Angel loved to play dress up and put on shows for her sister, entertaining her and her sister’s mind off the brain tumor she was fighing.

Now, 25 years later, Stephanie Angel helps children fighting brain tumors put on shows that tell their their unique stories -- and uplift not only them but everyone around them.

“I used to dress up and do stuff to cheer her up,” Angel, a Brick Township resident, said recently. She was 7 years old when her sister, Ilana, died in 1989 at the age of 5. And while her parents had a foundation -- the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation -- to help them honor Ilana’s memory, Stephanie said she wanted to do something more, something different for children fighting the same fight her sister faced.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to do something,” she said. At Muhlenberg College she majored in film expression, staying with her creativity and love of production. And it was that career path that would lead her to the way to help other children the way she had helped her sister: Angelight Films.

Angelight Films, which she founded in 2009, gives children with brain and spinal tumors the opportunity to express themselves through the creation of their own short films. The nonprofit organization has made 11 films so far with children who are battling brain or spinal tumors.

“Going into my sophomore year of college I interned on a film set,” said Angel, a freelancer who currently is a script supervisor on the television series “The Blacklist.” There, she learned a great deal about many aspects of filmmaking.

“I always enjoyed writing and directing,” she said, and Angelight Films gives her the opportunity to do that.

“We got a grant to do a few sample films,” Angel said, and it took off.

“It was a positive creative outlet for them -- it could be whatever they wanted it to be about,” said Angel, far left in the blue dress in the photo above, said. “One boy wanted to thank all the people who had helped him.” Another girl wanted to make a dance film, she said.

“These children have created personal films that validate the significance of each child’s voice, inspiring viewers and raising awareness of their illnesses,” it says on the Angelight Films website.

“I work on a lot of projects that are scripted,” she said. “It was nice to see what the kids come up with.”

Angelight’s most recent film, featuring a girl named Melany Jurado from Morristown, garnered attention from PIX11 in New York City, and the organization has received an award as a top-rated nonprofit from the organization GreatNonprofits.org.

“We are thrilled to be acknowledged as a top nonprofit,” she said. “For Angelight, this means that the public supports our mission of positively impacting the lives of young brain and spinal cord tumor survivors throughout the country, and we are honored to continue to make more films for more brave children.”

Angel, who grew up in Westchester, N.Y., and moved to Brick with her husband in 2014, said that while Angelight honors her sister’s memory, she has been able to separate her emotions and memories of her sister from the project.

“It was something I had to figure out early on,” she said. “I try to connect to the child’s energy rather than the fear of the parents.”

“I know they have been through a tremendous amount. I focus on the creative part of it,” she said.

It helps that the children are not focused on the negative, she said.

“I haven’t met any kid who felt sad or sorry for themselves,” she said. “They see it as annoying.”

Angel, whose career has given her experiences that help in her work with Angelight and vice versa, is co-directing her first feature film in the spring, she said, a role she is seeking to transition into after spending 12 years working on films and television.

Her work on ”The Blacklist” has taught her things that are useful for her work with Angelight.

“It’s helpful to see what they keep in and what they cut” on ”The Blacklist,” she said. With Angelight, she’s involved in the editing process, “so it’s helpful to see, so we don’t shoot too much.”

Angel said her hope is to take Angelight from a part-time effort to helping children full-time.

“Each child has so much wisdom, humor and light to share,” she said on the Angelight website. “Through the creation of their films, these children are defying all preconceived notions about sickness. They exhibit strength and courage that truly inspire everyone who meets them and watches their films.”

“Families get to celebrate their child in a special way amid the many challenges,” she said. “Most importantly, the children feel enormous pride for their work and a strong sense of empowerment that impacts their lives moving forward.”

For more about Angelight Films, click here. For a sample of Angelight Films’ work, watch Kira Corning’s film, Dive Deep, and interview below.