West Deptford Youth Movie Makers Take Top Prize In State Contest

WEST DEPTFORD, NJ — It might not be common knowledge just yet, but the citizens of West Deptford have some award-winning filmmakers in their midst.

The elementary and middle-school aged kids of the West Deptford Free Public Library’s “Movie Makers” club recently took top honors in the statewide Teen Video Challenge, sponsored by the New Jersey State Library in collaboration with the Collaborative Summer Library Program.

The contest required that every aspect of the video- writing, filming, and acting, be completed by teen and tween participants, and that the video’s message would convey the 2018 “Libraries Rock” Summer Reading theme.

The winning video, “On the Down Low,” tells the short story of a librarian frustrated by some overzealous library patrons, whom he instructs to direct their attention to the library’s music collection.

Brendan McCarty, the Young Adult librarian at the West Deptford Free Public Library, is planning a brief ceremony to honor the participants and their winning video.

“We're always looking for new ways to draw in teen and tween patrons, and the Teen Video Challenge was too good to pass up”, McCarty says. “This group of kids already had an interest in movie making, which is a fun way to get the kids to think about being creative and using media technology. But the bonus is, their video can also be used to promote our 2018 Summer Reading activities.”

For their efforts, the teens who were involved in the video will receive a certificate of recognition and small cash prize, while the library will receive a gift certificate for the educational supply company Upstart.

The ceremony, which will happen on Tuesday, June 5, 5:30 p.m., will also feature a “world premiere” of the video on the library’s projector screen along with movie theater-inspired refreshments. The night will be capped off by a viewing of the recent hit movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.