Long Beach High School Film Students Earn Spotlight At Festival

Long Beach High School’s TV Studio Production students achieved strong success at the Locust Valley Film Festival, an annual event held at Locust Valley High School that provides students with an opportunity to showcase their films with the prospect of earning distinctions.

Fourteen schools were represented at the event. Of the 300 videos that were entered in the competition, 30 were created by Long Beach students. Nine of the Long Beach High School students’ films were granted finalist recognition -- a title that only 60 submissions achieved -- and two placed and were presented with awards.

Melody Moy took first place and a finalist designation in the Trailer category for her film, “Invisible.” A group piece titled “Kick Me Over,” developed by Gavin Byrne, Scott Powers, Max Scelfo and Katie Whelan, placed second and was named a finalist in the Music Video category. Other finalist honors were earned by Shaena Sennett for “Face Your Fears” and “Running On Empty,” both in the Drama category; Lea Jaffe, Jeannie Ripley-Grier and Carly Siegel for “Pay it Forward” in the PSA category;” Zach Farrell and Hanna Kagansky for “The End” in the PSA category;” Logan Kohn for “A Way Out” in the PSA category; and Sean Reilly and James O’Connor for their collaborative pieces in the Comedy category, “Spooky House” and “Work is Hell 2.”

The finalists’ works were shown before an audience of students and staff members, and were judged by a panel of experts. The film festival was established to provide high school students an opportunity to showcase their talents in film and video production.

Photos: Long Beach School District