Stars shine in Lakeville as students debut film

LAKEVILLE — Stars both young and not-so-young turned out Friday night, May 25, for the world premier of a film shot locally. Several students from Indian Mountain School were honored for their contributions to the school’s first-ever student-written and student-produced movie.

"It’s only five minutes long," said Mark Devey, Indian Mountain’s head of school, "but it took six months to complete." Indeed, in a question-and-answer session after the screening, it was a theme heard repeatedly from the student actors, directors and technicians: From start to finish, making a film is hard and sometimes tedious work. But the smiles on the students’ faces and on those of their teachers and parents suggested it was well worth the toil.

"I learned that repetition is key," said eighth-grader Carla Frankenbach, who wrote and directed the short film, which is set in a coffee bar. "It’s one of the hardest parts of making a film."

The shooting of the film, "First Impressions," took four hours one afternoon in October, followed by another hour of fine tuning on a subsequent day, followed by hours of work by two volunteer digital video editors, Ann Villano and Tory Jadow, who are parents of students at the school.

Also on hand was IMS graduate John Avildsen, the Academy Award-winning director of such films as "Rocky," "Lean on Me" and "The Karate Kid." Avildsen helped supervise the filming of "First Impressions," which he and fellow director and IMS alumnus James Becket had judged to be the best in a script writing contest.

After the showing of the film, Avildsen took out the Oscar he won for best director of "Rocky" and let all the students hold it.

"I want you to experience this because one day you will get your own," he told them.

The capacity crowd in the school’s auditorium also watched "Behind the Scenes with John Avildsen," a documentary about the making of "First Impressions." Actress and IMS parent Natasha Richardson answered questions from the audience, as did Mamie Gummer, an IMS alumna and daughter of actress Meryl Streep. Gummer, an actress herself, addressed the issue of occasional tedium in the film industry.

"[Laurence] Olivier once said, ‘I don’t get paid to act. I get paid to wait’," Gummer told the students to much laughter.

Richardson asked the students how many of them wanted to be actors. When scores of hands went up, she applauded their interest but cautioned them that the business is highly competitive and to be prepared for disappointment.

Avildsen made perhaps one of the most surprising comments of the night. Asked who his favorite actor was to work with, he replied, "[Marlon] Brando. He is a funny guy — always looking for the jokes."