In the Classroom: Godless

Earlier in the school year, LIHSA students had the opportunity to job shadow the film crew behind the independent feature film Godless, starring Harry Lennix (Man of Steel) and Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty). Last week, the director, Michael Ricigliano, and producers Elyssa Rabinowitz and Vincent Petrosini, were kind enough to visit LIHSA to speak with all Multimedia Film & TV students about their careers and to offer advice to the future filmmakers. Afterwards, students screened their own films and were given constructive feedback. The creative team even gave students a sneak peak at unedited footage, which allowed them the opportunity to demonstrate the magic that happened behind the scenes!

“It was very informative because it showed us a window into the industry,” said student Oliwia Szymanska. “It was such an open discussion, and they treated us as though we were young people already in the industry. It was great that younger artists were allowed to come in and watch it all unfold on set. It was great practice for high school students and they wouldn’t know these things without hands on experience.”

“I loved imparting whatever wisdom I have to people coming up in the industry because I will probably be working with them in the future,” said Petrosini. “We had such a nice time working with [Work-Based Learning Coordinator] Iris and the Film students, so when she asked me to do this I was happy to.

In watching their films I saw a wide variety of ingenuity and talent. I hope we can continue to have a relationship with LIHSA and that perhaps students can work with us again.”

“One thing I like about coming to LIHSA is you get an experience you wouldn’t get anywhere else,” added Szymanska. “Iris has so many connections that it allows professionals to come in, which is something that wouldn’t happen at a regular high school. I am so glad that I got to experience it.”