Seven festival honors for L.B. student filmmakers

Long Beach High School students earned six awards and one runner-up distinction at the annual Locust Valley High School Film Festival. Their entries were among 128 that were judged by a panel of film and television professionals, including WABC-TV reporter and critic Sandy Kenyon.

The works of the six Long Beach finalists were screened for an audience of students and staff members representing districts across Long Island. Ian Jaffe, Cesare Sandoval and Sebastian Vidal earned first place for their comedy collaboration, “Sarah McLachlan Parody.” Remi Scott and Scott Powers received a first-place award and were overall Best in Show runners-up for their video, “Zero.” Logan Weitz took third-place recognition for his documentary, “Cancer Prevention.” The high school’s other three finalist entries were “Bully Prevention,” by Tom Marsden, Will Salice-Bell and Reid Schott; “Inspiration,” by Powers, Jack Rabin and Jorge Romero; and “Demons,” by Julia Wiener.

 The film festival was established to provide high school students with an opportunity to showcase their talents in film and video production. Long Beach High unveiled a new digital media studio at the start of the 2014-15 school year, which provides students with a range of professional-quality technology. The TV Studio Production students learned how to film and edit footage and have documented a number of school and community events.