A Bellmore high school senior is bringing filmmaking to younger students this summer through a free, hands-on program designed to teach the fundamentals of cinematic storytelling while encouraging creativity and self-expression.
Ben Stone, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, will lead a five-session filmmaking course at the Bellmore Memorial Library beginning in July. The free program, open to students ages 8 to 14, will introduce participants to cinematography, editing, directing and storytelling using both professional equipment and everyday technology like smartphones.
Stone said the idea was inspired by his own experiences in film programs over the past several summers, including programs through the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he plans to attend this fall to study film and television.
“I figured it’s my time to give back to my community in a way that I felt the most fulfilled to do,” Stone said. “And in a way that can enable a lot of really young creatives, especially in a time when I feel like people need art more than ever.”
Stone currently serves as the broadcasting program director at Kennedy High School, where he has been involved in the media program for all four years. He said his interest in filmmaking began around age 7 after receiving a used camera from a family friend.
“My intro into the film world was kind of through photography,” he said. “It didn’t really pick up steam with film until Kennedy, when I was introduced to their broadcasting program.”
Stone credits much of his growth to recent Kennedy graduate Preston Bowman, who helped build the school’s current student broadcasting and film program before graduating.
“I am his chosen successor,” Stone said with a laugh. “It was great getting to learn from him and being able to continue on what he started and put my own spin on it.”
Bowman, who is currently developing a television pilot inspired by his experiences building the Kennedy broadcasting program, said seeing Stone expand filmmaking opportunities into the community has been rewarding.
“When I met Ben, who was just so eager to learn, and I could tell loved it as much as I did, it was so much fun to share with him everything that I knew,” Bowman said. “The fact that now he’s trying to teach other people this lovely medium of film the same way I was able to teach him just makes me feel so good inside.”
Bowman said Stone was the clear choice to continue the program after he graduated.
“He was just so smart and constantly wanting to learn and better himself,” Bowman said. “The fact that now two years later it’s beyond what I could have ever possibly fathomed it would ever be is credit to him, and I’m just beyond impressed and amazed and proud of him.”
The summer library program will runrun on Wednesdays from 5 to 6 p.m. on July 8, July 15, Aug. 5, Aug. 12 and Aug. 19. Students will learn filmmaking vocabulary, story structure and production basics before splitting into groups to create short films that will be screened at the end of the program.
Stone said the curriculum focuses less on expensive technology and more on storytelling.
“I don’t want to just show these kids that this is what you can make with this fancy equipment,” he said. “But this is what you can make with even less. It’s mainly how to tell a story through film.”
Equipment for the workshops will be provided through Kennedy High School’s broadcasting program, which agreed to loan cameras and audio equipment during the summer months.
Stone also arranged for guest speakers, including actor and producer Mark Rosen, one of his former instructors, who will speak virtually with students about the film industry.
The Bellmore Memorial Library partnership was several months in the making, Stone said, involving meetings and coordination with the library’s children’s department to secure space for the workshops.
For Stone, the project is ultimately about helping young people find their voice through art.
“Art is powerful, straight up,” he said. “It’s our ability to express ourselves, it’s our ability to be different and be unique.”
