Student Filmmaker Debuts Latest Flick On Saturday

“Cant’ Even” is the latest film written and directed by Clarkstown North High School junior Augustus “Gus” Fisher. The film, which will be shown on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at Clarkstown North, is a high school romantic comedy with original music.

Fisher’s previous student film “Mystery on Main Street,” co-produced with fellow student Matt Marchese won the Silver Telly Award for Best Student Film, “Best Drama” at the Hendrick Hudson Film Festival, and “Best Student Screenplay” at the International Family Film Festival.

“Like most teenagers, music is central to my life.  I thought it made a lot of sense to tell the story of high school characters with music,” said Fisher. “A lot of people can relate to the story of (main characters) Neil and Ember, and music is a great way tell that story.” 

The film was made in conjunction with Clarkstown North’s music technology & TV studio, as was Fisher’s previous movie. There will be a Q&A with the student filmmaker, cast and crew after the show. Admission is free to the screening.

The cast of Can’t Even includes leads actors Scott Weiner as Neil, Brielle Monte Lipstein as Holly and Elena Conte as Ember.  Weiner and Lipstein performed their own vocals.  The film also co-stars Caitlin Wolper as Debra, Kevin Sheldon as Chase, Andy Mosner as Greg and Julia Cahn as Tissue Girl.

“I was very lucky to have such a talented and dedicated cast and crew,” said Fisher.  They showed up every day prepared and ready to go.  One parent said of the crew, ‘I guess these kids have nothing else to do.’  I was like no these are film people.  We’re passionate about filmmaking, and dedicated to it, and we want to keep getting better at it.” 

The movie features more than 30 extras. Many of them took part in a big dance number with choreography that began the film shoot. 

Fisher enlisted the help of fellow North student and songwriter Femi Popoola to write the lyrics and music for “Imagination,” the song that kicks off the movie and its romance.  The other songwriter was Fisher’s cousin and musician Gregory Eisman. 

Fisher wrote the lyrics for “Can’t Even” and “Sorry Ember” and Eisman wrote the music. Eisman wrote the music for “Neil’s Polka.” Much of the music was recorded in Fisher’s music tech class with the help of teacher Patrick Magliano II.

“Mr. Magliano helped make sure that the quality of the soundtrack was up to par,” said Fisher. “It’s amazing that we had the resources from North to record the music with such high quality equipment.” 

The film crew composed of North students also had assistance from North’s TV Studio and access to film production equipment. The film was made during the first week of summer vacation. The crew consisted of: Jake Butcher; Evan Carrobis; Austin Gold; Shelby Hogui; Ethan Jaynes; Walter Lauer; Matt Marchese; George Monard; Sarath Panicker; Miskat Rahman and Peter Schauer.

“We got so much support from the school district and high school,” said Fisher. “It was fantastic. I am very lucky as a student filmmaker to have their support. It’s an amazing vote of confidence.”

North TV Studio students have had more than 250 screenings across the country and more than 75 awards including nine Telly Awards, three student Emmys, and two Cine Golden Eagles. It has been one of the top high school programs in the country for the last 16 years. 

“The studio provides an opportunity for students to create documentaries, animations, and films for local educational access, state, and national festivals,” explained English teacher David Kaminski who heads up the studio.

Support for the screening came from Illumination Production Services, Inc. in West Haverstraw, Dental Deals Online in Congers, the Clarkstown Central School District and Clarkstown North High School.