Students’ Film to Premiere Tuesday Night

Medford High School students and TV3 spent five months putting together a film about gang violence that is premiering tonight. Above, the Medford Police “arrest” some of the student actors in the film. Photo courtesy Dawn Natalia.

– Allison Goldsberry

TV3 Manager Dawn Natalia already had a script in place when she approached Medford High School students about making a film.

The film, “Wise Boyz,” was about a confused teen that wants to join a gang and the disastrous consequences that follow. The idea was inspired by Natalia’s work with Scene: Teens, a non-profit she founded that mentors teens in movie-making while providing positive models of commitment and teamwork.

After it became apparent that the students’ interests didn’t fit the original script, Natalia threw it out and created a new storyline together with the students.

“It was important to me that any student that wanted to participate get the chance to be involved, so I threw out the script and decided to rebuild with the interested students,” said Natalia.

The result was a movie with the basic outline of the original story and dialogue that was entirely improv.

“I asked questions of the kids about their impressions of what gangs are. We then asked each of them what kind of role they wanted to play, a good kid or a bad kid, and created new characters for them based on their desires,” said Natalia.

The kids worked hard on the film, spending five months of Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays in the TV3 studio preparing for scenes and then shooting on location throughout the community.

The film was shot entirely in Medford, including the high school, Medford Square, and the Oak Grove Cemetery for a dramatic scene in which the students spray paint a (fake) monument.

Even the police and fire departments, along with Armstrong Ambulance, had cameos, and Pranzi’s Pizza lent props for a pizza delivery scene that turned violent in the film.

“I am very proud of the kids, and very pleased with the support of this project, which was a true community effort,” said Natalia.

The film stars Peter Ziobro as Petey, the confused teen that wants to join a gang. The gang members are played by Tommy Brogan, Corey Sapienza, James Alcide, Mike Grossi, Diogo Farroni, and Kristen Tusini. Alyssa Shoop plays Petey’s little sister, and Tori Barry plays her friend Mac, who has a crush on Petey. Tenzin Wangden plays a pizza delivery boy.

The 30-minute film is premiering Tuesday night at 7PM at the Caron Theater at Medford High. After that it will be aired on TV3 and will appear on the internet, as Hollywood producers, impressed with a two-minute trailer of the film, have offered TV3 $3,500 to break the film into ten 3-minute “webisodes.”