Farewell and Thank you
Matthew Montalto
Movies are an escape from reality. Whether it was during the wartime to distract people from the horrors of society, or during the depression when it was cheap enough to have a couple of hours to pretend you were living someone else’s life, or just when stress takes over and you need to walk away, movies are there a the escape. For me however, movies are a reality thanks to Cinema Workshop. After four years of being a member of Cinema Workshop, it is my time to move on and say goodbye.
When I was a freshman coming to Rowan, Cinema Workshop was what fueled me. I would come to the general meetings and sit on the floor in Bozorth 166 if need be. I felt like a wide-eyed kid again when we got to shoot our first short on 16mm film. My dream was coming true thanks to Cinema Workshop; I felt like a real filmmaker. After that day of shooting on 16mm, I remember calling my mother in excitement. As months went by Cinema Workshop taught me more than I could ever have dreamed of. I was able to work on various projects from stop-motion animation, to being a grip on In Your Face, Grace, to wrapping out my freshman year as an assistant camera operator on The Broken Gun miniseries.
Years went by and I had the opportunity to move up in the ranks on various productions until Cinema Workshop helped me define myself as a filmmaker. Cinema Workshop guided me in finding my niche in camera and lighting and then gave me the tools and their trust to make scripts a reality. It has been an absolute privilege to have worked on shorts like Sack Man, Plumbers Day Off, The Broken Gun, Biding My Time, and Tides.
Looking back now as a graduating senior, Cinema Workshop had blessed me with so much experience working on films, but did one step further as well, it introduced me to my best friends. People alway say that Cinema Workshop becomes a family and that is one of it’s greatest attributes. “I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.” –Francis Ford Coppola. Thank you Cinema Workshop for showing me the magic in filmmaking.Matthew Montalto