FILMMAKERS
DEMONSTRATING
SKILLS MICHAEL SCOTTI, JR., 26 SHOWING COMMITMENT
A GOOD MATCH: Scotti edited wedding videos part-time SETTING THE SCENE: Taylor was a 16-year-old home-school-
er in Bloomfield when she searched online for ways to get
experience in the communications field, and stumbled
upon information about the inaugural Montclair Film
Festival. During the run-up to the week-long event, she
volunteered in the MFF office. “Even if you’re only organ-
izing shelves or taking out the trash, you’re learning about
how administration works,” she says.
DOCUMENTING THE FESTIVAL: During this and following
festivals, Taylor volunteered on the videography and
editing team, filming lines of people going into venues,
and Q&A sessions with directors and celebrities, such as
Richard Gere and Stephen Colbert. “I was a camera oper-
ator once, and I was only 17 or 18,” she says. Her favorite
aspect of volunteering for MFF has been “sampling every-
thing, because film producers need to know about all the
skills involved.”
BIG DEVELOPMENTS: In 2013, while still in high school,
Taylor did volunteer work for MFF with ACIEM Studios,
a New Jersey-based media production and development
company that then sponsored and promoted the festival.
An internship for them in her junior year of college turned
into a paying part-time job in marketing and production.
This May, she will be graduating from MSU with a
bachelor degree in communication in media arts. ■
while attending MSU, and was months from receiving
his BFA in filmmaking when he learned that MFF was
looking for a videographer. That February, he shot the
festival’s annual pre-Oscar party; the following year, he
videotaped its opening night. Last year, he edited the
40-second promo video that’s played before each film
presentation.
STAYING IN THE PICTURE: I became good friends with
Neil Grabowsky, who ran the photo team,” he says.
“He offered to put me to work so I wouldn’t have to
move.” Scotti produced videos for Grabowsky, and
served as his in-house editor.
MORE WORK, AND ANOTHER WEDDING: Now living in
Nutley, Scotti has for the past two years worked as a
freelance editor for Major League Baseball; in 2015,
his MLB Network team won a Sports Emmy for its
flagship show, MLB Tonight. His work shooting
promo events and a DOC NYC video for Thom
Powers has also led to the two partnering on a podcast
of documentary filmmaker interviews. In January,
Scotti helped produce the podcasts with Powers at
the Sundance Film Festival. But despite juggling all
these projects, in May he’ll make time for one more –
his own wedding.
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MAY 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
MORGAN TAYLOR, 22