neighbors
5 Things You Should Know About
Melissa Goldfine
Filmmaking helps this Wayne teen break barriers
WRITTEN BY KATIE SOBKO
Israel project, because it shows that a
person can overcome differences, and
that’s something I relate to.”
WHILE GOLDFINE DIDN’T MAKE THE
TRIP TO ISRAEL, SHE IS THRILLED
TO WORK ON THE PROJECT. “I’m
excited about it,” she says. “I just got
to see the footage, and it might take
a while to work on, but I like editing
from the script. You get to do all the
hard work, and it’s fun for people to
see it.”
14
MAY 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
When the documentary is done, it
will be sent to local congregations so
that as many community members
as possible can see the work the
students have done.
SHE’S ALREADY AN EXPERIENCED
EDITOR. Goldfine says that she really
loves to edit film. She learned movie-
making skills last summer at New
Horizons Day Camp, which was
established in 2012 by two camp
professionals from Newark Academy
in Livingston. At New Horizons,
day campers pick up sports, art,
performance and technology skills
in an inclusive environment. “I’m
still working on my Moana [movie]
review,” says Goldfine. “It’s hard to
tell if it’s done, but I want to make
it as good as it can get. It’s like the
WHEN SHE’S NOT WORKING ON
FILMS, THE WAYNE HILLS HIGH
SCHOOL SENIOR LIKES TO ACT.
Goldfine recently acted in her
school’s production of The Addams
Family, and has also been in Grease,
Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins.
“I’ve done shows outside of school
too, like The Wedding Singer, Lion
King and Tarzan,” she says.
GOLDFINE’S SKILLS AREN’T LIMITED
TO THE ARTS, EITHER. She also com-
petes in the Special Olympics every
June. This year, she’s part of Team
Limitless; to prepare, she says, she
works out on Sundays at the Y. ■
T
hough only 17, Wayne
resident Melissa
Goldfine already has
a pretty full plate.
She is a student at
FilmAcademy360,
which is part of Spectrum360, a
nonprofit that offers extracurricular
activities for teens who may struggle
with learning and social challenges.
In March, the program sent a former
and a current student, as well as
two staff members, to Be’er Sheva,
Israel, to make a documentary about
a school that strives to break down
barriers between Jewish and Arab
children. In addition, 10 students
have been doing pre-production and
post-production work on the film.
Goldfine is involved in the editing
process.
SHE IS ONE OF SEVERAL STUDENTS
WORKING ON SEGMENTS. The
challenge is to whittle about five
hours of footage down to 20 minutes
for the documentary. Goldfine says
that her instructions are to make
a montage of the school children.
“They go to school together, and
they learn to get along,” she says.