Former Central High School students Angel Rivera, Meagan Rodriguez seek donations to complete film at New York University

Years after acting together and creating short films for the fun of it at Springfield Central High School, Meagan Rodriguez and Angel Rivera are still working on films. Only now they are using real actors and have to manage a very real budget.

Both are students at New York University?s Tisch School of the Arts, and Rivera is working on his thesis project for his Advanced Production class, a film called ?Scratch and Blow,? with the help of Rodriguez , fellow film student Ela Topcuoglu and hopefully some donations from back home.

Although the school provides most of the technical equipment, students are expected to find their own locations, transport the actors and pay any location permit fees on their own, Rodriguez said.

Their initial goal was to raise $10,000, but with only a few weeks left until filming begins, they have only been able to raise $2,700.

"We are used to working with a very low budget and we have reduced our costs so that we can still manage to make the movie with $5,000 or $6,000, but we are still short of that," Rodriguez said.

While many students on campus have parents or friends who are producers, the pair from Springfield, is depending on donations to make the film a reality.

"We both have a passion and a love for art and film and we want to make a movie that reflects where we came from and the struggles many of us face to try and make it," he said.

While the film is set in New York City, Rivera said it tackles issues dealing with street culture and urban environments everywhere.

"It's about poverty and struggle," he said. "It's about the things people do to try to survive and better their lives."

The film focuses on a winning scratch ticket, a love triangle and the struggles of a single mother.

The son of Puerto Rican parents, Rivera is the first in his immediate family to attend college.

?My parents did not get a college education, but they were always adamant that I go to college,? he said.

Rivera said he hopes that other kids who grew up like him can see that there are opportunities available if you are willing to work for them.

"I had to work really hard, but now here I am a senior at NYU making films, and I feel so honored to represent where I came from," he said.

Rodriguez , who is Portuguese and Puerto Rican and a junior at the university, envisioned herself making ?artsy, dramatic films,? until she got to New York.

?It seemed like everyone was making artsy films and no one was really telling stories that were influenced by urban culture," she said.

Both have a love of film. Rivera is more interested in writing and directing, and Rodriguez is interested in editing.

?I like working with Meagan because she can see the end result and how things should be pieced together. A lot of times as a writer or director you are very focused on a scene in the moment and not on how it all works together in the end,? he said.

Rivera is an intern at Focus Features and hopes to apply for a job there when he graduates.

Rodriguez is working with an editor for Spike Lee's production company and hopes to continue there after she completes her studies.

To donate visit : www.indiegogo.com/scratchandblow or email scratchandblow@gmail.com or alr467@ nyu.edu.

Source: http://www.masslive.com/living/index.ssf/2012/12/former_central_high_school_students_angel_rivera_and_meagan_rodriguez_in_need_of_donations_to_comple.html

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