feature: teen profile
his summer, in a student-made film on student suicide, a
troubled high school valedictorian shot and killed himself
in front of his classmates at commencement ceremonies.
Budding producer-director-cameraman Danny Agar, 15, captured
the scene on film.
Danny, along with 10 other Detroit teens, was chosen to be on
the Fresh Films 2007 Detroit Team. From June 24-30, the teens,
four interns and executive producer Kelley Maher created a
short dramatic film called The Commencement.
learning
Each teen practiced different roles of filmmaking. Danny,
a sophomore at North Farmington High School, had no prior
skills; but he experienced the various duties. Each day was a new
adventure as the teens learned the difficulties of the business.
the ropes of
"One day we were on the phone the whole day finding loca-
tions for the shoot," Danny said.
filmmaking
They had trouble finding a location because their film was
about suicide. Eventually, Danny met with Principal
by Stephanie Steinberg
Rick Jones, who let the team shoot scenes in the North
Farmington auditorium and on the football field.
The shoot day lasted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. "That went
really long because we had a lot of camera problems," Danny
said. "By the end, we were rolling pretty fast."
The most difficult part was dealing with a script they didn't
write. The teens were given the general topic of drama and
submitted script ideas to a professional scriptwriter.
"Someone might have put something about a high school,
someone else about killing themselves — and the scriptwriter
all put that together," Danny said.
"I'm just proud of finishing the movie because we had a little
bit of time, and we didn't have all the resources like a professional
film company. We didn't have millions of dollars."
Danny also is delighted that the film received juror's pick. Each
film category — drama, action and comedy — contained three
films shot in different cities across the country. Viewers in the U.S.
T2T torah: nitzavim
logged onto the Fresh Films Web site Aug. 2-8 to watch the movies
and vote for the best film. While The Commencement didn't win, it won
jury's choice for drama.
Jury judges included Jeremy Coon, producer and editor of Napo-
leon Dynamite; Katherine Brooks, director of TV's 1 he Real World and
The Osbournes. Having a film judged by famous producers and direc-
tors "made me think that I really have a chance to make a name for
myself in the movie business," Danny said.
He is considering going into filmmaking. "I'd rather be a direc-
tor because they have so much more say, and they work with the
creative side of movies," he said.
Danny already has gotten a start on his career. He and two friends,
Baxter Trapp and Jeremy Burnstein of North Farm-
ington, have started a production company called
Tab Productions. The teens create video montages
for b'nai mitzvah and videotape the events.
Stephanie Steinberg, 17, is a senior at North Farmington
High School.
Log onto www.fresh-films.com to view The Commencement. Visit tabfilms.
corn for more information on Danny's business.
by Seth Samuels
all of us standing at Sinai
I knocked on the door and she said, "Let me just get
know? Programs like the North American Federation of
into my chair."
Temple Youth's (NFTY) Mitzvah Corps, where I spent my
ally opened the door, I looked down at a frail old lady
High School
{ web surfing/Jewish sites abound
by Ariella Yedwab
I heard a faint groan from within. When she eventu-
Danny Agar, 15, on location at his school, North Farmington
summer and met the woman I described, are thriving
with teens taking control and making changes.
sitting in a wheelchair. I handed her the food I had
Then, when I came home I joined a group of lo-
brought, knowing that this would probably be her only
Nowadays, one staple of teen life is a computer, and with it comes the Inter-
net. Whether it's Instant Messaging with friends, looking up a historical event
for homework or perusing the latest styles in an online catalog, teenagers
have found a plethora of Web sites to not only interest them, but also to fit
their exact needs.
Along with daily necessities such as Google and Wikipedia, numerous teens
have added Jewish Web sites to their online surfing arsenal as a new form of
cal teenagers working with "Summer in the City," an
learning about our rich culture, history and tradition. Check these out:
• Jewish-languages.org: Teaches about the Jewish languages that were
meal of the day and that I would most likely be the only
extraordinary teen service group here in Detroit. And
widely spread across the globe, how each differs and how they each subtly
person she would see.
this spring, my youth group, YFTI (Youth Federation of
developed over time.
After our short visit, I got up to leave. She looked
Temple Israel), will be traveling to Costa Rica on an
me straight in the eyes and smiled brightly. No words
alternative spring break program. Juniors and seniors
were necessary.
will travel south, not to party, but to be part of the solu-
In the Shabbat Torah portion just preceding the High
tion to help poverty and illiteracy.
Holidays, Nitzavim, we find the famous line, "You stand
I know that there is much to criticize about my gen-
this day, all of you, before the Lord your God." The rab-
• Ktay.com: This site is a Jewish version of amazon.com , selling many
different books, haggadot and holiday toys.
• Jewfaq.org: An online teacher about Judaism, its holidays and the Jew-
ish calendar. With these are four different levels of teaching, ranging from the
basics to gentile knowledge.
eration. We can be lazy, disrespectful and materialistic,
• Jewishblogging.com: A large blog about Jewish topics, such as holiday
bis believed that because the Torah is the word of God
and adults probably don't like our music very much;
and therefore perfect, it cannot be redundant. Because
but I also believe that many of this generation realize
cooking, Jews in business, the Jewish religion and even Yiddish.
• Jrants.com: A Jewish blogging site that focuses on happenings in Israel
the first word "you" is plural, why then the need for the
that it is like we, too, were standing at
phrase "all of you"? According to the midrash, "all of
Sinai receiving God's commandments
and the Jewish World.
We want to know your favorite sites — Jewish or not! Send us an e-mail at
you" refers not only to the 600,000 Israelites standing
... all of us!
kcohen@thejewishnews.com with Web addresses of your favorite sites and
there that day, but to all of us as well.
Arlene Yedwab, 16, attends West
why you like them and we'll share therii with Teen2Teen readers. Put "T2T
I believe my generation understands this 3,000-
year-old responsibility of mitzvot deeply. How do I
2
Bloomfield High School.
Web sites" in the subject line.
Seth Samuels, 16, is a junior at Birmingham Groves High School.