‘Romeo & Juliet’ Joins the High School Film Festival Lineup

Romeo and Juliet Movie Photo

Sorry to admit this but I’ve never heard of the All-American High School Film Festival. It’s apparently a new festival created by filmmaker Andrew Jenks (World of Jenks) and is designed as an outlet for high school students to show off their talent via short films. And while it’s in its inaugural year, the festival’s attracted big names to serve as judges, including Diablo Cody (Juno), Dylan McDermott (Hostages), Morgan Spurlock (One Direction: This Is Us), Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan), Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), Henry Winkler (Arrested Development), Danny Rose (Scrubs) and Carlton Cuse (Lost).

Jenks and the festival have just announced the festival’s opening film will be the new Romeo & Juliet adaptation by writer Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) and director Carlo Carlei. The cast is led by Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld and includes Damian Lewis, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ed Westwick, Stellan Skarsgard, and Paul Giamatti.

The All-American High School Film Festival will be held at the AMC Empire in New York and will run October 4-6, 2013. Commenting on the festival, Jenks said, “I had no idea that High School students were capable of such amazing work. Simply put: these films blew me away! The future of filmmaking is bright. I am thrilled that the festival will connect talented students with valuable resources.”

For more info on the festival, visit hsfilmfest.com.