Mahwah High School Filmmakers Shooting Romantic Thriller in Township

Lights. Camera. Action.

Two Mahwah High School sophomores are planning to make their dreams into realities this summer when they film and produce an original hour-long screenplay. The duo says their crew will be on location, filming throughout the township, and working on a project that they say will be the culmination of a years-long passion, and hopefully the start of film careers.

Kyle Dubiel and Max Mucha both hope to go to film school after they graduate from MHS in 2015. In preparation, the two have been working on their craft for years.

“We started just making videos on YouTube in sixth grade,” Dubiel said. Over the past four years, the two have refined their skills, even acquired an advanced video editing software and producing shorts.

Over a year ago, Dubiel decided he wanted to write a movie.

“Originally, the script was unrealistic, and way less mature,” he said of the film’s beginnings. So, he scrapped the original plot of the film – which included high intensity action scenes and over-the-top special effects – and replaced it with what they call a “romantic thriller.”

The plotline of the script, which the filmmakers say should produce about an hour-long movie, follows the relationship of two twenty-somethings whose exes complicate their romance.

Dubiel employed the help of his older cousin, who works as a script editor and sports website writer, to edit the script.

“He went through it with me line-by-line, and we went into metaphors, and style choices, and making the script really have a deeper meaning,” he said. “It made me a better writer.”

When Dubiel approached his longtime friend Mucha with the new script, he jumped on board, and the two decided to turn it into a professional production.

Earlier this year, they held auditions for six lead roles, assigned parts to extras, assembled a crew, and took on some creative partners.

“Our friend [fellow MHS student] Shane Curry is composing the entire score for the film,” Dubiel said. “He is insanely talented so we are really excited for that.”

Six other MHS students will star in the movie, and filming is set to happen all around Mahwah this summer.

Both future filmmakers plan to film and edit the project.

Funding the endeavor will cost about $1,500, thanks to a need for some pricey film equipment, like a shoulder mount and microphone kit for their cameras.

To help raise the money, the duo joined indiegogo, a website dedicated to helping aspiring movie producers bankroll projects. Through the website, supporters can donate money in exchange for different levels of access tot he film’s production.

So far, they have raised just over $1,000.

“People donating money is basically them putting their trust in us,” Mucha said. “It really makes it our job to do this right, and make sure there is a good finished product. It’s a really good feeling.”

The two hope to finish production on the movie – titled ‘Swimming Through Fire’ – by the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014. Though they both plan to use it for college applications, they hope it will have a bigger impact.

“We plan to submit it to film festivals, and just see what happens,” Dubiel said. “Who knows, maybe it’ll go somewhere.”

For now, they said working to actually produce an original piece is rewarding enough.

“This is the first time we are doing something that’s really good,” Dubiel said. “It’s exciting.”

Get updates about the film, follow its progress, or donate to the project here.

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