Adelphi student film
accepted into film festival
Paul Heilman is your average 26-year-old beeper salesman living a boring life until he meets Bobs, a spirited homeless man who befriends Paul and his perspective on life.
This plot line is at the heart of A Man Named Bob, one of the films recently accepted into the Long Island International Film Expo and was written, directed and shot by recent Adelphi University graduate Justin Magaldi.
“I found out [about being accepted] coming home from a concert,” said Magaldi. “I read the email and it was really exciting. I wanted to see it in other film festivals and thought it would be so cool to see and I accomplished that goal.”
Magaldi knew he wanted to get into film toward the end of his high school career at Chaminade High School after helping his brother and others with their own film projects. The script for his recently accepted film came a few years after, while Magaldi was learning his own lessons about life.
“I wrote the script during some midnight runs, delivering food to homeless people,” said the aspiring filmmaker. “I had [experiences] with the homeless there and wanted a script with some comedy and more of a lesson with a lot more detail and depth.”
The film, which was mostly shot last November of 2012 in Garden City had its earliest visions of casting from a website for local actors, Nycastings.com. Magaldi and his crew rented out a studio where auditions were held. As fate would have it, another Adelphi alumni who graduated a few years before Magaldi played the protagonist, as Paul.
Paul’s character was sought to convey the main theme of the film, which, according to Magaldi, was one of a man’s journey to find love in life.
“The theme of it [the film] is a main character who is learning to settle with his life,” says Magaldi. “Live a life doing what you love and living that life full of love.”
For the young film major, pre-production with casting and writing scripts is the favorite part of the process.
“It’s really exciting to organize and the filming is great too,” says Magaldi.
After graduation, the Mineola native was hired full-time as the director of Faith Formation at St. Mary of the Isle, where he manages both the religious education program and the youth ministry. He teaches classes, plans youth group meetings and parish events.
Despite the full time employment, Magaldi still hopes to pursue film in the future. He’s currently working with friends from school for shooting and filming, developing a website for pre-production and eventually to do more television.
“More so the nuts and bolts is the goal of it,” said Magaldi. “I want to be seen more as a producer.”
