A film project started by two Great Neck South High School students is racking up accolades.
Jessica Tamari, a senior, and Jagger Cardinale, a junior, formed 7Miles Film Studios three years ago after taking an advanced film production class at South.
“We were so in love with the [filmmaking] process and wanted to do something all year round, so we started making movies,” Tamari said.
She said what started as a small group has grown to include more than 25 teens who produce films without any adult supervision.
These are not just run-of-the-mill home movies, either.
“The Echoes of Elara,” a short horror film 7Miles released in 2024, has been recognized at film festivals across the country.
The movie was selected at the Astoria Youth Film Festival, won a silver medal at the New York Film Alliance Film Festival in the horror category and Cardinale and Tamari both snagged best director awards at the Rochester Teen Film Festival for the movie.
At the national Telly Awards, “The Echoes of Elara” took home a silver in the student filmmaking category.
“That was a really big award,” said Cardinale. “We bought the statue, and it was just such a great experience.”
Fans will have the opportunity to see the 7Miles drama “The Rhythm Within” screened at the Times Square AMC on Oct. 19 as a selection of the All American High School Film Festival.
Another one of their shorts, 2024’s “The Bright Side of Gray,” was recognized in the best drama category of the New York Film Alliance Film Festival.
“We feel seen by the industry and [are] even more determined to make films,” Cardinale said.
Aside from one project, for which they used adult actors, Tamari said that all of their films are staffed exclusively by teens.
“Sound crew, lighting crew, editors, directors, scriptwriters, that’s all, kids,” she said. “We love having it student-led.”
Tamari added that this allows 7Miles to be more creative and tell stories that accurately reflect their experiences as young people.
Besides some experience through classes at school, Cardinale said that their crew is all self-taught.
“We’ve just been learning off of each other,” he said, “and also YouTube, that’s a great help.”
This, along with limited equipment, means that they sometimes have to improvise.
“For “Echoes of Elara” we needed a red light to fade in, and we used a red folder over a white light,” Tamari said.
Cardinale said they have slowly been accumulating more equipment after starting with just their phones and iPads, adding that they can sometimes check gear out from school.
The duo is working on setting up a website, but said that for now, their projects can be found on their YouTube channels. Cardinale’s is called @jaggerrc, while Tamari’s is @Joyzica.
As for 7Miles’s future, Tamari said that she wants it to continue once she graduates from college, perhaps as a nonprofit.
“I hope that we can both be mentors,” she said, referring to Cardinale. “We can give advice to all the kids who are going to keep 7Miles going.”
Tamari aims to study medicine once high school is over, but she said that she wants to continue making movies in her free time if she can.
Cardinale aspires for his work to launch him into a career in the industry.
“It’s my passion [and] I want to be able to learn and share that knowledge with the 7Miles family,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, we do all learn from each other.”
