Milford film wins award for Black Bear festival volunteer

MILFORD — High school senior Jonathan Weisbrod of Union, N.J., a longtime volunteer at the Black Bear Film Festival, has won the N.J. State PTA’s top honor in film/video for his short about Milford. The film will be shown throughout this year’s BBFF Film Salon Oct. 12-14. The PTA’s “Reflections” contest honors students in various artistic fields, each year based around a theme. Weisbrod’s winning film was for the 2007 theme of “My Favorite Place,” for which he chose the Pike County borough. “Milford and filmmaking go hand-in-hand for me,” says Weisbrod, who began volunteering at Black Bear when he was only 13. “My love for both developed synonymously. Movies are a big reason why Milford is my favorite place.” Noted since inception for encouraging students, the Black Bear Film Festival has been an inspiration to Weisbrod, who plans to major in filmmaking in college next year. His years of volunteering at the festival have enabled him to meet many visiting filmmakers, including director Jordan Roberts (“Road to Perdition”, “Around the Bend”) and documentary maker Judy Irving (“Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”), as well as up-and-coming filmmakers from NYU, Columbia and other prestigious film schools. The highly regarded independent film festival (www.blackbearfilm.com), now in its 8th year, has been a grant finalist from the Academy Awards. An actor and musical theatre player as well as a filmmaker, Weisbrod made his film debut in Mark Christopher’s “Pizza,” which was filmed in Milford in 2004. Among a long list of credits, he has since acted in Kean University’s equity play, “Dark Part of the Forest,” with Broadway actress Sarah Hyland. An honor student active also in student government, Weisbrod has won other state achievements: he is Vice President of NJ’s State Student Council. His website is at www.jonathanweisbrod.com. He is the son of David Weisbrod and Joan White Weisbrod, owners of White Realty Co. in Union, N.J.