A fluffy panda captured the voters across the nation, as Andover Movie Makers Club’s “Pandamonium” entry won second place in the Green Cup Challenge National Video Competition. “Winning second place with our video was very meaningful and I am so glad that our short film contributed to raising awareness about the environment,” said Nick Camarda ’12, Co-President of the Movie Makers Club. Pandamonium featured Michael Camarda ’14, Jeannine Anderson ’11, Andries Feder ’13, Michelle Hantman ’12, Jean Kim’12, David Myers ’12, David Tylinski ’12 and Nick Camarda ’12. “I think our video was selected by students as the best out of the three video submissions for the school competition because our video is funny and a lot of people can relate to it,” said Nick Camarda. In the film, a furry panda approaches different groups of students on campus to remind them of the severe repercussions of littering and wasting electricity and water. Since pandas are endangered species, members of Movie Maker’s Club felt the panda would be a fitting symbol for preserving resources and conserving energy. Nick Camarda said he felt winning the school wide competition was especially meaningful given the time constraint that the club faced. “We had received the email about the competition only a week before it was due this year and it was a big feat to plan and get the filming and editing done in one week,” said Nick Camarda. Before its submission to the national competition, Pandamonium was selected from videos entered in to the Phillips Academy Green Cup Movie Challenge. Michelle Hantman ’12, a member of the Movie Makers Club said, “The competition was really fun to be a part of. It was great opportunity to be creative and have fun making a video while sending out an important message. I also enjoyed watching the videos from all the other schools and seeing how they are making an effort to go green just like us.” Nick Camarda hoped that the Pandamonium win would remind students of the importance of energy conservation. “Changing the temperature of your body by two degrees gives you a fever, so doing the same to the environment can really be detrimental,” said Nick Camarda. Alec D’Alelio ’14 said, “Not only was the video hilarious but it also made me look at recycling in a new light”. Last year, Phillips Academy’s entry, “Go Green or Go Home” by Michael Kontaxis ‘11, placed third in the in the Green Cup Challenge National Video Competition.
