Not shy in front of the camera as a child actor in Hollywood movies and national television commercials since the third grade, current Live Oak High School junior Samantha Sadoff decided to try being on the other side of the lens as a producer—and has found immediate success.
The 17-year-old student and president of her high school’s Future Business Leaders of American club was named an Honorable Mention Award recipient for this year’s White House Student Film Festival.
Drawing from the contest topic of “the impact of giving back and what that means to you,” Sadoff’s three-minute film features the FBLA’s Christmas caroling event that had its members visit three convalescent homes in Morgan Hill, including Pacific Manor. The 15 FBLA students, dressed as Santa Claus and his merry helpers, went room to room caroling holiday favorites such as “We wish you a Merry Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” for the residents.
The short film is titled “Crossing the Finish Line: The Joy of Helping Others.”
“I just thought about what giving back means to me and to me it means community services. That’s something that is very close to my heart,” said Sadoff, whose grandmother alerted her to the film contest in November. She started filming in December using her Cannon EOS Rebel T5i camera.
Her film—which she spliced and edited using Final Cut Pro on her MacBook laptop computer—was streamed on whitehouse.gov/live as part of the White House Film Festival earlier this month and can now be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=DE71F4PY3lg.
“It was a task. I spent a lot of long nights working on it. The splicing and editing is the hardest part,” said Sadoff, who cut down one hour of footage into the three-minute final product. “The holiday season is my favorite season…I love to spread the holiday cheer.”
Sadoff submitted her entry—one of 1,500 to do so—in February and was told she would hear back by the end of the month. When no notification came her way from the White House organizers, Sadoff was a bit disappointed. However, Sadoff was pleasantly surprised when she checked her email March 15 and was notified that she indeed was recognized as one of a handful of honorable mention filmmakers.
“I was so excited. I had tears of happiness,” recalled Sadoff, who also plans to submit her short film for entry into this year’s Poppy Jasper Film Festival, which is based in Morgan Hill. “I called my parents and then I called the rest of my family (to let them know that I was selected).”
Sadoff, who hopes to study film as well as psychology and/or neuroscience in college, has appeared in commercials for McDonald’s and Walmart. She has also earned acting roles in “Tropic Thunder” starring Ben Stiller, Disney’s “Monsters University” and several independent films. Recently, she was cast in the soon-to-be-in-theaters “Terminator Genesis.”
“I’ve been in the (film) industry all my life and I very much enjoy acting and being in front of the camera,” said Sadoff, who now has advanced her resume to include producing. “I really like to look at the world from a different perspective, tell the story through my eyes and direct the story as I see it.”
