Whiz Kid: Brandon Ferriero

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Brandon Ferriero           

Whiz Kid’s Age: 13

Whiz Kid’s Grade: Eighth Grade                       

Whiz Kid’s School: Galloway Township Middle School

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: At the age of 13, Brandon Ferriero has already made two movies and is working on a third, all through his production company, Bam Productions, that have been produced on DVD and are available for sale on the company’s website

Whiz Kid’s Keys to Awesomeness:

Some people start a production and company and have three movies under their belt by the time they’re 32 years old. Brandon Ferriero has a 19-year head start.

Ferriero, his older brother and three of their friends are involved in a production company called Bam Productions. Together, they have created two movies that are currently available on DVD, and can be purchased at their website, bamproductionsworld.webs.com, and they are currently working on a third, entitled “Runaways.”

Bam Productions also has a Facebook page.

The first movie, “End of the World,” is a comedy about Armageddon. The second, “Pepe in the Woods,” is a murder mystery about a boy who finds a dead body in the woods.

“Runaways” will be about kids who run away from home and encounter a kidnapper. They then spend the movie running away from him.

“My friend Michael Moore and I both got laptops one year for Christmas,” Ferriero said. “We started out filming with our webcams.”

They have since begun to use video cameras, and use Pinnacle Studio and AVS Video Edit programs to edit the films. So far, they have sold their movies to neighbors.

Ferriero does most of the filming using his camera, but they also have a tripod so he can appear in some scenes.

According to his mother, Judy, Brandon prefers to work behind the scenes. He handled the lighting for the production of Beauty and the Beast Junior at Galloway Township Middle School over the weekend.

His cousin attends the Art and Film Institute in New York, and Ferriero said he hopes to follow his path.

Ferriero doesn’t know anyone else his age who is doing anything similar, and his parents weren’t interested in this field, Judy Ferriero said.

“I like photography, but I’m not into film,” Judy Ferriero said. “He and his friend do all the editing and the sound effects, and I get amazed by all this stuff.”

Brandon Ferriero is also on a traveling soccer team, competes in cross country and track and field at the middle school, is an alter server at Assumption Catholic Church and is a straight A student who takes Algebra, Advanced Writing and Advanced English.

Editor’s Note:

Although the school year is over, there are still plenty of Whiz Kids out there waiting to be recognized. Little leaguers, travel teams, summer camps, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, students who were overlooked during the school year and those making general contributions to the community are all potential Whiz Kids.

Send recommendations to Anthony.Bellano@patch.com.