Hands down it’s “Talk to the Hand”

June was a very good month for filmmaker Chris Murphy, a student at Niskayuna High School. His film, “Talk to the Hand,” earned the prestigious Best of Show honors at the annual Rod Serling Video Festival in Binghamton on June 5. The festival showcases the work of film students from kindergarten through high school from all around the country.

In addition to Murphy, several other local Nippertown filmmakers also earned trophies at the fest. Guilderland High School’s Max Collins snagged the Best Comedy trophy for his film, “Definitely,” while the Tamarac High School team of Amy Berger and Jon Brust grabbed Best Screenplay honors for “The Bloody Mary Experience.”

But there was still more good news in store for Chris Murphy in June.

Two weeks later, Murphy’s film – a short subject comedy that he wrote, directed and starred in – took home the top trophy as Best Animated Film at the CineYouth Festival in Chicago. Held in conjunction with the Chicago International Film Festival, the CineYouth Fest showcased the works of nearly 100 student filmmakers from throughout the nation.

In addition to “Talk to the Hand,” several other films by Niskayuna students were also screened at the fest, including Chris Perrella’s “Sir David and the Dragon,” Alena Bogoly’s “Daughter of the Mask” and “Roberry” by James Belcastro and Matt Cioffi.

Congrats to Murphy and all of the filmmakers of tomorrow.