Miami's reputation continues to be smeared. We were recently voted fourth rudest city in America and third stupidest. (There's more, but we refuse to list them all -- too depressing). So be grateful for the PR boost by a couple of teenagers from Miami Beach Senior High. They won first place in Oceans 2030: Youth Outlook Multimedia Contest for their video "Garbage Monsters." And NPR recently made this short their Video Pick of the Week.
In it, a nonchalant beachgoer (with a freaking fantastic afro) litters an empty sunscreen bottle only to be terrorized by a grabby trash monster. But do we really need to remind folks not to throw crap on the ground? Based on what we saw at the beach this weekend -- yes, yes we do.
If only every rude, selfish infraction was met with such George Romero-like consequences, perhaps our Magic City would climb to the top of quality of life rankings. Cut someone off in traffic? Then a car full of zombies will chase you down and eat your flesh.
"Garbage Monsters" was the first-place winner in the video competition at Oceans 2030: Youth Outlook, where
teenagers share their visions for our oceans over the next 20 years. It's
part of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) 11th annual
Conference on Our Changing Oceans.
The filmmaker students, Esteban Valencia, Eduardo Hernandez and Randi Levey, produced the innovative short in under a week after participating in One Water Workshop, an environmental, filmmaking summer course sponsored the Miami World Cinema Center, Big Blue & You Foundation, and the University of Miami.
Miami Beach Senior, the alma mater of entertainers as varied as Barbara Waters, Luther Campbell,
Brett Ratner, and Mickey Rourke, has a film club run by Gina Cunningham.
Last May, we told you about their short film festival. They've also won
shorts in Miami International Film Festival competitions and have made a
commercial for Discovery Kids En Espanol. Keep an eye on this young talent, and don't be a litter bug -- unless you want that trash to come to life just to slap you.
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