Creative Writing Scholarship Winner Dreaming Big
The movie Slumdog Millionaire recounts a number of lifechanging incidents in the childhood and youth of a young man from Mumbai - so it’s fitting that watching the film was a life-changer for Keene State senior Rebecca Costanzo.
“I’ve loved movies since I was a kid,” says Costanzo. “It comes down to this moment when I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, which came out in 2008 when I was a freshman in high school. I left the movie theatre and I said to my mom, ‘I want to do that. I want to make films.’”
Specifically, Costanzo hopes to put her writing talents to use in the movie industry, penning screenplays or working with scripts. The film production major/writing minor, who came to Keene State specifically for its film program, picked up a big honor – and some substantial financial help – when she won the Eder Creative Writing Endowed Scholarship for 2014-15.
Established by Doris Eder, who served Keene State as dean of Program Development and Graduate Studies from 1978 to 1982, and her husband, Donald Eder, the scholarship award was designed to give exceptional students who plan to pursue careers in writing a chance to work closely with faculty and develop as writers during their senior year.
“It offsets my tuition for both semesters, which is just amazing,” says Costanzo, who is no slouch in her other academic endeavors, either. She’s kept up her grade-point average at Keene State, meaning the Dean’s Scholarship she was granted her first year has been renewed every year since.
Her childhood dream of making films? She’s already fulfilling it. Last year, for a course that required her to make a short movie the “old-fashioned way,” using 16 mm black-and-white film, she started with a poem she’d written about the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which is not far from her Connecticut home town, and added narration and images.
This year, for a two-semester film production course, she’s part of a team of six students creating what she calls “a documentary with a twist” or a “docu-narrative.” The film is called Dream Big; the students are interviewing children and elderly people, talking to them about their hopes and dreams. They’re looking for contrasts and connections between the kids and the seniors, and they plan to intersperse the interviews with dramatizations.
“So much happens between those two stages of life,” says Costanzo, who’s taken the lead in the interviewing. She’s learned a few things in the process. For one, it can be hard to draw children out. For another, older folks are just as interested and curious about life as young ones. “A lot of elderly people we’ve talked with have said, ‘Well, I haven’t reached the end of my life yet. I still have plenty of things I’m going to do,’” she says. “So it’s really interesting.”
After graduation, Costanzo hopes to find work in New York City. Her goal is to write screenplays, but the movie business is a tough one so she plans to try to get her foot in the door by seeking work as a production assistant.
“I’m very grateful that different choices have helped lead me to where I am,” she says. “And I’m incredibly grateful to have received the Eder Scholarship. I really did not think I was going to get it – it’s a creative campus. So when I submitted my portfolio for review, I had my fingers crossed. And when I was selected, it was incredible. I was very proud. I haven’t had a chance to meet the Eders, because they weren’t able to come to the recognition ceremony, but I did write them a letter to say thanks.”