FIELD TRIP
THE NEW JERSEY FILM ACADEMY
SOCKO! Spent a day at the New Jersey Film Academy at Brookdale Community College with the future stars of Garden State’s film industry. What we learned: Dreams are contagious.
Photography by Vishnu Nair and Antonio Johnson
Written by Angela Matusik, Editor in Chief, Socko!
THE NEW JERSEY FILM ACADEMY
SOCKO! Spent a day at the New Jersey Film Academy at Brookdale Community College with the future stars of Garden State’s film industry. What we learned: Dreams are contagious.
Photography by Vishnu Nair and Antonio Johnson
Written by Angela Matusik, Editor in Chief, Socko!
It’s a busy Wednesday at Brookdale Community College. Students ranging in age from 18 to 61 are slipping into rooms for their spring semester classes, which range from Script to Screen: An Introduction to the Entertainment Industry (taught by SOCKO! co-founder Adam Nelson) to Hair and Makeup for Film to Assistant Editing. Everyone here has two things in common: They live in New Jersey, and their dream is to work in film production right here in their home state.
“My current class alone has people from all walks of life,” says Jamila Aboushaca from Secaucus. “A blue-collar retiree, teachers, new students, seasoned students. I have met fellow New Jerseyans from all different life experiences in our state each with a story of their own. Wouldn’t it be a gift to tell them together?”
“The New Jersey Film Academy is an incredible institution that teaches you the real in's and out's of the film industry that you never hear about,” says Jay Morales from Old Bridge. “Not only that, it connects you with an incredible resource of talent with your peers so that you don't have to wait to create something spectacular- you can dive in headfirst and begin to create movie magic immediately.”
After spending the day hanging out with Morales, Aboushaca, and dozens others, one thing is clear. NJFA is way more than a school. It’s a tight community of like-minded talents, who have every intention of making great things together for a long, long time. Christopher Juliano from Asbury Park puts it this way. “The New Jersey Film Academy was where I found my home. I was surrounded by others who all appreciated the creative process and the hard work which is required to achieve their desired vision,” he says, adding “ I have made lifelong friends.”
SOCKO! enlisted two of those talented students, Antonio Johnson and Vishnu Nair to turn their lenses on their fellow students and introduce their faces to the world.
“My current class alone has people from all walks of life,” says Jamila Aboushaca from Secaucus. “A blue-collar retiree, teachers, new students, seasoned students. I have met fellow New Jerseyans from all different life experiences in our state each with a story of their own. Wouldn’t it be a gift to tell them together?”
“The New Jersey Film Academy is an incredible institution that teaches you the real in's and out's of the film industry that you never hear about,” says Jay Morales from Old Bridge. “Not only that, it connects you with an incredible resource of talent with your peers so that you don't have to wait to create something spectacular- you can dive in headfirst and begin to create movie magic immediately.”
After spending the day hanging out with Morales, Aboushaca, and dozens others, one thing is clear. NJFA is way more than a school. It’s a tight community of like-minded talents, who have every intention of making great things together for a long, long time. Christopher Juliano from Asbury Park puts it this way. “The New Jersey Film Academy was where I found my home. I was surrounded by others who all appreciated the creative process and the hard work which is required to achieve their desired vision,” he says, adding “ I have made lifelong friends.”
SOCKO! enlisted two of those talented students, Antonio Johnson and Vishnu Nair to turn their lenses on their fellow students and introduce their faces to the world.
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This story appeared in the inaugural issue of Socko! Magazine [May, 2026]. Click here to subscribe
