James Manno
James Manno, teacher and technical consultant at The Carolyn Kinger-Kueter Music Studio, Westfield, for the past 12 years, recently scored and co-edited a prize-winning comedy, SATURDAY MORNING. It was featured
at the 6th Annual Garden State Film Festival and Montclair Film Festival, and took the 'Best Comedy' prize at the Indie Fest USA film festival in March of 2008, Soon After, it picked up by Warner Brothers for home video distribution throughout North America, with an expected fall release. Most of the footage was shot in Westfield followed by months of editing taking place in James' state-of-the-art recording studio, JAMMAN PRODUCTIONS: known throughout the East Coast for it's excellence and the many well-known patrons who use him and and his fa
cilities. He is also the Department Chair Person of the Performing Arts and Television at Arts High School in Newark, NJ.
The SATURDAY MORNING includes Joey Piscopo (Joe's son), George Wendt ("Cheers"), Louis Mandylor ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), Lillo Brancato, Jr. ("A Bronx Tale") and Beth Ostrosky ("The Howard Stern Show"). The story line centers on Wes Selman (Piscopo), a mild-mannered 'suit' who is not a morning person. A home renovation project forces him to leave his house at a time when he (and most of the world) is normally sleeping. Upon stepping outside, he discovers that on Saturday Mornings, for a two-hour window from 6AM to 8AM, the world becomes a 'utopia.' During this time, Wes can achieve nearly anything, including winning the affections of the woman of his
dreams, Lisa Mangione (Valerie R. Feingold). However, once this
two-hour window has passed, he finds that Lisa is no longer attracted to
him. And so, with the help of his 'worldly' best friend, Frankie
Cicotelli (Mandylor), Wes attempts to concoct a plan to carry their
romance into the rest of the week.
Carolyn's students and other teachers at her studio are thrilled with James' hard-earned success, and can tell you that this is just another of a long list of his achievements and awards he's received on the national level, including Emmys, and gifts of large financial grants to continue his work with his students in Newark. James adds, "While Carolyn teases me about my head getting too big to get through the door, my heart is truly at her 424 St. Marks Avenue studio. I treasure the little time I can spare to be with everyone. It's like coming home to family."
See latest article in Suburban News. Read more about James on his link JammanProductions.com.
