Gigi Graziano '27 Creates Spanish Screenplay and Trailer as part of Independent Study

As an Independent Study this semester, MBS freshman Gigi Graziano ’27 transformed an original short story that she wrote in Spanish, “La Niña y el Bosque Mágico”, into a screenplay and then created a movie trailer to advertise it. Gigi worked under the guidance of World Language teachers Jenifer Laviola and Dr. Rita Moch Arias, and also collaborated with faculty members from the English and Science Departments in this interdisciplinary project.

Gigi wrote the story as a 7^th Grader in her previous Spanish immersion school, and also converted it into a picture book that she read to children at her town library. At MBS, she saw an opportunity to take her story even further. “With help from Sra. Laviola and Dr. Moch, I was able to freely write in Spanish with the help of their grammatical corrections and brilliant suggestions and make this script all the better,” she said.

She also worked with MBS English teacher Sam Goodman, who taught her how to format and write a script, and science teacher Dr. Dennis Evangelista, who helped her learn about keystone species and monoculture forests, two key elements in her story which focuses on environmentalism and sustainability.

Gigi finished her script in late April and used AI to create the images for her story before completing the project in iMovie. You may view her movie trailer here.

This summer, she is hoping to return to her Spanish immersion school to direct “La Niña y el Bosque Mágico” as a play at their summer camp.  Great job, Gigi!