David and James Codeglia, two very active and versatile student filmmakers run the De Anza Film and Television Guild and produce movies for friends, clients and a general audience at De Anza and beyond.
The De Anza Film and Television Guild was formed with the incentive to give students interested in film and television a chance to get together and learn about the medium. David is currently the president, James is vice president. The club is open to anyone, regardless whether their interest lies in acting, directing or writing. According to the Codeglia brothers, club members not only talk about the medium per se but also discuss their current projects and help each other out on with advice or practical help. In addition, the brothers say the Film and Television Guild is an appreciation club that discusses great films.
For that purpose, the guild puts on regular screenings, called Cinematech. These events take place about three times a quarter on Friday nights in room 120 in the ATC building. The screenings, which are free and open to anyone interested, usually offer food and start out with a member of the Guild introducing the film before the screening.
The brothers share their interest in filmmaking and videography, which they say started when they both were in 5th grade and realized what an impact it could have on an audience. David says the brothers are mostly aiming at entertaining audiences through comedy and action at this point. Last year’s De Anza Film Festival offered a firsthand glimpse of the Codeglia talents in combining comedy and action with the hilarious short trailer-like clip of “Attack of the incredible, giant, man-eating rat with laser-beam eyes from Mars.”
While they have shown their films locally at the De Anza Film Festival and a special student Cinematech, the Codeglia future lies down south. The brothers applied to the four major film schools in California and are waiting for a reply. Their first choice is USC.
Asked about their dream job, David says “We want to be directors and do something extremely hands-on. Something you can watch with your friends and say ‘you see this thing, that’s something I did.'” David added that the main reason they wanted to be directors was because directing is “the main position where we have control over everything,” which comes closest to their current production style, where the brothers are in full charge of their projects and do everything from writing, acting, directing and special effects.
With so much creative talent, other famous filmmaker brothers come to mind. James said that they are “probably closest to the Wachowski brothers.” David agreed but added a little caveat: “They’re really talented, but when they are interviewed, they come of as the biggest buffoons.” The brothers may be mocking other filmmakers, but they are also critical and honest about their own talents. They both agree that David is the better actor while James openly admits that he is “awful at it.”
On the side, David and James run a small production company called Ghostlight Productions. Their work includes wedding videos, short documentaries about music bands and some corporate videos. James provided three animations for Hewlett Packard and shot a video for a company that advertises their product in China.
“We get totally artistic with the wedding videos,” says James. According to the brothers, Ghostlight Productions started out with just “having fun practicing movies.” However, recently their business has become so lucrative that the brothers have to declare taxes on it. Their “sophisticated equipment” at home, including a digital camera and two editing suites, allows them for even more flexibility.
The brothers say they have done about 20 movies they are proud enough of to show. In addition, they have “countless other movies that are either unfinished or too bad to be shown.”
The Codeglia talent doesn’t stop at film. David draws comic strips and plays the trumpet. James plays the alto sax. In their spare time, they make films, play videogames and frisbee, go to the movies and collect DVDs.
Anyone interested in the upcoming Cinematech screening, which the brothers say will most likely be a French production called “City of Lost Children” or if you would like to know more about the De Anza Film and Television Guild, you can contact [email protected]. Anyone interest in the Codeglia production company can contact [email protected].
