Al Lasky and Josh Wilde are among the Nativity of Mary students and alumni who acted in short films as part of a summer program. Alumni and students from Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School participated in a screening on Sunday of “Three Short Films” at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.

The summer program was created by Beth Roehling-Flynn, a Nativity art teacher; Jacob Nawrot, art teacher for George Washington Elementary in Alexandria, Va.; and Tammy Mc- Govern, assistant education director for Squeaky Wheel.

Its goal was to give the students a complete experience of creating a short movie. Students wrote storyboards, acted in and filmed their movies at various locations throughout Clarence and the city of Buffalo, including the waterfront, HSBC Center and various locations on and around Main Street.

When the filming was completed, students spent several days digitally editing their movies, doing voiceovers, creating special effects and adding sound effects and music at Squeaky Wheel. The finished project was shown at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center for family and friends.

The first movie, “Corpses Don’t Make Good Friends,” was created by Ashley Hester and Kayley and Lauren Johnson. In a world where corpses can be brought back to life with the power of potholes, two mad scientists (Ashley Hester and Kayley Johnson) bravely venture into this unknown territory in order to revive a dead socialite (Lauren Johnson). However, things don’t always turn out as planned. Hilarity ensues, but death threatens to tear the trio apart. How they resolve the problem will affect the entire planet, for better or worse.

The second movie is a spoof on the spoof “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” created by Jon Harding, Josh Janson and Al Lasky. Zohan Dvir works as a special agent overseas. He decides to fake his own death and hides on a plane bound for New York City. He is hired by a salon owner Daliah (Ashley Hester), winning over female clientele. Daliah’s landlord (Josh Janson), who continuously raises the rent, hires skinhead goons (Josh Janson and Jon Harding) to take over the neighborhood. When Zohan decides to confront these goons, he is in for a few surprises himself.

The third film is “The Rookies” by Amanda Hester, Nick Sabio and Josh Wilde. “The Rookies” is an action-packed film full of fights and suspense. Agent James (Josh Wilde), a CIA agent, fails one of his missions because his partner, Agent Natasha (Amanda Hester), abandons him. Because of that, he is shot and almost killed.

Three months later, he is assigned a new partner, Agent William (Nick Sabio). They are then assigned their first mission: to retrieve some stolen currency plates and catch the person responsible. They soon find that Agent James’ old partner, Agent Natasha, was a double agent working for the man who stole the plates. They then chase her down, catch her, and retrieve the plates, completing their mission.

Josh Wilde is in eighth grade at Nativity. Amanda and Ashley Hester, Kayley and Lauren Johnson, Josh Janson, Jon Harding and Al Lasky are Nativity alumni attending Clarence High School. Nick Sabio attends St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute.

This program was made possible by a donation from Phillip Lytle LLP. Squeaky Wheel is a multimedia resource center located at 712 Main St., Buffalo.