Andre Paras

Andre Jon Paras (born February 7th, 2006) is an award-winning high school film director, actor, and cinematographer, best known for his film "You Don't Know What It Takes to Come Home," in which he led his FPAC Video Production classmates with the roles of producer/director with the film being a finalist/nomination in the 2023 All-American High School Film Festival Invitational (AAHSFFI) Complete Experience category. He has previously won the award for Best Comedy at the NJHS Film Challenge for his film "Morgan and the Waves," both being film challenges constraining Andre and crew to a production with a time limit to write, shoot, and edit. He looks up to film directors Richard Linklater and Greta Gerwig as inspirations, and he's always continuing to better his craft anywhere he can creatively, whether that involves making, or exploring the history of film. Paras was born in Freehold, New Jersey and grew up / continues to live in Howell, New Jersey today. He attended Catholic school for his education from pre-school through 8th grade, until his acceptance into his local high school, Howell High School, and their magnet program for Fine and Performing Arts (FPAC) Music, Video, and Production (MVP) in 2020. Since then, he's created mashups of popular songs which have been released on the internet, but more importantly, he had his humble beginnings in film as an underclassmen, and later surrounded himself with award-winning filmmakers alike choosing the video route of the program his junior year. Shortly after, Andre was given his biggest opportunity yet nominated by his school teacher to take on the role of assistant director as only a junior in the 2022 All-American High School Film Festival Invitational, something not done before in Howell High School's program history. As the festival concluded, Andre and team had received a finalist title, making one of three Andre has received from different AAHSFFI competitions. As of writing, Andre's currently working on other film projects to round out the end of his high school career. He will continue to pursue his passions of film in some capacity upon arrival at college. His number one goal is to create stories people can connect to, no matter how big the audience, whether that's through tears or through laughs. Outside of film in school, he's been awarded as Howell High School's 2023 Homecoming King, competed for four years with Rebel Remix A Cappella, Howell High School's varsity a cappella team, is an active member of his school's National Honor Society, engages the student body through activities and morning announcements with the board of Howell High School Anytowners, and is also currently Vice President of his class of 2024 student government board. In his free time (aside from working on and watching films), he can be found reviewing music and moderating for website Musicboard, cycling, running, playing basketball, or playing video games.