East Meck’s Lit and Film class has become popular for exposing its students to unique films, but this is the first time it has exposed them to a film that hasn’t come out yet.
On Nov. 13 students taking Lit and Film got to tour the set of Roofman, which was filming at Ben Salem Presbyterian Church across from East Meck. The movie follows the true story of Jerry Manchester, an escaped convict who robbed McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs.
Manchester’s story actually took place in Charlotte, and the church across from East is the same church he attended while evading capture.
“One of the reasons we’re in Charlotte is to try and do our best to film as many of the real locations as possible,” producer Jamie Patricof said. “One of the real locations was the church next to East Meck. So it was just coincidence we ended up being there.”
This coincidence would soon turn into an opportunity. When Patricof and his team reached out to East to get permission to film on one of the streets near the church, they ended up developing a relationship with the staff and getting connected to the Film class.
Originally Patricof was just supposed to come in and speak about his experience working in the film industry, but he was able to take the 3B Film class to the Roofman set for a tour instead.
“I love speaking to kids about what I do, and getting to meet kids is always inspiring for me,” Patricof said. “But at the same time, having teenagers myself, I know no matter who you’re listening to it’s always more fun to be able to see things that you don’t get access to, or to get out of the classroom and get into the real world. So I felt that would be a more exciting way to spend time, no matter how exciting I am.”
The lucky students got incredibly close to the world of film making. They got to go inside the hair and makeup trailer as well as see inside the prop truck. They even got to step inside of the trailer one of the actors was staying in.
“My favorite part of the tour had to be when we all got to go inside the hair and makeup trailer,” senior Natalia Reyes-Velasquez said. “We took turns going in and looking around. As we did, one of the director’s assistants told us about the actors coming in early to get ready. The wigs on the mannequin heads were also hilarious!”
Though the crew was only filming near East for four days, the experience of touring a movie set is sure to become a memory that the students won’t forget for the rest of their lives.
“I’m super grateful I got the lucky chance of being in that class at the same time a movie was being filmed outside my school,” Reyes-Velasquez said.
The filming for Roofman has been completed and the film is set to be released Oct. 3, 2025.
Click here to learn more about the upcoming film
