Hugo Genes - Writer & Director

Hugo was born in Rio de Janeiro, and moved to New York City just before kindergarten. He developed the film's script based on personal experience as an Undergrad at Cornell University. He holds a BS degree in Applied Economics, a Masters in Nonfiction Filmmaking at City University of NY Hunter College, and is currently a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has worked on Wall Street in sales and trading and investment banking, and most recently as a special education teacher. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and a former member of The Illuminator – a collective of activists and artists that do guerilla projections for the 99%.

more info at hugosgenes.com

"Collegetown depicts the horrors of campus life and the Wall Street afterlife for the students who are finance wannabes. No punches pulled, it’s a terribly painful watch and well worth it – for understanding who/what one has to become to succeed in business. This is one potent way to see the depravity of the capitalist class as told by a dropout from the race and a fine filmmaker."

- Jill Godmilow - Filmmaker - Sundance winner, Academy award nominee

"Every high school senior applying to college should see this film!"

- Kelly Anderson - Director, Producer, Editor - Writer/Director of My Brooklyn

"Neither a documentary nor a feature film, Collegetown is a remarkable hybrid that searingly goes to the heart of the twisted culture of higher education. It's a disturbingly entertaining film that exposes the dark side of the educational dream factories. A must see."

- Timothy Corrigan,

Director of University of Pennsylvania Cinema Studies and author of The Essay Film.

"This is a must-see for students, college administrators, and faculty. We hear about the stress our students face, but this film shows it to us in such an unvarnished and direct way that there is no escaping it. While at times dark and disturbing, the film's message is clear: we need to wake up and pay attention to the experiences our students are having. Together we can make a difference in students' lives as well as in our communities."

- Leslie Meyerhoff,

Director of Assessment and Planning Student and Campus Life, Cornell University

“Collegetown examines the pressures confronting college students who are increasingly told, in subtle and unsubtle ways, that they must monetize their college education. The view is through a gimlet eye, but the critique of how market values and priorities are influencing students’ choices is never captious or hyperbolic. The film instead depicts the lived experienced of many college students in a narratively compelling but never anything but bracingly accurate manner. College students can certainly profit from seeing this film. College administrators, however, should also view it to remind them that the drift toward an ethos that places a premium on specialized study in response to market demands is more fatuous than fruitful.”

- Ronald Seyb, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Student Academic Affairs Skidmore College

“This film is an authentic portrayal of the job search, career decision making, and stress common among students. It’s an excellent tool for opening the conversation among students, parents, faculty, and university staff so we can better collaborate to support students in their career and life decision making.”

- Christa Downey,

Director, Engineering Career Center, Cornell University

“Hugo Genes’ film “Collegetown” brings together various themes, narrative strategies and fiction- documentary styles into a solid critique of student life in America and its aftermath - young adults facing the harsh realities of finding a job in a society that values greed, competiveness and lack of scruples over idealism, humanism and utopia. It’s a thoroughly satisfying and deeply disturbing film.”

- Chaim Litewski - Filmmaker - United Nations Chief of Television

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1977750/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

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