{"id":216433,"date":"2025-12-30T14:02:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T19:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=216433"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:26:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T19:26:43","slug":"adam-derengowski-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2025\/12\/30\/adam-derengowski-19\/","title":{"rendered":"For Adam Derengowski \u201919, Success Includes Mentoring the Next Generation of Film Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was little doubt that Adam Derengowski \u201919 would pursue a career in filmmaking, his childhood love for <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> serving as an early clue. The bigger question was where he would study his art.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI applied to several schools and toured them all,\u201d he says. \u201cMontclair just felt right. I really liked the University\u2019s location \u2013 I could visit New York City whenever I wanted without the hassle of living there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a filmmaking major, Derengowski\u2019s memories of campus life revolve around the projects he worked on. \u201cThat\u2019s the bulk of what the film majors did,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe would sit for hours in the new School of Communication and Media building coming up with ideas for new projects, drawing up plans and troubleshooting. It was a great experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Derengowski points out how the film program\u2019s design prepares students for success. \u201cWe all worked in different capacities on each other\u2019s projects,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a result, we graduated with knowledge about all of the various roles that contribute to a film. And my classes were great building blocks. I still refer to things I learned in my courses and feel very prepared for my current supervisory role.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His senior thesis film, with its Pac-Man theme, may have been another early indication of the direction his career would take. \u201cIt was my good fortune to be mentored by another Montclair alumnus, Michael Price \u201981, as I developed this project,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMichael, whose credits include writing for <\/span>The Simpsons<\/span><\/i>, was very supportive and generous with his time and advice. The experience further prepared me for professional roles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Derengowski joined Atomic Cartoons right out of college, first as a production assistant and then as a production coordinator. Within three years Marvel Animation took notice of his abilities and brought him on as a production coordinator. In 2025, he was promoted to production supervisor. His most recent project was <\/span>Eyes of Wakanda<\/span><\/i>, an action-adventure series that was released on Disney+ in August.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was the editorial coordinator for <\/span>Eyes of Wakanda<\/span><\/i>,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a great learning experience and was excellent preparation for what came next.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, he can\u2019t say too much about his current project, only that it is very exciting. \u201cThis time I am on the supervisory side of the editing function,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m the one planning and keeping everyone on track.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Until recently, West Coast assignments kept Derengowski far from Montclair. \u201cI was able to return to New Jersey and in September I visited campus for the first time in about four years,\u201d he says. \u201cNow that I am in the area I was able to answer the call for mentors for the film program. I was assigned to a student and we talk regularly about the industry, her projects and her goals. I want to help jumpstart her success in any way I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That includes encouraging her \u2013 and every student he meets \u2013 to take advantage of their time at Montclair to meet as many people as possible. \u201cSay yes to every opportunity that comes your way, and don\u2019t give up,\u201d he advises.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for the opportunities Montclair provided for me and want to give back,\u201d Derengowski adds. \u201cI can do that by supporting the next generation of students.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a production supervisor for Marvel Studios, Adam Derengowski \u201919 is bringing superheroes to the big screen. In real life, Derengowski is the superhero, mentoring Montclair students on their way to careers in the film industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":486,"featured_media":216470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216433"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216469,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216433\/revisions\/216469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}