16 and Recovering goes inside Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly, Massachusetts. It is one of the only schools in the country built for teenagers in recovery from substance use disorder. Over one school year it follows nine students and principal Michelle Lipinski through recovery, relapse, and the work of being a regular teenager.
Steve Liss directed and produced the four-part series. It premiered on MTV on September 1, 2020, the start of National Recovery Month.
In production I ran camera and boom, and worked as assistant camera and key PA. In post I was an assistant editor. These were kids in the hardest stretch of their lives, inside their own school. The crew stayed small and quiet. Most of the job was earning trust and staying out of the way.
I was finishing my BFA at Endicott College at the time, in the same town as the school.
I work small and quiet in rooms where people are going through something real. Tell me about the film.
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