By Russ Tarby

Contributing Writer

The tennis courts are gone and trucks are parked between the basketball hoops. And the kids’ playground was in such bad shape that it had to be razed last year, despite previous promises to keep it open. So some people have criticized Jeremy Garelick, the owner of the Academy at Syracuse Studios (the former A.V. Zogg Middle School), for failing to keep his promises to the community.

On the other hand, the man promised to make movies here, and that’s a promise on which he has delivered and then some!

Garelick’s movie company, American High, has produced seven feature films here since he bought the historic high-school building in 2017. That’s an average of one full-length motion picture every four months.

Before he even bought the building, Garelick promised to train local students in the craft of film-making, and that’s also a promise kept.

For each movie filmed by American High, or its sister company, American Indie, the company recruits interns from college film programs. The internships are unpaid, on-the-job training positions. An intern who achieves will be hired — and paid — on the following production. So far, American High has developed more than a half dozen crew members using that system.

This month, three movies made here by American High will be released. The romantic comedy “Holly Slept Over,” starring Nathalie Emmanuel and Britt Lower, went direct to digital March 3 via VOD.

“Big Time Adolescence,” a coming-of-age comedy starring Pete Davidson that premiered last fall at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, plays select theaters on March 13 before moving to Hulu on March 20. And another wacky rom-com — “Banana Split” starring Hannah Marks and Dylan Sprouse — made its world premiere at the L.A. Film Festival in September and will screen in limited theaters starting March 27 before airing on digital/VOD.

“The Binge” directed here by Garelick and starring Vince Vaughn, will likely be seen on Hulu later this year.

Meanwhile, American High will begin filming its eighth production here on Monday, March 16. Garelick’s business partner, movie producer Will Phelps, declined to reveal the name of the work in progress nor its stars.

“We can’t yet announce what it is,” Phelps wrote in an email. “It’s one of the best projects yet, but due to some secret elements and several non-disclosure agreements in place, we won’t be able to announce it for another few weeks. I can confirm it begins filming March 16.”

A native of Long Island and a graduate of Yale University, 44-year-old Jeremy Garelick is considered one of Hollywood’s most promising young directors. He’s also a gifted screenwriter who has made crucial contributions to films such as “The Break-Up,” “The Hangover” and “The Wedding Ringer” the 2015 comedy which he wrote and directed. “The Wedding Ringer,” starring Kevin Hart Josh Gad, grossed $79.8 million, more than tripling its production budget of $23 million.

At Syracuse Studios, however, Garelick and American High are cranking out relatively low-budget flicks. The humorous horror movie “Looks that Kill” cost $2 million to make, for instance, while the rom-com “Holly Slept Over” cost $500,000.