Lynbrook Grad Could Win Big at Super Bowl

Editor's note: Chris Vaccaro, a Regional Sports Editor with Patch, will be reporting from the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in Texas this evening. Prior to the big game, he caught up with Michael Doneger, Hewlett resident and Lynbrook High School graduate, to talk about the 24-year-old's chance at winning a million dollars in a Super Bowl ad contest.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Michael Doneger only had 30 seconds to capture the essence of elevator humor and embarrassment, but he did it brilliantly and is on the verge of a big pay out.

His commercial is one of 10 finalists in the Pepsi Max Crash the Super Bowl Commercial Contest. He’ll wait anxiously with nine other finalists in a suite at Cowboys Stadium Sunday evening to see which of the top six advertisements — three from Pepsi and three from Doritos – will air on national television.

If the ads sweep the top three rankings of the USA Today Ad meter, the filmmakers will win a shared $5 million, according to the contest’s official website.

Doneger, 24, who hails from Hewlett and graduated from Lynbrook High School in 2004, wrote, directed and starred in the “Elevator Girl” skit, which was one of nearly 6,000 entries in the competition.

He’s been in Dallas since Tuesday, parading around the media circuit, promoting Pepsi Max.

The ad, which cost only $100 to make, features Doneger asking a girl in an elevator – Jamie Zeluck – if she would like a Pepsi Max, suggesting it’s low in calories. She takes it the wrong way ("What are you trying to say?") and thus his chances were blocked at the goal line.

“He’s kind of a shy guy,” Doneger said about the character. “He meets her in the elevator and awkward things happen. He finds a way to screw it up.”

At Lynbrook High School, Doneger played football and lacrosse and was an honorable mention All-American and three-time All-Nassau County selection in the latter. He played four years of lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, winning two National Championships as a reserve attackman in 2005 and 2007.

Recently settling in Los Angeles to pursue a career in film writing and directing, Doneger is a personal trainer in his spare time to make ends meet.

As for football, Doneger is a New York Jets fan and hoped, like much of New York, for Gang Green to be there, not the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It was pretty close to being reality,” he said.

He and buddy Scott Lorberbaum, also a Lynbrook graduate, have been touring Dallas together as he was allowed to bring one guest with him on his recent adventure. Their most interesting encounter was meeting with ESPN’s Kenny Mayne.

“He asked us to be in one of his video blogs,” Doneger said.

A shared stake at $5 million is nice, but he already secured $25,000 for making it this far and a week full of memories to last a lifetime.

To see Doneger’s commercial, click here.