In The News

A school capstone project inspired a student to dig deep into his hometown. ”It had to be a narrative, a documentary or a how-to,” said Shawn Packard, a Cinematography student at Full Sail University. “I live here, I have lived here my whole life. It has been home for me. It kind of means a lot with family and the traditions and the community that we have built here,” Packard said. As a graduating senior, he says it was important to him to leave and spread the legacy of Maine through film.

You think filmmaking is glamorous?  “It’s really hard to do everything at seven degrees,” Director Alessandro Chille said. “You’ve got people operating cameras with metal buttons and gears that are going to freeze their fingers … It was rough. We kept hopping in the car, turning the heat up between takes just so we could keep going.”

At least two of the people involved in “Father Figures” didn’t expect Hollywood palm trees and golden sunshine during the shoot. Chille lives in Auburn and actor Matt Delamater—seen recently in “The Tender Bar” directed by George Clooney—lives in Bridgton.

Kandahar brings viewers on a heart-racing journey of an operator and his interpreter in the midst of a never-ending war and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. It’s a real-life experience suddenly lighting up the big screen but every moment was lived by the military community, including the writer behind the movie. 

Mitchell LaFortune, a Maine native, came from a long line of service. “My grandfather is a World War II veteran and served in the Pacific theater. He was one of those guys who joined before legally being able to. He was 15 or 16 and lied about his age to serve his country,” he shared. “His story was definitely a motivator for me but I also grew up watching 9/11 unfold.”

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “Change is the only constant in life.” The entertainment sector is no exception to this adage. It’s an industry that has long benefited from advancements in technology that have increasingly enriched the quality of films and programs and have also condensed the filmmaking process across the entire pipeline from pre-production to distribution and exhibition.

But while it’s easy to look back and see how digital tech has improved the sector, assessing the future of the business as it stands on the threshold of two hot button topics — Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine — is much less clear.

 Are you ready for Maine Mayhem? It may sound like a night of professional wrestling, but Maine Mayhem is actually a festival that showcases the work of student filmmakers from Southern Maine Community College’s Department of Communications and New Media Studies. The festival will feature six films, each of which runs between 15 and 20 minutes. The students write, produce, and direct, and often they act as well.