By Erik Squire
Early Childhood Education Major

SMCC has a very diverse community with a myriad of interests and passions. One such noteworthy pursuit taking place on campus is that of Alexander Balzano; he is creating his own film.
Alexander is a Communications and New Media (CNMS) Major. He originally started here in the fall of 20 “Dynamic”
11 studying liberal arts, so he has been a patron and community member here for almost four years. This semester he will be graduating. Before he moves on, however, he will be leaving his mark on SMCC.
The Beacon set out to ask Alexander a bit about his film that he has named “Dynamic”. He describes the movie, saying: “It is a martial arts coming of age movie centered on a struggling teen, Jesse, who has recently lost his father and is dealing with merciless bullying in high school. Jesse is taken under the wing of Tom, the town hermit who is skilled in mixed martial arts and has some inner demons of his own. Being a short film, I’m shooting for about 20-25 minutes for total run time.”
When asked how he felt his endeavor would enrich the campus community, Alexander explained, “I think that in addition to all of the amazing films coming out of the CNMS department, my film will help benefit the SMCC community by showing the public that the knowledge that students gain here goes towards professional level work that will give them a leading edge when looking for work in the professional world.”
Alexander will of course be directing the film; however, it’s going to need more than a director, so he is trying to promote his upcoming casting call. He says he is mainly looking for male actors around the 18-20 year range to play the primary protagonist and antagonist of the film. On top of that, he is looking for men and women in the 30-40 year range to play the main character’s mother and another to play Tom (the mentor-type character). He will also be looking for people to play various extra roles, mainly teenage/early twenty year olds as most of the scenes that require extras take place in a high school environment. For these roles in particular, Alexander would like to encourage any students who live in the dorms to talk with him (if interested) as this would be good way to gain experience in this field.
Finally, Alexander stated, “I’d like to give a thanks to the Communications and New Media department for making my time learning here feel fulfilling and exciting me for my future after SMCC. I’d also like to thank Corey Norman for giving us practical knowledge and passion for what we’re learning about.”
In conclusion, SMCC, be sure to check out “Dynamic” and all the other student films at the Maine Mayhem film festival premiering at the Nickelodeon theater in Portland, in early May.