North Campus Professor’s Short Film “Star Child” To Premiere At MIFF
Star Maker: School of Entertainment and Design Technology professor Tommy Demos’ 13-minute short film Star Child will premiere at the Miami International Film Festival on March 6 at O Cinema, 500 71 St., in Miami Beach.
Tommy Demos knows a thing or two about filmmaking. Demos, a full-time film production professor at the School of Entertainment and Design Technology at North Campus, has produced and directed several award-winning short films, such as Come Monday, Poacher, and The First Night.
His latest short film Star Child will premiere at the Miami International Film Festival as part of the Florida Focus category, which highlights films predominantly shot in Florida or made by Florida natives and residents.
It can be viewed March 6 at 4 p.m. at O Cinema in Miami Beach, 500 71 St., as part of the Don’t Drop These Shorts show.
The film was shot for four days in Homestead and was inspired by films such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was written, directed, and produced by Demos. His friend, Ralf Gonzalez, and Marvin Aguado, a former student of his, helped with production.
The sci-fi, mystery thriller is 13-minutes long. It follows Sarah (Amy Hoerler), a mother desperate to find out how her son Lucas (Demitri Vardoulias) mysteriously disappeared, while her marriage to Donald (Todd Bruno) suffers. With the help from her therapist (Alan Heyman), Sarah finds out that her son left to join a supernatural group of Star People, and she finally accepts her son’s destiny.
“They believe they are just like us,” Demos said. “They are human, but they come from other stars… It’s really a metaphor for those who find themselves not belonging on this earth. Many people don’t fit in for one reason or another, and those are the star people on planet Earth who really belong in the stars.”
Originally titled Lucas, Demos and his team came up with Star Child while brainstorming for a better title. He was inspired by an episode of Ancient Aliens detailing Native American Indian perceptions of aliens, or as they call them, Star People.
Demos emphasized that the film could not be have been completed without the help of his friends and students. Marvin Aguado, Andrea Estrada, Frederick Criswell, Andrew Pena, Mark Pulaski, Anthony Fleites, Christopher Fodde, and Rene Quesada are current and former students of his who helped with the film. Phil Colodetti, the sound recording studio manager at the SEDT, worked as a sound editor on the project.
“It’s great for me because I get to work with the students in the real world outside of the classroom,” Demos said. “The classroom has limitations. It’s very theoretical and then when you go actually make a movie, that’s when the learning happens.”
Demos, who is currently working on a feature script for a horror film, encourages students passionate about film to pursue entry level courses at the college, which are offered at all campuses. The courses, he says, prepare students for careers in the industry in all phases of production.
“People don’t know what goes into the creation of something even [if it’s] only 13 minutes long. We take it for granted,” Demos said. “But if you work in the industry you know what it’s like. It’s a lot of people and it’s a lot of hard work. It’s not glamour, it’s not red carpet, that’s a myth.”
The MIFF is from March 4 through 13. Miami Dade College students can get three free tickets at Student Life at their respective campuses if they provide a valid school ID.
For more information about the MIFF, visit miamifilmfestival.com.
