*with permissions of Luke Pellizzari & Haku*

MJ: How do you hope your work will evolve in the future? What are some of your goals or dreams within your artistic field?

LP: In the future, I think it's hard to say where this path leads. I've had a few gigs as an editor, and I enjoyed that side of film production, too. I think I still want to be in some way involved in the cinematography aspect of filmmaking, but I can see myself working as an editor, too. Whatever the outcome, I want to maintain a level of artistic control over the work I produce.
Artistically, I want to work with better storytellers and creatives. I've written my own scripts so far, but I want to collaborate with real writers and work to create films that have fully realized screenplays. Working on a feature-length screenplay on a more professional level, where you're helping someone else to bring their story to life, would be so awesome.

Really though, I just want to keep making things. I know the industry is fickle and can be rough on a lot for people trying to dive in, but I'm confident I'll find my place in there somewhere.

Interview by: Melissa Johnson , 2014

The Details:

Name: Luke Pellizzari
Age: 23, born September 14, 1991
Major/Year: FVIM/4th
Other Details: Super handsome/charming, has a cute shiba inu, haha...

The Interview:

Melissa Johnson (MJ): How or why did you start working in film? What are your interests in this medium?

Luke Pellizzari (LP) : I started working with film when I was a young kid, making funny shorts with my older brother. We thought we were funny, so we made parody videos of movies we thought were hilariously bad, like The Happening. I've become very interested in cinematography, and my interest has only increased since I started here at ECUAD. I think the best medium for storytelling has become through the use of film; Not only is it accessible to anyone, but the quality of the gear is cinema-grade, meaning if you have the drive to make a professional film, the tools are there for the taking. It's an exciting time to be in this industry.
I love being behind the camera because you really get to choose what the audience is seeing, how they see it, and you can in a way dictate what is most important, either to the story or to your personal ideals.

MJ: Can you talk a bit about the work you’ve done up to date?

LP: My recent work has been drifting towards the darker side of the human condition. I like to deal with the way people deal with crisis, particularly when the line between right and wrong is blurred. My last film, Growing Cold, dealt with a father trying to protect his daughter from an abusive relationship. When he discovers that going to the police or scaring his daughter's attacker just isn't going to stop him, he has to make an incredibly hard decision: Does he take this man's life to save his daughter's even though it would destroy his soul? It's these kinds of situations I'm interested in putting my characters in, to see how they react, and hopefully shed some light on human nature in the process.