Showcase of Past Student Films
Nick Stumphauzer
Nick is a 2017 graduate of The Motion Picture Production Program. Nick focused his studies on writing and directing over the course of the program. His talents shined with just his second film "Goner" having been selected by several film festivals while he was still just an undergrad.
BEST DIRECTOR - The Flint Youth Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Frostbite International Film Festival - (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Trinity International Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Filmstrip International Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Cinetopia Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Royal Starr Film Festival (2017)
Nick has gone on to direct his thesis film "And Mirrors" that won Best Film at the Motion Picture Institute Film Festival.
Goner
Goner tells the story of a brother who with special abilities must protect his sister from others who are after their powers.
Tomaki Boaz
Tomaki graduated in 2016 from The Motion Picture Production Program with the goal of becoming a film director. His thesis film "Eye of the Beholder" is one of his earliest endeavors to earn recognition for this storytelling talents having won two festivals and accepted into a number of others.
WINNER - The Mindfield Film Festival ~ Los Angeles (2017)
WINNER - L.A. Short Awards (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Hollywood Boulevard Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Vidlings & Tapeheads Film Festival (2017)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Stockholm Independent Film Festival (2017)
Tomaki has since formed his own production company and has started directing commercial work such as his Chevrolet 'Fueled by Memories' spec spot.
Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder Levi, a struggling artist, fights for his sanity when his alter ego suppresses his creativity as he struggles to get over his wives passing.
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER short film from Tomaki on Vimeo.
Alexander Gasparetto
Alex is a 2014 graduate of The Motion Picture Production Program. He is the co-founder and creative director of Lunar Flame Pictures and has been a digital media artist for the last six years. Since graduating he has directed numerous projects for commercial clients and served as an assistant editor on the feature film Darcy.
Alex's skillsets and thorough understanding of the entire production process is what enables him to excel at jobs from cinematographer to production designer. His directorial debut short film, Asphyxia has showcased in a variety of local festivals including the Trinity International Film Festival in Detroit where he was presented with the Best Artist Award in 2015. More recently his film Akoma took home the grand prize at the Click on Detroit WDIV Film Challenge. His films exemplify true visual story-telling and most often center around strong female leads making him a local filmmaker to keep an eye on.
Asphyxia
Asphyxia tells a story about a girl who is tormented by mental illness.
Jonathan D'Ambrosio
Jon is a 2013 graduate of The Motion Picture Production Program. During his time at Motion Picture Institute he wrote, directed and produced several films. He took the extraordinary step of making all this films period pieces which required additional time to reproduce a variety of eras. They ranged from the early twentieth century African Serengeti to the nineteen thirties Germany. All of Jon's films paid great attention to detail as he put a tremendous amount of effort into the production design of his films of which can be viewed below.
The Whistle
The Whistle is a story about a Jewish girl who escapes a regiment of German soldiers as they round up her family and neighbors to be taken to a concentration camp.
Broken
Set in the 1950s, Broken follows an abusive relationship between a mother and a daughter.
Far Beyond the Reservoir
Alone in the African desert, a trio of unlikely poachers find themselves haunted by the spirits of the animals they've killed.