The 51 community will be seeing some familiar sights on the big screen this Thursday night when the Hamilton Movie Theater shows Placebo, a new short film by Henry Prince ’07 and Jacob Lindauer ’08.
Directed by Prince and produced by Lindauer, Placebo was filmed on and around 51’s campus last October. It was a work in progress for 10 months, and last weekend it premiered at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in Florida. It has also been chosen to be part of the Los Angeles United Film Festival early next month.
The story line follows a cool con man who travels from one college town to the next selling “drugs.” But he’s not selling the uppers and downers he claims to be; he’s really peddling cold medicine and sugar pills.
In the narrative, the main character, Derek, explains that he’s selling the “experience of buying drugs.” His scheme is threatened when he crosses a campus safety officer.
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| Henry Prince ’07 (right) offers direction to actor Jon Prescott for the movie Placebo. |
As Derek’s 1969 purple Plymouth Road Runner drives through Hamilton and nearby Earlville, the audience will recognize Broad Street fraternity and college houses, Andy Kerr Stadium, and Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, where some of the scenes were filmed.
“We wanted a picturesque college campus for our location,” explained Lindauer.
Some familiar faces are in the movie, too. Patrick Slevin ’09 and Matthew LaTronica ’09 had larger roles, while a number of students played extras and were production assistants. Area resident Greg Hilcox appears in a scene at the Hourglass tavern, where he is a bartender in the movie and in real life.
They acted alongside professional actors Jon Prescott (Derek), who has been on As the World Turns and Law & Order, and Jamie Benge (Officer Bain), who has been in a number of short films and commercials.
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“I nervously accepted, knowing that I would be on camera with professionals,” admitted Slevin. “Filming was actually much more relaxed than I thought it would be. The experience was surreal, but fun.”
Prince and Lindauer are “thrilled” to return to Hamilton for the screening, which is their way of thanking those in the community who participated.
“We think it’s so important for people who work on films to see the finished product and be proud of the work they did,” said Prince.