Sachem Film Makers Create Project 52

Films have the ability to educate, inform, entertain and inspire. They can be comical, dramatic and thrilling. Project 52, a short-film series created by Sean and Christine Fitzgerald, aims to do all those and more in their year-long weekly short-film series.

Dubbed Project 52 for the 52 total films that will debut this year, began last year when Christine was inspired by the "365 Project" that focuses on still photography. She took a different photo for each day of the year, which inspired Sean to create his own project using video.

"Project 52 is an all encompassing adventure that has been one crazy journey so far," adds Christine, a Sachem alum.

The directing duo encompass several ideas and genres into their short-films, including politics and disease awareness. The past two entries have dealt with Long Islanders dealing with autism.

"Most ideas just sort of come to me," said Sean. "A lot of the time I see one particular image of a story and build the rest of it around that image."

"I pull inspiration from things that I am passionate about," added Christine. "A lot of times Sean and I work on concepts together and it is the perfect blend of the images that we are seeing in our heads."

The Fitzgeralds enlist the work of friends and other actors they have met while working in theaters across Long Island. They also reach out to Suffolk Community College theater students as well for parts in their films.

"Obviously we would not be anywhere without the amazing efforts and talents of our actors," said Christine. "They typically have a few days notice and even less than that to work on their script and character. I'm astounded with each week that we have been able to keep this going because of all the work that others are putting in right along with us."

The films, shot using a Panasonic AH-HMC40 HD camera and edited on a Macbook, are posted on YouTube, a site that just a year ago Sean would have turned the other cheek to.

"I have always thought YouTube was for silly viral video that had no meaning behind them,” he said. “Now I see the true power of the YouTube community. It gives you this amazing outlet of views to reach out to with your work that we would never have otherwise. It's incredible how many people we have met or talk to, all thanks to YouTube."

The project, now in week 17, has garnered positive reviews and their creators could not be happier.

"My favorite part," adds Christine, "is at the end of shooting each week, when the actors say 'I can't wait to see how this all comes together.' The nicest part is because we are creating so often, it's practically instant gratification for the actors and the audience.

"It's really an endless cycle of creation," said Christine. "It's beautiful."

To view one of their videos, click here.