Keene State film students have already begun the early stages of developing their capstone film projects.
Although well over a semester away from their final deadlines, student filmmakers are actively writing, fundraising and talent-sourcing for their upcoming projects. The capstone films will publicly debut at the 2025 Student Film Festival, an annual showcase of KSC’s graduating film student projects.
Senior Colin Murphy is currently working to bring his senior capstone project “Letters Home” to the big screen. The film is slated to be an LGBTQ+ romance film, centered around the relationship of two estranged friends.
Murphy is directing the project and co-writing the script alongside the film’s producer, senior Julia Stearns.
Murphy said he arrived at KSC eager to dive into filmmaking, having rediscovered a childhood passion for filmmaking.
“When I was little, we had this old VHS camera that I played around with until it ended up breaking, and then I took a filmmaking class in high school that reminded me how much I love it,” said Murphy.
“My time at Keene State really helped to develop my specificity of interest. I really like directing, which gives you the opportunity to apply your vision to every aspect of a production,” added Murphy.
Stearns is co-writing and producing “Letters Home” and said the project developed into a capstone submission over time, through a process of discussion and brainstorming.
“It wasn’t originally conceived as either a capstone or a love story, but during our talks we decided it would be a good idea to develop the character’s relationship into something romantic,” said Stearns.
“This was just going to be a project that we wanted to work on together, but we talked about it more and more, and developed it into a capstone and a romance story. The writing has been a work-in-progress, and we’d work together to develop scenes and dialogue, and really let the story take shape through our collaborations,” added Stearns.
An open casting call is in place for prospective acting talent. Auditions will take place between October 14 and November 1. Interested acting talent are encouraged to reach out by emailing LettersHomeFilm@gmail.com.
Senior Wilson Hines, the casting director for “Letters Home,” said the team is looking for people to play the two main characters who have good chemistry.
“We’re looking for two actresses that have the best chemistry, which is important in a story that primarily focuses on relationships between two people,” said Hines.
“There’s posters all over campus where you can scan a QR code and sign up for auditions. There’s going to be a chemistry check to see how well you get along with other prospective cast members, reading from a script, and we’re excited to find people who can join us on this journey,” added Hines.
Another film under development is senior Benjamin Harley’s analog horror capstone “Reflections” (a working title). Analog horror is a subgenre of the wider horror community that employs vintage aesthetics and equipment to place the film in a certain moment in time.
Harley’s capstone is inspired by a previous analog horror film he made on 16mm film, two years earlier.
Harley said he is excited to continue experimenting with the genre.
“I wanted to try to experiment with this new genre that I wasn’t experienced with, and it went over really well, to the point where I wanted to revisit that concept in a new story for my capstone,” said Harley.
Harley said his film will explore addiction and trauma. He added he is excited to use horror as a vehicle to explore these concepts.
“Horror isn’t typically known for having a message, and there’s always going to be that stereotype of horror as campy and without depth, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Harley.
“This film may take those aesthetics, but in terms of form of content, it’s a serious examination on these incredibly important topics, and I’m proud to be using my skills to tell a story that expresses these topics sincerely,” added Harley.
“I hope good conversation and reflections comes from this film. If I can encourage audiences to think and have these important discussions, I’ll definitely sleep well,” added Harley.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
