When Josh Sniegowski doesn’t have his head buried in a textbook, he will most likely be found behind a video camera.
A film directing major at Columbia College in Chicago, the Lemont High School alum hopes to one day make his own blockbusters.
But Sniegowski is trying to stay realistic.
“I’m not going to come out of college with a directing job,” he said. “I’m more hopeful of getting a job editing somewhere and shooting my own films until I can get a job directing.”
Recently, Sniegowski was in Lemont filming a movie he wrote. He was one of eight Columbia College students to get the opportunity to write and direct their own movies.
He hopes to submit his film, about an insomniac trying to win back his girlfriend after a botched marriage proposal, to different film festivals.
He spent the weekend of Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 in the village, filming on Peiffer Street and at Lemont High School, with fellow Lemonter Sean Connor.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get everything done without the help of a lot of different people from Lemont,” he said.
Sniegowski’s films range from comedy to experimental drama.
“Right now I’m still doing a variety,” he said. “Every director has to fall into some sort of genre. I’m really not sure what I want to do right now. I’m trying different styles out.”
Next year, Sniegowski hopes to participate in Semester in L.A., a program through Columbia College which gives students an opportunity to experience the business of Hollywood first hand on a studio lot with industry professionals.
In the meantime, he’ll be putting the finishing touches on the film he made in Lemont.
Sniegowski is a perfectionist when it comes to his calling.
“I don’t like sending out halfway completed work,” he said.
Notable
Some of his favorite directors are Tarsem Singh, who directed “The Cell,” and Edgar Wright, who directed “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead.”
& quotable
Sniegowski has hundreds of DVDs, but he doesn’t limit his preference to one genre. “I’m pretty much all over the board,” he said. “From Indiana Jones to independent and foreign films. I really like the off-the-wall, crazy movies.”
Philosophy
When it comes to filming, Sniegowski keeps his philosophy simple. “Do it and have fun doing it,” he said.
Favorites
FOOD Pizza
MOVIE “Indiana Jones”
BOOK “Dante’s Inferno”
INTERESTS Hanging out with friends, video games
