THE FORCE OF CREATIVITY IS WITH HIM
by Eric Martin

Northwestern film major Adam Bertocci's affinity for Star Wars is evident in the plastic action figures of Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi that stand, poised for battle, on the desk in his cramped dormitory. Posters of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala adorn the walls.

"In terms of all five Star Wars movies, I've seen any movie easily 100 or 125 times all the way through," said Bertocci, 20, of Bronxville, NY.

His devotion to writing, love of comedy and obsession with Star Wars came together in his latest film, Run Leia Run, a 16 minute animated short parodying Star Wars and the 1998 German hit Run Lola Run.

Bertocci put the film together on his computer over a period of ten months using Macromedia Flash software. The film features animation, dialogue, borrowed techno beats and some original music.

"Adam's eccentricities contribute directly to his creative talents," said freshman dorm mate Caitlin Kielhorn. "I was surprised by the caliber of his work."

Not everyone has been upbeat about his film interest.

"My parents grudingly accepted it" he said. "Nobody wants their kid to become a film major. It's not exactly where the big bucks come from, unless you're lucky."

Run Leia Run premiered at Northwestern's Annie May Swift Hall on Jan. 22, 2003, to an audience of 40 people. Bertocci has distributed the film on DVD and over the internet. He plans to enter the film in Flicker, a Northwestern student film festival.

"The Internet, while it's not going to replace traditional movie-going, will be a large force in the way movies are made and viewed," Bertocci said. "My music guy lives in Italy and my Darth Vader voice lives in Australia. It was all done with e-mail and they sent me their work. Five or ten years ago that's not an opportunity that would have existed."

So what does Adam plan on producing next?

"I'm not planning to do anything of my own further this year unless something jumps out and bites me as an interesting idea."

Eventually, he said, he would like to make a live-action spoof of a Warner Brothers cartoon, "just to find an actual anvil and drop it."

"My dream career is to be writing scripts. Not neccesarily making them, but being involved in making them. Hopefully I can do something that I like and that involves what I love."