A student film titled “Peanut Butter Swirl” starring Seton Hall students premiered at the Big Apple Film Festival on Dec. 12.
“Peanut Butter Swirl” is a student film written and directed by students at SHU. The film centers on May, a college student buying ice cream and a pregnancy test at a convenience store. Short on money, her teacher, Professor Bailey, approaches her in line and offers to pay. They chat about May’s ice cream choice—chocolate peanut butter swirl—and later share whiskey and ice cream in a car. Professor Bailey learns May is planning to drop out of school a semester shy of graduation and motivates her to stay, offering advice and encouraging her not to let a difficult situation define her future.
During their conversation, Professor Bailey tells May, “Let your success be the best ‘f*ck you’ to him.”
Professor William Pace oversaw the production of the film. He has served as the faculty associate of digital media production at SHU since 2015 and played an important role in the creation of “Peanut Butter Swirl.”
While the writer of the film, Claire Driscoll, doubled as the starring actress, Prof. Pace’s role was to produce and ensure the students in his Digital Cinema Production III class all had roles working on the film as well.
When Driscoll came up to Prof. Pace with an idea she had for a film, Prof. Pace said, “We’re doing this!” because he immediately saw the vision Driscoll had for “Peanut Butter Swirl.” Prof. Pace guided Driscoll through the writing process, and worked with SHU student, Emily Feazel, to direct.
Scenes from the film were shot both on SHU’s campus and at a local store near the school.
Prof. Pace had his Digital Cinema students work on every aspect of making the film come to life. “Peanut Butter Swirl” allowed the students to learn how to run the camera and sound and see how a real film set runs with planning and preparations, which was a big educational element for the class.
Prof. Pace said he was always drawn to the screen, ever since his childhood. He said that he enjoys bringing his stories and visions to life through the film medium.
“I love to support people’s belief in themselves and their visions,” Prof. Pace said. “When it comes to film, you’re either recreating the scenarios that you’ve experienced and you want to inflate them on others, or you’re recreating the scenarios the way you wished they had gone.”
Prof. Pace currently teaches five classes at SHU and incorporates his instruction and talented students in his film work, saying that everyone can be a filmmaker if they want to.
“I love pushing people just beyond where they think they can go so that they realize that they can do it,” Prof. Pace said.
To learn more about “Peanut Butter Swirl,” click here.
Gianna Manzo can be reached at gianna.manzo@student.shu.edu.
