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SUNY Fredonia professor works on movie

Submitted Photo Nick Smith, right, poses with actor Thomas Carter Rochester on the set of “Corsicana.”

The new movie “Corsicana” has a local connection: SUNY Fredonia adjunct professor Nick Smith is an associate producer.

Smith said in a Thursday interview that he got a call from a casting director about the movie, which premieres at Dunkirk Multiplex today, while on another project in Florida. “She said, ‘Can you jump on a flight to Texas? This film needs extra help and extra crew,'” he recalled.

“So, I jumped on a plane and worked on a movie. Fortunately, I have loved ones who were OK with me dropping everything for a month and working on the film.”

Isaiah Washington is star and director of “Corsicana,” a Western about slave-turned-U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves. It’s appearing in about 100 movie houses across the country.

Smith said he worked about a week on pre-production planning and three weeks on shooting film. “That’s about normal for a film of this size,” he said.

Smith’s work on the movie happened September 2020 in and around Corsicana, Texas. “I was production management,” he said. “I handled footage. Made sure people got fed. I was the troubleshooter … It was a wrangling job. I wasn’t wrangling horses, I was wrangling crew.”

The movie is an independent film in limited release. “We’ve been grateful for the support by the smaller movie chains and the mom-and-pop moviehouses,” Smith said.

He said the best thing about the production for him was “the connection I made with the crew and cast. It was very hard work, 15-hour days, but I’d never regret that. It was a once in a lifetime experience.”

Smith added, “We did a lot with limited resources. We give a lot of bang for the buck in the movie.”

“Corsicana” will be showing at Dunkirk Multiplex through Thursday, he said. A special screening to celebrate the local premiere is set for 7:30 p.m. tonight.

The website for the movie is www.corsicanamovie.net.

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