Hollis graduate honored for attaining new level of achievement | Press Releases

Jared M. Mezzocchi of Hollis, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Fairfield University, was honored recently with the Fairfield University Alumni Association Student Achievement Award for his dedication to Theatre Fairfield and the Visual and Performing Arts program. The Student Achievement Award is presented annually to a senior whose commitment and dedication to a specific project or activity has resulted in attaining a new level of achievement.

Jared also received the Mary Louise Larrabee Award for Outstanding Achievement in New Media Film, Television and Radio, which was presented by the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield. The annual award is presented to a Fairfield undergraduate who demonstrates leadership, creativity, and technique in film, television, radio or new media.

As Fairfield University's first double major in theater and new media, Jared broke new ground when he wrote, directed and produced - with the help of an $8,000 grant from the Humanities Institute - "The One Stoplight in Hollis," a play that seamlessly merges film with the action onstage. His use of film enhances the dramatic elements of the live action while furthering, as well as adding depth to, the plot. As a result, he manages to create an environment that crackles with the immediacy of the moment. The grant enabled him to use a professional cast in addition to student actors and he consulted with a musician friend on an original score.

His ambition and passion for film and theater have spurred him toward graduate school as a next step. He has also established Pienocchi, a production company that he expects will grow and enable him to continue his exploration of this interdisciplinary art. "The One Stoplight in Hollis" was Pienocchi's first production.