In June 2025, Middlesex Community College alumni Phineas Potter and Emily Puccia went to Cannes in France to present a film they worked on at the Africa USA International Film Festival. Entitled “The Black Gig,” the film was directed by their Fitchburg State University classmate Jaden Blake. Awarded Best Experimental Film, all three were invited to present the film at the festival, which included a Q&A panel.
“’The Black Gig’ is a film I made for my directing class last semester, and Phineas and Emily were nice enough to help with it,” Blake said. “In the film, we follow three Black students in a predominantly white school, and we see how they navigate the school. This was my first ever film festival. I had to explain what my inspiration for the film was, what I wanted the film to teach people, and how important this experience was to me.”
Inspired by his experience in Boston’s METCO program, Blake, of Mattapan, also wrote and edited the film. While Potter is credited as the Director of Photography for the film, Puccia worked as Executive Producer, Sound Operator and an actor. The collaborative experience allowed the students to use their current knowledge and hone new skills as they progress in the industry.
Both of Carlisle, Potter and Puccia believe their communication-focused classes at Middlesex prepared them well for their time at Fitchburg State. This includes working as interns for the communication department where they learned about operating cameras by recording campus events, among other tasks.
Studying communication, Potter transferred into MCC from a four-year school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Completing his general education requirements at Middlesex gave him more opportunity to dive deeper into film at Fitchburg State. In addition to the internship experiences at MCC, Potter participated in boot camps for photography and working as a production assistant (PA) on set, providing him with the knowledge and connections to be successful at his transfer school.
“Community college – especially MCC – was really good for me,” Potter said. “It helped me find what I wanted to do and got me more interested in film to the point where I am today. My education at Middlesex helped me feel a lot more confident going into Fitchburg. I knew what I was doing, and it helped push projects along, stay organized, and feel like I knew what I was doing.”
Not knowing what to pursue before starting college, Puccia was part of MCC’s liberal arts and sciences program. Passionate about writing, Middlesex allowed her to build upon her talent by developing more film-related skills. From learning about different angles and perspectives in a video class to interviewing people for documentary pieces, Puccia had the space and opportunities to find her path to her future career at MCC.
“MCC guided me to where I am today,” Puccia said. “I never thought I would be interested in film until I took a screenwriting class. As I wrote my first ever pitch, it got picked up and I got to work on that with a group of students. From there on, I just wanted to do more things in film. I had my own little group of friends that I got to hang out with after school and we could talk about movies and projects, and that made me feel like I finally found where I fit in. If you want to start off somewhere, start off at Middlesex.”
Potter, Puccia and Blake are all now film majors at Fitchburg State. As they continue
their education and look toward the future, they hope to continue working in film.
While Potter said, “I’m hoping to go into editing because that’s a passion of mine,”
Puccia said, “I want to do a little bit of everything, but still be able to have my
options open.”