Hazy lights dim in and out, as crowds of people wait with hushed breaths. In front of them words are spoken so loud they reverberate throughout the set. In the center of it all, the director stands, calling the shots.

Senior Jadon Demetri has been in theater for seven years, from Gorzycki Middle School theater to Bowie’s Starlight Theater Company (STC). He has acted, sung, and danced, but now he is ready to move on to a new stage.

“I’ve been enjoying helping coach pieces and work on pieces in Interpretation and assistant directing for shows,” Demetri said. “Senior One Acts and Children’s Shows kind of helped me realize that I have a passion for directing.”

Demetri has been interested in a wide range of careers, spanning all the way from writing to computer science and cybersecurity, however his chosen path of directing is closer to his theater roots.

“What I really enjoy is seeing a finished creation and getting to see my work and be all excited about it,” Demetri said. “I also have had fun working with actors in the past and getting to mess around and create interesting ideas. It’s that aspect of really putting my imagination into a piece and getting to watch it at the end.”

Demetri’s dream of directing came about recently, with him deciding in his junior year what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

“I always knew I wanted to do something somewhat creative,” Demetri said. “I wasn’t sure if it was writing or maybe just doing anything else.”

Demetri’s goal is to attend film school after graduating from Bowie, with his top choice being Emerson College in Massachusetts. He is aware of the film industry’s focus on experience and skills rather than collegiate degrees.

“I’m gonna go into this with the philosophy that if I can get a job or some sort of connections,” Demetri said. “Then I will drop out of college because the degree doesn’t really matter.”

The directing industry is small and competitive, and according to emerson.edu, 35% of undergraduates are still looking for jobs after graduating from Emerson Liberal Arts College.

“As a mom, I worry that it is a hard industry,” Jadon’s mother Stacy Demetri said. “But I also know he is a hard worker, smart, determined, and talented.”

Jadon is also a second-year captain of Oral Interpretation, a subcategory of Speech and Debate. He’s also planning on directing in the aforementioned Senior One Acts and Children Shows.

“He has a good instinct of seeing an overall picture,” theater teacher Marco Bazan said. “I can trust him to communicate the idea and kind of get the performers to understand the vision as well.”

Jadon has assistant directed for two STC shows and created two short films, one of which, ‘The Glory’, has been submitted to the Austin Film Festival Young Filmmakers competition.

“I’ve learned a lot. It definitely takes a lot of preparation in advance,” Jadon said. “I think you just need to go into creating a short film having a very clear vision as to what you want.”

One of Jadon’s role models in this career is filmmaker Wes Anderson, known for his symmetry, recognizable pastel sets, and unique cinematography.

“I kind of liked just in general, how he sort of flipped film on its backside and did something very unique and interesting,” Jadon said. “It’s like you could watch a movie and be like, ‘Oh, there’s a Wes Anderson movie’ without even knowing.”

Jadon is Co-President of The Filmmakers Club at Bowie alongside senior Sofia Chavez. She also aspires to be a director and they are heading down the path together.

“I’ve never met anyone who’s as interested and invested in film as I am and watching his face light up when we talk about film and talk about directing and everything is so great,” Chavez said. “I feel like I get so excited and I have that spark that I think he also has.”

In the four years of highs school with Jadon, Chavez got a front row seat to a lot of his performances and growth in theater.

“He also brings so much power and emotion into his roles,” Chavez said. “They really showcase his talent and I think that he is not only a skilled and gifted director, he has such a creative mind.”

In his freshman year, Jadon qualified and placed at the state competition in Oral Interp, but he has no qualms about moving on from the bright lights.

”I love acting,” Jadon said. “I think it’s very fun. I think I might continue doing it as a hobby, but when it comes to a job, I wouldn’t really care to do acting.”

Jadon stresses how important it is for aspiring directors to start as soon as possible and gain experience in the film field. But overall, he is choosing a career he has passion for.

“My end goal is to just have created a movie that I’m proud of,” Jadon said. “I don’t really care to be famous. I more just want to be able to live that life of creating creative aspects that mean something to me.”

This story was originally published on The Dispatch on October 5, 2023.