SUNDERLAND — As the middle of summer vacation approaches, most Frontier Regional School students are likely working, taking trips with friends and enjoying all their free time.

For Connor Mabius, however, this break serves as a chance to sit in the director’s chair.

Alongside his cast and crew, the rising junior is producing an approximately 30-minute short film titled “Averted,” which is set during the Cuban Missile Crisis and follows CIA agent Harold Berkley, who is betrayed on his mission. The low-budget film is supported by Frontier Community Access Television (FCAT)’s Youth Outreach Director Kevin Murphy and General Manager Jonathan Boschen, who have provided additional equipment, space and their expertise.

Mabius caught the film bug when Murphy convinced him to enter the Northampton Film Festival in the spring, where he saw a positive reception to a previous short film. After that experience, Mabius, who has a deep knowledge of classic film and literature — Orson Welles is one of his inspirations — began work on “Averted.” He wanted to try to take the film to the next level.

“I realized that I have perfectly enough time to do this for the summer,” Mabius said, adding that he wants to “squeeze as much as I can” out of this experience. “Film is really my passion.”

Once work began in earnest, Mabius started recruiting a cast on Backstage — a sort of LinkedIn for actors, where directors can share pitches and actors can share audition tapes — and soon pulled in actors from around the Northeast, including Boston-based actor John Basile and Hartford-based actress Cynthia Lupo. To fit the time period, Mabius also took a trip down to the Young Men’s Club of Hadley’s weekly cruise night, where he connected with the owners of a 1960 Chevrolet Impala and a 1957 Ford Edsel and got them to share their cars for filming.

Basile plays the leading role of CIA agent Harold Berkley, while Lupo plays Serpico Jag, who is helping investigate the disappearance of a Russian author.

“I looked at his Backstage pitch and I was like, ‘Wow, it looked like something out of Universal Studios the way he set this thing up. … I had no idea he was a high school student,” Basile said, adding that he is a huge fan of doing (typically college) student films “because I like the energy.” “I’ve been on sets with leading production companies and they were a disaster and this is just really well done. So, I felt really good about jumping into it and I have not been disappointed.”

Learning experience

For Lupo, as well as the rest of the cast and crew, participating in Mabius’ short film is a chance to hone their acting, editing and producing skills, which could lead to greater opportunities. In a world of networking and nepotism, she continued, a place like FCAT can help jumpstart futures for those who don’t have those connections.

“One of the big issues I’ve noticed growing up is watching the opportunity to ‘break in’ shrinking. If you don’t already have connections or a large budget, it feels like you don’t get those opportunities,” Lupo said. “Whereas there’s something like FCAT providing Connor the opportunity to really work out how to do this and pursue his passion.

“And I just appreciate being able to try and learn more about acting without needing to go to acting school,” added Lupo, who has a background in welding and works in a factory for her day job.

That sentiment was echoed by Emily Laus, a production assistant on the film who has a background in science. Others involved with the film include Assistant Director Ben Roberts and Production Assistant Leo Franceschi.

“It’s really nice that everybody here is so open to allowing you to learn things,” Laus said, adding that she had “almost no film experience” leading up to the production of “Averted.” “I’m just grateful for the chance to learn from everyone else and be a part of this community where we can all grow together, both individually and as a unit.”

Boschen and Murphy said volunteering to support a project like this is an essential function of a community access station like FCAT, as they look to inspire the youth to get into the television field.

“We need to find ways to stay relevant and this is something we have expertise in and we can help out,” Boschen said. “That’s the type of thing that helps us look good and we’ll get more people involved.”

“I’m volunteering my time as well. I’m excited to see the energy Connor has put into this vision,” Murphy added. “He’s a shooting star I want to see him succeed.”

“Averted” will continue filming for a few more weeks. After that, Mabius and Roberts said they expect to spend about five to six months doing editing and post-production work. An expected release date is early 2025 and Mabius said he hopes to connect with either the Greenfield Garden Cinemas or Amherst Cinema to showcase the short film.

Additionally, since “Averted” is a low-to-no-budget film, Mabius has launched a GoFundMe to provide his actors with pay for their work and travel expenses. The GoFundMe can be found at bit.ly/3Wkt48M.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.