Trey Frantz, 9, of Lake Placid, accepts the Best Actor award during Friday night’s screenings of the three films college students created as part of the “Sleepless in Lake Placid” film competition as part of the Lake Placid Film Forum. (Enterprise photo — Antonio Olivero)

LAKE PLACID — A 9-year-old boy from this village was named the Best Actor of the “Sleepless in Lake Placid” competition as part of this weekend’s Lake Placid Film Forum.

Trey Frantz played the role of Sam in the “Child’s Play” film written and directed by a team of film students from Marist College. The film won the audience choice award during Friday night’s screenings, where three movies in total were shown at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

The Sleepless in Lake Placid competition consisted of teams of students from Marist, Paul Smith’s College and Miami-Dade College in Florida, each writing, filming and editing a movie in fewer than 48-hours to screen at the LPCA Friday night. Students weren’t notified of their exact assignments until Wednesday.

Each team was tasked with incorporating the same three elements into their film: an Adirondack chair, the use of the term “the eagle,” and the famous quote from James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Every trail has its end, and every calamity has its lesson.”

Frantz portrayed a sad and lonely young boy who became much more happy, creative and imaginative after befriending a college-aged young woman. As part of the script, Frantz was filmed at locations around Lake Placid such as the Mid’s Park bandshell, the Mirror Lake beach, the Olympic Center and the Main Street sidewalk.

Speaking after he received his “Palm de Oar” Best Actor award, Frantz said he enjoyed the “Sleepless” experience after he got to know his college-age co-workers. The competition pairs random actors from inside and outside of the Tri-Lakes area with each student film team.

“At first I was actually like (the quiet character) Sam in the beginning,” Frantz said, “and I got to know (the Marist students) more, and now we are like friends.

“I liked walking on the sidewalk, acting like we were famous on Main Street,” he added with a laugh.

Frantz also plays piano and enjoys nordic skiing, but he said he would like to be an actor one day. He named “Ironman” and “The Avengers 2” as two of his favorite movies, and Robert Downey Jr. and Jennifer Lawrence as two of his favorite actors.

“One day I just told my mom, ‘I want to be an actor,'” Frantz recalled, “and she got me in a play. And then I did another play, and now I’m in a movie, so I’m really excited.”

Frantz is the son of Mimi and Ben Frantz of Lake Placid.

–

Paul Smith’s competes for first time

–

Paul Smith’s College students competed as part of the “Sleepless in Lake Placid” competition for the first time this year.

A team of four Paul Smith’s students — Cody Dennis, Will Lord, Andrew Ingersoll and Shane Garlock — wrote and directed a film set at Northwood School and along the Cobble Hill hiking trail. The students took part this semester in a film course instructed by David Press, who served as the faculty advisor on this project.

The film focused on the relationship between a pair of city-slicking siblings and their peculiar and soft-spoken uncle, who led them on a hike of Cobble Hill. The students said they intended for the film to remind viewers to take time out of their busy lives to enjoy nature and reconnect with family members.

“We had a subtle hint about stay off social media,” said Dennis, of Saranac Lake. “Don’t use your screen, look with your eyes, enjoy the things around you. Smartphones are great, but there is a time you can put it away and get a glimpse of what’s around you, such as the beautiful Adirondacks we live in.”