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Local artists, HCA support film dramatizing rocketry pioneer

Hopkinton resident Brad Walker (right) performs alongside David Foster during the filming of “Moon Man,” a film co-created by Paul Champlin of the Hopkinton Center for the Arts and Maximilian Kent. PHOTO/PAUL CHAMPLIN

A short film created by local artists about a historic rocket flight will be screened at the NASA Robert Goddard Space Flight Center this weekend and early next week.

The film was conceived by Maximilian Kent, a Dean College student who interned at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts under theater production manager Paul Champlin. Titled “Moon Man,” the movie dramatizes the story of Dr. Robert H. Goddard as he attempts to construct and test the first rocket to use liquid fuel.

Goddard successfully launched his rocket on March 16, 1926, in nearby Auburn. According to NASA’s biography of the scientist, the launch was “as significant to history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.”

Champlin, who was involved with the project, explained Kent had asked him to write and direct the film. The two partnered up on “Moon Man” and began shooting in January. Champlin noted they completed work on the film on the 100th anniversary of Goddard’s launch.

Filming was done at the launch site in Auburn and Goddard’s house in Worcester, which has been preserved and now is used as a conference center, according to Champlin. Hopkinton resident Brad Walker had a role in the film, as did former residents Isaiah Munoz and Tommy Karner.

Through connections made at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the launch, Kent was able to secure screening the film at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Champlin said. It will be screened for the public there on Saturday, and NASA personnel will have a chance to watch it next week.

Champlin explained that Kent’s love for space inspired the idea for this movie. “He is really interested in … the intersection between science and the arts, and telling science stories through the arts,” said Champlin. He added that Kent’s vision is to use art as a way to get people into science.

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Photo of the Day

A worker pilots a remote controlled trench roller up Main Street at the Hopkinton Drug construction site last week.

PHOTO/NICK SCHOFIELD