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The 18-year-old Lancaster County resident is an aspiring filmmaker who hopes to create intricate settings like the "Star Wars" universe or the futuristic society in "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"These directors expanded on and generated their own world with the movies they create," Lanzillo said. "They create and do things that are unconventional, but people seem to love them for it."
The recent Manheim Township High School graduate hopes to be a "major creative force in Hollywood film" and he has already undergone some advanced training in movie-making.
Lanzillo completed a three-week summer digital film program at Harvard University in 2007, and last summer he participated in a monthlong filmmakers' workshop at New York University.
At the NYU program, Lanzillo worked on a music video with a group of students and made his own five-minute film.
He also makes digital films by recording live shows for his friends' bands and creating 30-second shorts. Whenever possible, Lanzillo tried to turn school assignments into film projects.
Lanzillo, who was class treasurer from 10th to 12th grade, also was a member of the first "Blue Streak News" video-production team at Manheim Township.
Lanzillo's love for film started in eighth grade, when he made a one-minute commercial in technology education class.
"I just thought, 'Wow, this is fun!' And then I bought a little camera with my friends, and I got more interested and more serious," Lanzillo said.
Although editing has been his favorite part of the filmmaking process, Lanzillo said he doesn't want that to be his job.
"I don't want to have to sit at a computer too much," Lanzillo said. "I like to do stuff."
At 18, Lanzillo already has accomplished much that many adults haven't. With help from Nitrauer Elementary School's Spanish-immersion program, he learned both English and Spanish while growing up. The first book Lanzillo ever read was in Spanish.
Lanzillo also is a world traveler. In various trips with his father, Joseph Lanzillo, and his mother, Henrietta Heisler, Lanzillo has traveled to Germany and Israel, seen Mount Vesuvius and the remains of Pompeii in Italy and gone scuba diving with giant turtles in the Cayman Islands.
One of Lanzillo's favorite memories was skiing through the Alps in Switzerland when he was about 10. His family would wake up every morning, take a gondola up the mountain and ski for most of the day.
"We actually skied into Italy one day," Lanzillo said. "It was incredible."
Lanzillo will continue his adventures overseas in his freshman year of college. He was accepted into NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and will spend next year at the school's campus in Florence, Italy.
While in Florence, Lanzillo plans to travel a lot. He hopes to go to Spain, whose language and culture he has studied his whole life.
Lanzillo also wishes to see Australia and hike through New Zealand, as well as view the great pyramids of Egypt.
"The world is beautiful," Lanzillo said. "There's nothing more real than being out with nature."
E-mail: drorabaugh@lnpnews.com
