From the halls of North Penn to the new Terminator movie set, North Penn alum Nicholas Kohut is dedicated to developing and advancing his career in the film industry. After receiving the Samuel R. Cassel scholarship in his senior year of high school, Kohut attended Temple University, majoring in Film & Media Arts.

On the scholarship, Kohut commented that “the scholarship helped immensely with my education in that it inspired and motivated me to pursue film outright and make the most of my academic experience. Instead of just getting by like many of my peers, I was driven to be the best student I could be while working toward my degree.”

During his years at Temple, Kohut took advantage of a special opportunity to intern with Skydance Productions. A film production company based at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, Skydance Productions gave Kohut his first job as a Production Assistant in their new project, Terminator.

Looking back on the transition from college to the working world, Kohut stated that he may still be in that transition: “There’s no one telling you what to do with your life, and if there is, then you’re probably doing the wrong thing. Life is a big open canvas and we are all given the opportunity to make the most or least of it.”

Terminator is being shot in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the humid climate takes some getting used to. Everyone on set must be aware of spontaneous storms and how they will affect the equipment: “The other night our shoot got cut short by a typical spontaneous storm. The entire set flooded and we were forced to evacuate very expensive 3D scanning technology in the middle of the downpour.”

Moving up in the ranks quickly, Kohut was recommended to the Visual Effects Department after two weeks as a Production Assistant and is now working as a VFX PA. Striving to prove his worth on the Terminator set, Kohut professes to doing “whatever needs to be done…The film industry is all about showing up and doing the best you can do…I love filmmaking so it’s very easy for me to come to set and be ready for a 12 or sometimes 14 hour long day and leave with a smile on my face.”

Aside from filmmaking, Kohut enjoys spending time with family and friends, making music, cooking, and “reading trippy and existential literature.”

With a great attitude and strong goals in mind, Nicholas Kohut is doing all he can to further his career in the film industry, asserting that he will “devote [his] life toward honing [his] skills and creating opportunities for [himself] to make the films and live the life [he] always dreamed of.”