Growing up in the island nation of Aruba, surrounded by his family in the restaurant industry, Nathan Legger learned the value of hard work from a young age. Year after year, he watched as his parents ran a successful restaurant catering to the tourists who frequent the island. Legger would often help with the lunch and dinner rushes, gaining experience in the invaluable art of building relationships.
But as he grew and explored different interests, Legger discovered a passion and appreciation for the film industry. As he recalls, watching Avatar in theaters and witnessing the sheer amount of effort and individuals involved in the impressive production got him thinking: if he could be just a small part of this industry that brought the fantastic to life, he would consider this a success.
Legger began exploring how to enter the film industry and took an introductory filmmaking class which later led him to the University of Tampa to pursue his Bachelor’s in filmmaking.
While exploring filmmaking, Legger sought another avenue in which he could create lifelong relationships and continue building upon his soft and hard skills. At the time, Lambda Chi Alpha was in the process of establishing an associate chapter at the university. Legger decided this would be a fantastic way to give back and make him more well-rounded.
Legger became a Founding Father of the chapter and went on to serve as High Alpha, High Beta and on the Student Advisory Committee in 2019.
“Those experiences have taught me invaluable lessons on how to deal with a large group of people and how to manage and delegate all of that,” said Legger. “I always thought I kind of had to do everything on my own, but one nice thing that Lambda Chi teaches you is that it is a community, it is a Brotherhood…”
Legger was then able to take what he learned through his Lambda Chi Alpha experience and take the next step in his journey to continue studying film in London, where he has used the skills he learned through the Fraternity to build his film portfolio.
For the past three years, Legger has worked to hone his craft, all leading up to his final graduation short film. Legger will travel back to where it all started in Aruba with a full crew in May to create a 20–25-minute short film. This will be the first time Legger will be directing a film on the island in over eight years.
But as with any ambitious project comes challenges. Aside from the cost of producing a film of this magnitude, Legger must also navigate how to ensure all equipment and crew reach Aruba while maintaining a production timeline.
Legger is more than willing to rise to the challenge, though, and even says that the obstacles are what make the final product that much more satisfying.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Legger. “Everybody’s very motivated to get it done…it’s a bit scary, but also fun to kind of show people what I’ve been working towards.”
The film will center around the story of Natalia, an owner of a restaurant in Aruba, and will follow her through the daily struggles of keeping her business afloat while dealing with the daily struggles of the hospitality industry.
Following the wrap of filming and production, Legger hopes to enter the film into multiple festivals and promote the proud tradition of his home country of Aruba.
“I really want to contribute to a brick of that foundation that Aruba does have a good video and film industry,” said Legger. “Hopefully it’ll be the start of that so that people know Aruba exists and that it’s not just someplace in the middle of nowhere.”
