Since graduating in 1995, Hollywood producer and Oswego State alumnus Andrew Miano remains connected to the university and community. 

This past week, “The Farewell,” an award-winning film produced by Miano, has been showing for a limited time at the Oswego Cinema 7. Miano pulled a lot of strings to make sure the film could be shown at the cinema, as he wanted to make sure the people of the community had a chance to see the film.

“Basically, I asked our distributor if the movie could be shown in Oswego because we’re getting towards the end of the run where we’re playing [the movie] in a lot of cities where we didn’t get to play it in the beginning,” Miano said. “It was important to me because I have a lot of friends who are still there as well as a lot of professors and mentors.”

Since graduating Oswego State, Miano has most notably produced films such as “A Single Man,” starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, “Admission,” starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings and “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” starring John C. Reilly and Josh Hutcherson. He was also an executive producer on popular films such as “Little Fockers,” starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller and “The Golden Compass,” starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. 

Miano has worked on several other films during his career, but every single one is important to him in its own special way. 

“There’s no favorite [film], they’re all my little children. Sometimes you love them and sometimes they drive you a little insane but there’s no favorite,” Miano said. “The experience of making a project goes into the love of it, not just the final result. Even a movie that wasn’t as successful as we set out to make it still has a soft spot in my heart because of the experience of making it.” 

Miano, who was a theater major and creative writing minor, has certainly achieved success since his departure from Oswego State. But, the small school located near Lake Ontario helped lead him in the right direction while filling his mind with wonderful memories in the process. 

“I am fortunate that I am doing what I want to do and I consider the time at Oswego is what led me in that direction,” Miano said. “It wasn’t by any means easy I struggled in my science and math classes as every theater major does. I had a blast in every class in Tyler Hall and my creative writing classes and I’m still in touch with a lot of those teachers, primarily Brad Korbesmeyer [creative writing professor] and Julie Pretzat [dean of the school of communication, media and the arts].” 

Miano had his most memorable moments at Tyler Hall but it was also the community of Oswego that gave him some memories of their own. He enjoyed spending time with friends at “Lil’s Erie Tavern,” which was formerly located on Erie Street. He also enjoyed some food spots in town that appealed to him as a college student.  

“As a college kid I was broke so I really enjoyed Pizza Pub and their $3 pizzas and Taco Bell. Those were, sadly, my favorite restaurants,” Miano said. 

Miano does not have many regrets that occurred during his time at Oswego State, but there is one regret in particular that is not exactly what most people would expect.

“I regret that I wasn’t in a band sooner. I was only in a band the last six months of my senior year and realized how much fun it would’ve been to be in a band sooner,” Miano said. 

Oswego State certainly had a large impact on the life of Miano. It was there that he discovered what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, much like most college students. Miano definitely did not forget his roots. When asked about his experience at Oswego State, he had nothing but good things to say.

“I had a great time at Oswego. It was a wonderful, wonderful place to go to college,” Miano said. 

Photo provided by Andrew Miano