Aaron Compagna
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Aaron Michael Compagna was born in Manchester, NH to Roger Compagna, a
portrait photographer and Constance Compagna, an insurance claims
adjuster. In 1995, at 17, he moved to New York City to get his
bachelor's degree in Acting at New York University's Tisch School of
the Arts. He studied with the Atlantic Theatre Company, Stonestreet
Studios and Experimental Theatre Wing. He had a pretty dry 11 years of
not getting much work. In 2006, at age 28, he became disenchanted with
the acting world, and swore it off for good, moving back to his home
town in NH to try and find some other course in life. Little did he
realize how much the community theatre scene exploded in the area of
his own home town. He speculates that this was due to the advent of an
annual award ceremony for NH theatre that began in 2002. He started
volunteering behind the scenes with community theatre companies with
whom he performed in shows as a child, and within a year or so of doing
that, began to get jealous of people auditioning for roles that he was
sure he was perfect for. Thus began a not-very-subtle return to the
stage in NH. Within the next three years, he performed in 15 full
length productions, most of which were as leads or significant
secondary characters, as well as various stage festivals and staged
readings. He was enjoying a more prolific artistic life in NH than he
ever did in NY or LA. Connection in theatre lead to connections in
film, and thus he became involved in the 48 hour film festival, in
which film makers have exactly 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a
film entirely from scratch. He has always been fascinated with the
process of film making.