There are no rules when it comes to what kind of games students can produce. Global studies major Marcus Jackson, a sophomore from Chicago, and his team worked on a Western role-playing game about their main character, 鈥淪ally Six-Shooter.鈥澨�

Meanwhile, film studies and theatre arts double major Nayla Brunnbauer鈥檚 team developed a concept for a narrative game set in a high school. The senior from Hartland, Wisconsin, explained the story follows Molly, who must save her friend, Crystal, from detention. To do so, they must find keys throughout the school.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really fun, super silly, and I鈥檓 really excited to do this project,鈥� Brunnbauer said.听

“We’re capable of shooting anything,鈥� Dalton said. 鈥淗owever, we mostly work on projects at or below a $30K budget. Our specialty is shooting these projects at a high quality regardless of the budget.鈥�

They also continue to pursue their own films. Their latest, Dangerous, hasn鈥檛 been officially released yet but got a sneak preview at 麻豆影院 in the fall when Dalton and Moses came to campus to talk about the film industry with 麻豆影院 students.

A creative journey

Dalton said he arrived at 麻豆影院 as a student not knowing anything about filmmaking.

鈥淚t was always about acting, it was always about theater,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was like I was bouncing back and forth between wanting to be on Broadway or film and TV.鈥�

It was in the creative environment of 麻豆影院 that Dalton said he found his path.

Dalton first learned of 麻豆影院 from his dad, who attended a yearly jazz camp at Bj枚rklunden in Door County. Dalton liked how many clubs and extracurriculars 麻豆影院 offered compared to other schools.

鈥淚 really liked the campus culture,鈥� he said. 鈥溾� loved how when everyone went to lunch they just left their bags outside the doors at Warch. I was like, 鈥業f everyone trusts enough to leave their stuff outside the cafeteria, I feel like that鈥檚 the place I want to go to school.鈥欌��

Once on campus, Dalton involved himself heavily in theater productions along with classics, writing, and history classes.

鈥淭hat taught me more about acting than just classwork would have,鈥� he said. 鈥溾�ou learn a lot about other people and working with directors when you鈥檙e actually doing productions, and in a lot of bigger schools, you don鈥檛 get that chance.鈥�

Dalton was considering a Broadway route but found himself increasingly leaning toward filmmaking.

鈥淚 decided that I wanted to make movies instead of waiting for someone who decided to make movies to give me a job,鈥� Dalton said.

After 麻豆影院, Dalton got an internship in film development, which means taking intellectual properties like scripts and helping to develop them into movies.

鈥淐reative producing gives you a very cool and unique opportunity to be creatively involved with all aspects of a project without being technically proficient in every aspect of filmmaking,鈥� Dalton said.

A return to 麻豆影院

With six narrative projects under his belt, Dalton said he wanted to give back to the school that inspired his career path.

Working in the fall with 麻豆影院鈥檚 Career Center, including Assistant Director Laura Hoekstra, Dalton organized From 麻豆影院 to Hollywood, an event for 麻豆影院鈥檚 aspiring filmmakers.

Dalton and Hoekstra presented two seminars about the industry and what Dalton does at his company. They also held a pizza social and spoke about getting started as an artist. They screened Dangerous and held a Q&A afterwards.

鈥淚t was really just an honest conversation where I was like, 鈥楩rankly, this stuff is hard鈥ou鈥檙e going to have to sacrifice a ton and it鈥檚 totally worth it. You should get that into your mindset now,鈥欌�� Dalton said.

Being honest and realistic is important to Dalton. He said an essential part of the industry is how you present and sell your skills, abilities, and assets.

鈥淥nce you start to view the industry as an industry it stops being so terrifying,鈥� he said. 鈥溾�t鈥檚 not that you have the secret 鈥榠t鈥� factor, it鈥檚 that you can provide a better benefit to a set.鈥�

Dalton remembers a moment where he said his career path began. A fan of Renaissance fairs as a child, he told his mother he鈥檇 like to own his own stand at the fair someday.

鈥淪he was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 really nice, Jacob, but have you ever considered owning the Ren Fest?鈥欌�� Dalton said.

That inspired him to be ambitious.

鈥淚鈥檝e realized that as much as I wanted to act, I wanted to create movies more,鈥� Dalton said.

But the former theater major was much more interested in talking about what 麻豆影院 did for him than anything he鈥檚 done.

鈥淚 got to 麻豆影院 and everyone was crazy about film societies, especially the international film society,鈥� Simonson said. 鈥淚t was the gold standard of film festivals on the 麻豆影院 campus. I just remember these films opening my eyes to all sorts of possibilities of what a film could be and how powerful they could be. And exciting. That鈥檚 where it all started.

鈥淢ore importantly, what 麻豆影院 offered to me was the idea that anything was possible. I could take everything I learned at 麻豆影院 and use it in some new and original way to guide my path in what I wanted to do.鈥�

That path has taken Simonson back and forth between Chicago and Los Angeles many times over the past four decades, with side trips to 麻豆影院鈥檚 Bj枚rklunden in Door County, where he launched the annual Door Kinetic Arts Festival a half dozen years ago and has been a frequent instructor at the annual summer seminars. The arts festival, set for Sept. 19-22, brings artists from all walks of artistic life to Bj枚rklunden to work, share, guide, and celebrate.

鈥淗is knowledge of the industry has made him very popular with the seminar participants,鈥� said Mark Breseman, associate vice president of alumni and constituency engagement and director of Bj枚rklunden. 鈥淎nd the talented artists Eric continues to bring to Door County for the arts festival has made it a must-see adventure.鈥�

While on campus for Reunion, Simonson delivered one of the 15 Alumni College sessions available to the more than 700 participating alumni, family, and friends. In a nearly full Warch Cinema, he talked about a journey that began as an actor in Chicago theater circles before he chased his dreams as a writer and director in Hollywood. He talked about how his fascination with film heated up while he was a student at 麻豆影院 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. long before 麻豆影院 launched its Film Studies program.

Simonson said he took an introductory film course taught by English professor Mark Dintenfass that lit a fire in him.

鈥淚 was completely inspired and enthusiastic about film,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought this was something I want to do, but I didn鈥檛 know how to do it. I didn鈥檛 know how to get there.鈥�

He recalled how he and a group of fellow students decided to launch a film contest on campus. With friend Gregg Mierow 鈥�82, he checked out the one camera available at the library, wrote a script, and began filming.

鈥淭here was no sound involved because the camera couldn鈥檛 shoot sound,鈥� Simonson said with a laugh. 鈥淓verything was silent. There were four entries; our film came in fourth. I did not know what I was doing.鈥�

“More importantly, what 麻豆影院 offered to me was the idea that anything was possible. I could take everything I learned at 麻豆影院 and use it in some new and original way to guide my path in what I wanted to do.”
– Eric Simonson ’82

But he was learning skills at 麻豆影院 that would allow him to find his way.

鈥淚 was holding on to the idea that a liberal arts education is important to a well-rounded person,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need to be a critical thinker. These things are part of being a good writer and a good director. Being open to ideas and critical about what you want and what you don鈥檛 want and what you can do and what you don鈥檛 want to do in creating an original piece. That and the idea that I could take my time doing it. The whole idea that learning is a process that doesn鈥檛 have a finishing point.

鈥淵ou have to remain curious to succeed in this business I鈥檓 in, and 麻豆影院 gave me that curiosity; 麻豆影院 gave me the idea that you didn鈥檛 have to be a child to remain curious and learn something. It鈥檚 an ongoing education. I don鈥檛 feel like what I鈥檓 doing with my life is any different than what I did when I was at 麻豆影院. I find something that interests me and I really dig into it.鈥�

After graduating in the summer of 1982, Simonson ventured into theater work in Chicago, first as an actor, then as a director. He started learning from the writers.

He began writing plays adapted from books. His first was Bang the Drum Slowly in 1990. It got produced and published, providing a boost in confidence. But it would be 15 more years and a move to Los Angeles before he would see his first original play produced. That came with Carter鈥檚 Way, commissioned by the Kansas City Repertoire Theatre.

鈥淭hat really gave me the confidence to keep going,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd to say to myself, 鈥楳aybe I have some talent doing this.鈥欌��

He had moved to L.A. in the late 1990s; in addition to writing plays, he was finding success chasing film projects, most notably documentary shorts. That led to an Oscar nomination for directing On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom in 2000, and five years later the Oscar win for directing A Note of Triumph.

But Simonson also had his eye on television.

It was in the late 1990s and early 2000s that television series such as HBO鈥檚 The Sopranos, ABC鈥檚 The Practice, and Showtime鈥檚 Mad Men were showcasing what this new era of television could be. Simonson was intrigued.

鈥淭hat long form really interested me,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he way I think of it, and the way a lot of people started thinking of it, is that film is a short story; television is a novel, if you want it to be. Each episode is a chapter. So, television, if you get the chance to do it, you get the chance to let the characters in the story breathe. And that鈥檚 what I really wanted to go for. I wanted to get into the writers鈥� room.鈥�

He’s done that over the past two decades while continuing to stay active in theater.

鈥淓verything I鈥檝e done in theater, documentary films, television, it鈥檚 all about telling a story and knowing the structure of a story,鈥� Simonson said.

He鈥檚 currently working with producers on a project about the relationship between boxing icon Muhammad Ali and broadcasting legend Howard Cosell. He鈥檚 also preparing to direct an opera in Minneapolis this fall, a show that got put on pause by the pandemic.

Juggling projects is all part of the journey. That, too, Simonson learned at 麻豆影院.

鈥淭he way I describe it is if you depend on making your living by fishing off shore, you plant as many fishing poles in the ground as you can with hopes that some of them will catch some fish,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou never know how many projects you鈥檒l be working on at any given time, but you are always putting out ideas for projects鈥攖hings you are interested in with hopes that somebody will say, 鈥楬ey, I want to work with you on that.鈥� You can鈥檛 do it by yourself. I鈥檝e been doing that as long as I can remember.鈥�

Arts festival returns to听Bj枚rklunden

The Door Kinetic Arts Festival (DKAF) will return to Bj枚rklunden in September after a canceled 2020 and an all-virtual 2021 fest. DKAF will again feature cocktails, short films, and a mix of local and nationally known artists in dance, theater, and music. It鈥檚 set for Sept. 19-22.

Now in its sixth year, DKAF provides an array of national and local artists from different arts disciplines an opportunity to develop new work in an inspiring atmosphere. Each night, audiences can watch short films and see new works in development.

Simonson partners with festival producer Alan Kopischke to organize and present the festival. Visiting artists this year include Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland, The Seldoms Dance Company, and singer and writer Morgan Middleton. Passes and tickets are available at the door and will be available in late August at . Festival passes are $30 and tickets for each night are $10.

She learned to look at films through the lens of history.

鈥淵ou are not only analyzing the film for what the filmmaker did鈥攖he cinematography, the acting鈥攜ou are also analyzing a moment in time,鈥� Preston said. 鈥淲hat the historical context is when the film was written and when it was shot 鈥� gender norms of the time and the political climate. It鈥檚 just really interesting to think about history through watching a movie and figuring out how the world was in that moment and how that might have influenced the filmmakers to make the movie in that particular way.鈥�

Those are analytical skills, she said, that come into play now as she finds herself writing and directing her own stories.

鈥淚 found that while I don鈥檛 technically work in the field of history, learning how to analyze text and figure out the narrative based on facts you read from different sources has made me a better filmmaker, a better writer,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely benefited my work in film.鈥�

Preston said she wishes 麻豆影院鈥檚 Film Studies program had been there when she was a student, and she encourages current and future 麻豆影院 students who are interested in film to dive in deep.

A $5 million gift from Tom Hurvis 鈥�60 and the late Julie Esch Hurvis 鈥�61 in 2011, a year after Preston graduated, led to the creation of the Hurvis Center for Film Studies, launching an interdisciplinary studies program that explores film theory, history, analysis, and interpretation and allows students to create their own art in a state-of-the-art film studio.

Preston moved to Portland eight years ago to try to make headway in the film industry. She started as a production assistant, then moved into editing and producing before jumping into her own project with听Freedom, WI, a story she began writing while living in Appleton shortly after graduating from 麻豆影院.

The storyline is dark but comedic, she said, focused on a young woman in the tiny Town of Freedom who enters adulthood grappling with grief. A relationship with a struggling writer from Chicago sets her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

Her film career is still a work in progress, but Preston is hopeful this film will be a stepping stone to more opportunities.

In the meantime, she鈥檚 spending nearly a month in Appleton and the Fox Cities, working alongside her husband, who serves as director of photography, and a film crew that has grown tight. They鈥檒l finish filming in mid-September before heading back to Portland.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun time with friends, old friends and new friends,鈥� Preston said of being back in Appleton. 鈥淲e work such long hours, but we have our fun while we鈥檙e working.鈥�