A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is showing his students that they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to go farther than Central Wisconsin to find opportunities to grow as filmmakers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Obsatz, an assistant professor of media studies <\/strong><\/a>who recently won a Midwest Emmy-Award, is translating his experience into his work as an instructor and mentor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obsatz came to UW-Stevens Point in 2021 after several years of working as a freelance non-fiction video producer. He spent his early career working on commercials,\u202fdocumentaries and even mainstream television shows like \u201cDiners, Drive-Ins and Dives\u201d and HGTV shows before going back to school for his Master of Fine Arts degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since coming to UWSP, he has built a network of local creatives for his professional advancement as well as his students\u2019. Through his efforts, Obsatz connected with Jason and Hope Rajasinghe, co-founders of RAD Productions USA<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The couple founded the company after returning to Wisconsin in 2023. Since then, they have\u00a0established\u00a0themselves as a trusted\u00a0team of storytellers and filmmakers.\u00a0With\u00a0years of\u00a0international experience in the production industry, their specialties include commercials, documentaries and narrative\u00a0films\u00a0in Wisconsin and beyond.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey brought good energy to the area, being outgoing and assertive about the skills they had to offer,\u201d Obsatz said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After RAD Productions\u2019\u00a0initial\u00a0work on a video for the\u00a0Portage County Business Council<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0gained traction, conversations continued with a project for\u00a0Gamber-Johnson<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>Obsatz\u00a0got involved with the project during the\u00a0initial\u00a0brainstorming stage, eventually writing the voice-over script for the commercial. Although Gamber-Johnson\u2019s products may not stand out in daily life, he was drawn to share their mission of public safety and reliability.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe started with a\u00a0script\u00a0outline that highlighted all the different areas that\u202fGamber-Johnson excels in, and the high-level impact of their work,\u201d\u00a0Obsatz\u00a0said. \u201cYou may not notice the plastic mount inside of a police vehicle for example, but these are products\u202fthat help\u00a0save lives. We\u00a0folded that\u202fidea into the video and\u00a0came up with\u00a0a script\u00a0that centers around their mission of reliability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stevens Point police and Wausau fire professionals joined the production, resulting in an action-packed brand film that embodies the slogan \u201cRugged, Reliable and Responsive.\u201d RAD Productions submitted the film for consideration at the Chicago\/ Midwest Regional Emmy Awards, where it earned Best Commercial \u2013 Single Spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond having gratitude for this recognition, Obsatz found the awards to be a beneficial professional experience he could share with his students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always\u202ftell my students to say yes to everything because you could end up having a great experience,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Emmy\u2019s ceremony was a big gala event in Chicago,\u202fand it was cool to be there because it is such a well-oiled and professional event. We had no expectation that our production would be recognized, but it was a special feeling. Thinking back, this project required me to say yes a lot of times, and I’m grateful to the team for asking me to be a part of it from start to finish.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Obsatz’ involvement with RAD Productions, the company has given several UWSP students real-world production experience. He says that bringing guest speakers like Jason and Hope to his classes has been a great way for students to build professional networks of their own, putting the soft skills learned in media studies to the test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I bring guests to my classes, that is a chance for my students to be assertive,\u201d he said. \u201cIf an opportunity sounds interesting, exchange contact information. Enthusiasm trumps everything else and showing a willingness to learn and adapt is what people really want to see.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Madison Schiefelbein\u00a0\u201925 interned with RAD Productions after connecting with them during a classroom presentation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI legitimately followed them out of the classroom and asked for a job, so we set up an interview and they hired me,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first project I worked on was for the USDA Forest Products Lab in Madison, and hearing the scientists talk about what they love doing was so much fun. I\u2019ve always been interested in non-fiction pieces because I find real stories so emotionally moving.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the\u00a0initial\u00a0internship was kick-started by her own enthusiasm, Schiefelbein has since seen steady freelance opportunities in Central Wisconsin,\u00a0largely thanks to\u00a0the role\u00a0Obsatz\u00a0has played as her mentor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has helped me immensely in navigating employment post-grad. It is refreshing to see somebody who wants to cultivate a community and connect others with work, because this industry can feel like it\u2019s every man for themselves,\u201d she said. Schiefelbein now does photography for UWSP Athletics and produces with local alumni-owned production company Thousand Lumens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he is grateful to be a part of an Emmy-winning team, Obsatz is not focused on receiving recognition for his work. Rooted in curiosity, his passion is telling compelling narratives and translating this love to his students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am lucky that I have found ways to work with people and causes that I feel aligned with and want to learn more about through non-fiction filmmaking,\u201d Obsatz said. \u201cI see students who\u202fmaybe like the glamour of Hollywood or streaming,\u202fbut this kind of work can be a sustainable career, and it’s something you can feel really good about.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is showing his students that they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to go farther than Central Wisconsin to find opportunities to grow as filmmakers.\u00a0\u00a0 Kevin Obsatz, an assistant professor of media studies who recently won a Midwest Emmy-Award, is translating his experience into his work as an instructor and mentor. Obsatz came to UW-Stevens Point in 2021 after several years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":222194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"department":[16,42],"news_category":[10,8],"news_tag":[17,420,202],"class_list":["post-222201","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","department-cofac","department-schoolofdesign","news_category-faculty-staff","news_category-stories","news_tag-college-of-fine-arts-and-communication","news_tag-emmy-award","news_tag-school-of-design-and-communication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/222201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=222201"},{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=222201"},{"taxonomy":"news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tag?post=222201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}