Alumni filmmakers discuss “Breaking Into the Film Biz”

Emerging filmmakers and North Central alumni Scott Drucker ’06 and R.J. McNichols ’11 will visit campus March 5 to discuss the business and art of making of their first films.

Titled “Breaking Into the Film Biz,” their presentation is free and will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the Harold and Eva White Activities Center. Their talk and Q&A are open to the campus community and will especially interest young filmmakers, students of interactive media, and fans and aficionados of contemporary documentary film with a community and social conscience.

Drucker graduated from North Central with a major in English literature and a minor in secondary education and received an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

He went on to direct “Between the Harvest,” a critically acclaimed documentary about a community in Costa Rica dependent on the monthly harvest of sea turtle eggs. His film has been screened in nine countries and several Academy Award-qualifying festivals. It won awards for best documentary at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and the Naperville International Film Festival. His clients have included Showtime, ESPN, Vice and U.S. Soccer. Drucker is currently producing and shooting a Hulu original series “My Side of the Sky” and will be traveling to Afghanistan as the director of photography for a feature documentary on the scouts of Kabul.

McNichols graduated from North Central with a major in interactive media studies and minor in English writing. He received an M.A. in new media studies from DePaul University in 2013.

He created “16 2 1 and Beyond: The Fall and Rise of the North Central College Men’s Cross Country Team,” a documentary that follows the team’s run to its 13th national title. Receiving thousands of views via Flotrack.com and NCHARRIER.com, the film generated attention across the running community and was highlighted by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Athletic Magazine. He has shot and edited videos for clients such as Adidas, Brooks Running, Flotrack and Wine Channel TV. McNichols is currently filming “Freestyle or Written: the Story of MC Juice,” a documentary about the famed Chicago rapper.   

This event is cosponsored by Cultural Events and the interactive media studies program.