Jesseca Kusher

There’s something funny about the way film students inherently neglect the role of sound in their films. I had a professor tell me once that the difference between a great film and a decent one was the quality of the audio — and as I have grown into a cynical senior (recently dubbed “jaded” by a Kenyon first year) I can’t help but agree.

I have been loosely assigned a role on the producing team for developing “Gotta Get Down to It,” the feature film we are making at Kenyon in February of 2019. For me, I hope that this offers me the opportunity to have my hands in as much of production as humanly possible. I am, admittedly, obsessed, with experiential education since I was raised as a curious Montessori child — and so I see my role as a producer as an opportunity to absorb as much information as possible. I want to know more about sound production, the process behind casting, Jon’s inspiration in the directing process, the legal paperwork, and the magic behind lighting. I know that the hardest part of producing this film, at least for me, will be finding a balance between asking a million questions and not distracting from progress. Granted, Phil Garrett, our primary professor on the project, has previously complimented my curiosity — I just need to work on finding that balance so I can be an effective member of the creative team.

I know that my strength going in to the project will be in organizing: while asking too many questions might be a weakness, I know I’m going to go into production with the details taken care of and every problem I can foresee already dealt with. My strength in coordinating logistics has roots in my passion as an outdoor educator and trip leader.

Over the course of my Kenyon career I have worked to plan backcountry camping trips in all four seasons, I have served as a summer camp counselor, and I have coordinated complicated camping logistics for groups of over 60 people at a time. There’s a certain level of risk management planning that goes into preparing for a film shoot, but I know it’s nothing like taking a group of inexperienced hikers deep into the West Virginia wilderness. I love preparing, over preparing, reviewing plans, and then replanning with better contingency plans. There’s something super nerdy about it, but I find joy in knowing I will be ready for the adventure. Moreover, the most exciting elements of the journey come when I get to share my past knowledge and experience of logistics planning with people new to the adventure. Whether that’s a first year film student or a timid middle school girl trying out whitewater canoeing for the first time — I love being a teacher and helping others push their comfort zones a little bit at a time.

Producing is like backpacking because they both require foresight and intense logistic planning. While one of this may be acquiring “assets” like locations and crew members, the other gathers gear necessary for the trek. Sometimes, in both situations, this ends in a long phone conversation to negotiate the acquisition of such items.

For example, in the winter of 2017 I was working as a producer on a senior film thesis which (at one point) needed to shoot a final scene of the two lovers escaping to an airport. Being the sort of sneaky negotiator I am, within a day of the director’s request I had 3 different airports willing to take us and our crew in for free, and one of them even offered to take us up in a private plane (also for free). Needless to say, we didn’t end up using the airport (after I worked pretty hard to sell this as a mutually beneficial project), but nonetheless I am very proud of my behind-the-scenes work.

Similarly, when Kenyon’s insurance switched policies last spring and I was brought on to coordinate our Outdoors Club Pre-Orietnataion (read: literally coordinated by 2 senior students, not by the college), I worked very hard to find a replacement activity for our traditional class IV whitewater rafting on the New River Gorge in West Virginia. After a few hours on the phone, however, I negotiated two different kayaking outfitters to share gear with one another such that we could bring around 50 participants on class II+ whitewater for a day. Ultimately, through other negotiations the college allowed us to go rafting instead — but the point stands: if you’re willing to be courteous to others and work for what you need, I believe there is no logistical issue too large.

Now, student film audio production– that’s something I’ll certainly be asking lots of questions about.