Keith Wilson and former student Nate Sizemore reconnect in the film field

In late November, Keith Wilson, an assistant professor in the Entertainment and Media Studies Department at Grady College and an active director, producer and visual artist, was on a Zoom call with his publicist when he saw a familiar face. 

While running over plans for some distribution and awards publicity for a feature documentary he produced called “Joonam,” Wilson spotted his former student Nate Sizemore (AB ‘22) on the corner of his screen.

“I’ve been working with Sylvia Desrochers (Wilson’s LA-based publicist) and her hard working team at MPRM Communications for a few years, so I was surprised and delighted when I noticed a former EMST student of mine was on the Zoom call,” said Wilson. 

Sizemore, who graduated in December of 2022 and was a member of The Industry, the student entertainment and media industries club at UGA, is now an account assistant at MPRM, working primarily on accounts representing independent film projects.

“My time at Grady really gave me knowledge of the industry, and it gave me, specifically, the people skills that you need to move out here (to Los Angeles),” said Sizemore, “because networking and having a knowledge of the industry is so important.”

Sizemore was a student in Wilson’s fall 2022 Cinematography 4200 course, which focuses on concepts and strategies for visual storytelling as well as the art and craft of cinematography. Students learn the technical side of cinematography and are provided a supportive environment to find and hone their individual artistic voices.

“Nate was a joy to have in class,” said Wilson. “He brought a needed perspective, sense of humor and collaborative spirit to the class and to his classmates. An ability to nurture relationships is crucial in the world of film publicity, and Nate had that.”

“Cinematography is very hands-on compared to what I’m doing now,” added Sizemore, “but I think it prepared me with the mentality that you just have to try things and put yourself out there, even if you’re not extremely confident in what you’re doing. That mentality and knowledge of the film industry really prepared me for the job. His class really forced me to do things outside of my comfort zone.”

MPRM is currently working with Wilson to handle the launch for the video-on-demand release of “I Didn’t See You There,” a film Wilson produced which won an 2023 Independent Spirit Award and the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It follows a filmmaker with a disability who captures the personal and poetic from the perspective of his wheelchair.

“Even though Nate isn’t currently behind a camera as a cinematographer, I believe that his time in my class and other EMST courses prepared him for the demanding work at MPRM,” said Wilson. “Publicists are some of the hardest working, skilled and important people in my field.”

Author: Jackson Schroeder, Jackson.Schroeder@uga.edu