Lecturer in Journalism Buddy Moorehouse (right) and his students pose after the screening of their documentary “Hillsdale to Hilltop.”
John J. Miller | Collegian
Students in the documentary filmmaking course premiered “Hillsdale to Hilltop: How the College Produced a Poet, a Politician, a Pro, and a Personality,” which explores the lives of four prominent Hillsdale alumni and how the college prepared them to achieve success.
The documentary covers poet Will Carleton of the class of 1869, Illinois Republican Congressman Phil Crane ’52, Green Bay Packers kicker Chester Marcol ’82, and Fox News personality Kat Timpf ’10.
Students in the course, part of the Dow Journalism Program, produced the documentary. This is the third year of the documentary program and its seventh production.
The students behind the documentary are freshmen Max Cote and Henry Hammond, sophomore Ameera Wilson, juniors Monroe Beute and Olivia Pero, and seniors Beth Crawford, Chris Dick, Cat Spalding, and Elizabeth Troutman. Lecturer in Journalism Buddy Moorehouse led the class.
Moorehouse said he was excited about this film and fascinated by the differences and similarities between all four subjects of the film.
“I learned what a special place this is,” Moorehouse said. “The only thing those four people had in common was that they all went to the same school. They wanted to reach the top, and it was all because they got their start here.”
Spalding said she believes filmmaking is an important skill to have and will serve her well after graduation. The production process taught her many lessons, she said.
“One lesson I learned is to not procrastinate because the editing process takes much longer than I thought it would,” Spalding said. “Being able to have the skill to edit and put together a film is irreplaceable.”
Troutman said her favorite part of the production was traveling to New York and interviewing Timpf in the Fox News studios.
“It was really cool to meet someone who did The Collegian and was in the same sorority as me, and now is super successful on Fox News,” Troutman said.
The documentary showed that a Hillsdale education is invaluable and aims to prepare one for life in any occupation, Troutman said.
“I learned that no matter what challenges face you, your Hillsdale education will serve you well and carry you on to great things,” Troutman said. “Hillsdale students learn lifelong principles and are able to find a lot of success in life and have well-shaped characters because of the professors here.”
Sophomore Arden Carleton attended the premiere. She said she noticed the quality of the film and said the stories of Hillsdale graduates inspired her.
“The documentary was incredibly well done,” Carleton said. “It was both informative and inspiring.”
Moorehouse said he believes this class has taught them a lot in many different aspects of the production process.
“I’m so proud of what the students did on their film,” Moorehouse said. “They worked so hard and put so much work into it.”
