Paul Witte ’05, an entrepreneurship graduate, is one in a cast of scores of Shockers who have helped in the success of the Tallgrass Film Festival.
Witte, who volunteers up to 15 hours a week as president of the Tallgrass Film Association, says pay-off for his work comes when he sees “a 19-year-old student at a screening and a few seats away is a 75-year-old retiree, and afterwards they’re heavily involved in a conversation. That makes it all worthwhile.” As a movie-goer, Witte is attracted to independent films and their thought-provoking topics. “There’s always something different here at Tallgrass,” he says.
“Hey, I called Mike back. I just wanted WSU-educated pros to handle my real quotes.”
Paul Witte ’05
Another Shocker, Jedd Beaudoin ’01, host of KMUW’s Strange Currency, worked with Elliott Gould on a station-sponsored Music Tasting event, the goal of which was to discuss some of Gould’s favorite music. But, Beaudoin says, he learned a lot more about the actor: “He’s done drama, comedy, musicals, and he’s as much a presence in ‘Contagion’ (2011) as he was in ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.’ He mentioned that his intent is to keep working as long as he can. He has a real intelligence about him that you quickly understand is paramount to his ability to inhabit the characters he’s played in films.”
Other Shockers involved with Tallgrass are Kathy Siebert ’85, board treasurer; Jim Siebert ’76, secretary; Sheryl Wolford ’82, board member; Arvin Cruz ’09, director of print traffic; WSU math and statistics professor Alan Elcrat, prescreener; WSU international student advisor Shan Jabara, director of acquisitions; Tyler Emerson ’10, programmer; Jason Dilts ’05, programmer; Teri Mott ’99, senior programmer, grant writer; former WSU instructor and director of technology at the Elliott School of Communication Thane Chastain ’94, programmer; Chandra Stauffer ’09, prescreener; and Marcia Scurfield ’93, prescreener.
More Shockers, all current students: Nick Probst, programmer; Charity Hicks, Alexandra Nguyen, Erich Rumback prescreeners; Manuela Geck, dedicated volunteer. And still more Shockers: community/organizational specialist at WSU’s Center for Community and Research Amy Delamaide, programmer; KMUW news producer/reporter Fletcher Powell ’10, programmer; Gretchen Mitchell ’89, co-director of programming; John Jones ’99, senior programmer/review technology; Teddie Barlow ’98/01/02, senior programmer; Mike Leary ’78, programmer; Leigh Aaron Leary ’78, programmer; and dedicated volunteer Mike Wood, executive director of WSU’s Media Resources Center, assistant professor of communication and director of the university’s film studies certificate program.
“Tallgrass continues to surprise me with new programming features,” Wood says. “I’ve built festival attendance into one of the requirements of my film course.
An enormous effort is required to offer this kind of event.”
– Jedd Beaudoin ’01, David Dinell ’05, Teri Mott ’99, Connie White fs ’89
