Below is a collection of collaborations, passion projects, and professional work from over the years.
This reel includes my work as a director, writer, director of photography, producer, and editor with University of Iowa Health Care and University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Work featured includes: Stepping On | Children's Hospital Birthday Party | Team Iowa at the Transplant Games of America | Iowa Public Television Masterpiece and NOVA Spots | Pediatric Nursing Recruitment | Empathy in Health Care | The Wave (covered by ESPN, ABC, CBS, Big Ten Network, and more) | Salute to Our Construction Team, Sports Medicine Clinic | Valentine's Cookie Event | Kid Captain 2016 and 2017 | Moving Day | Brady's Story | 1 in 10 Million (Michael's Musicogenic Epilepsy Story) | Ocular Prosthetics.
With his rosy cheeks, tousled hair, and outgoing personality, Brady Jorgensen looks like many other kids his age. You wouldn’t guess that he’s lived with a brain tumor since he was 9 months old.
Brady's family turned to the pediatric brain tumor clinic at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, the first of its kind in Iowa, in hopes of a longer and better quality of life. Watch part 1 of 3 now, and learn more at here.
Brady Jorgensen began a six-week course of radiotherapy to treat his brain tumor—28 treatments, Monday through Friday. His team at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital proposed fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, which involves narrow beams of radiation administered from multiple angles to precisely target the tumor while sparing surrounding tissue. The hardest part of radiation for Brady? "Picking out a prize." Watch part 2 of 3 now, and learn more here.
Brady Jorgensen finished radiation treatment for his brain tumor and returns to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital for a check-up every few months. His grandmother, Teresa, explains, "Brady knows this radiation is going to give him a chance. Now, he talks about going to college. We talk to him about what he’s going to do when he gets older. I’m not sure we had that conversation too much before. Now we have a chance." Learn more here.
On her 18th birthday, Riley confronts the reality of the world that surrounds her, starting with her dad. With a fly on the wall quality, venture alongside her two quirky best friends through a dynamic, intimate, and revealing glimpse into her life.
Written and Directed by Kaitlyn Busbee & Julie Daniels. Featuring: Julie Daniels, Jessie Traufler, Andrew Wilkes, Nicole Hargrove & Sean Christopher Lewis.
"Laundromat is a uniquely quirky, youthful, and humorous peek into the struggles of growing up and the people along the way..." - The Wild Rose Independent Film Festival Screenplay Division
Introspect is a piece of choreocinema which explores, through improvisational dance, the notion of "the gaze" in Western society. The dance is conceived and performed by Elizabeth June Bergman. Additional camera operation by Mark Stastny. Music by Joshua Dumas.
Featured in Medium and Iowa PBS’ The Film Lounge.
The New Pioneer Food Co-op is a 50 year old local grocery store and bakery that has expanded across the region in eastern Iowa. This is a social media edit of a commercial spot created to highlight the origin story and mission, featuring local vendors and employees.
The commercial spot was recognized by EGR International Advertising Agency in New York City as “extremely well done” and “an anthem that cuts through the noise in the highly congested grocery landscape.”
Song Timecodes: 0:29 - Unconditional Love | 7:35 - Breathe | 13:37 - Barefoot Reel (w/ guest singers from Washburn High School in Minneapolis) | 15:04 - Living Proof (w/ guest singers from Washburn High School in Minneapolis)
Uniting Our Divided States explores where we’re at and where we’re going as a nation. Even as the clock struck midnight, after a long evening of performing, Willy and Carmen are able to dissect the emotions that sparked in response to this election and the deep-rooted issues it exposed in a way that leaves the viewer feeling empowered. Willy both aptly and ironically states when asked about the positive side of the election that it “showed us how dark we are.” He continues by saying, “if you want to get better you have to first learn how sick you are. Before you can treat the patient you have to make a proper diagnosis and I think we’ve just made a fabulous diagnosis.” This very candid conversation with Willy and Carmen creates a beautiful picture of their essence, both as musicians, and humans.
Artists in Action is a series of video portraits exploring artists from diverse backgrounds and experiences, working to make this world a better place.
On November 15th of 2016, there was a massive peaceful protest organized by local high school students in order to battle the hatred and discrimination that had erupted within the Iowa City schools and community. Over 400 people were in attendance. The mic was shared with students and community members to make space for a safe and accepting environment for freedom of speech and inclusion. The march ended in front of City Hall where a City Council Meeting was about to take place. This is where the students took turns speaking to the City Council and demanding action to properly address and stop these acts of harassment, bullying, and threats within the school district.
In late June of 2017, our family had a monumental reunion at my grandparent’s timber. The weekend was full of drone flying, birthday celebrations, knife forging from scraps, cooking, downpours of rain and bursts of sunshine. I pressed record to immortalize the weekend, capturing life as it was and interviews for the archives. Here’s a peek inside.
Dis/Unity is an interdisciplinary performance project initiated by collaborative artists: Raquel Monroe (Chicago), Barber (Detroit), Esther Baker-Tarpaga (Philadelphia), Heidi Wiren Bartlett (Pittsburgh), Courtney D. Jones (Boca Raton), Wendell Grey II (Brooklyn), and Papa Djiga (Ouagadougou). Their backgrounds range from dance, visual and performance art, to music and the written word. With work centering on art as social action and ritual as performance.
With the Englert Theatre and Iowa Arts Council's support, these artists united to combat institutional racism and sexism during September 2017 in Iowa City. The main goal of this project was to create a brave and healing space for bodies and minds of people in the local community, especially those marginalized by the current socio-political landscape.
Content from Mission Creek Festival 2017 - full coverage of the week long festival, including; entire performances, highlight reel material, interviews and social media content. Produced with Mark Stastny.