No Reception was filmed over our summer break, wrapping on June 30th. The original script was written by seniors Mark Westin and Natalia Roberts, and was directed by JPCatholic professor Chris Riley. Riley is a screenwriter with over 25 years of experience, and from 1995-1998 he worked as Manager of Script Processing at Warner Bros. His credits include work for Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Fox television network.

The family-friendly comedy is about a posh city dweller who gets lost in the wilderness with nothing but his hand sanitizer, and is soon caught up in a longstanding feud between two forest hermits.

In addition to two sets in JPCatholic’s soundstage representing bunker and treehouse interiors, production locations included Felicita Park, Elfin Forest, and a cabin in Julian. The cast includes JPCatholic students Timothy Johnson and Donovan Bakin.

“No Reception is ridiculous fun,” said Riley. “And it’s meaty. It’s about things that really matter within our families. I’ve taken to calling it a family revenge comedy. The production represents a wildly ambitious collaboration between students, faculty, and other industry professionals. We’re not making a student film. We’re making a world-class film with students. JPCatholic students hold positions of serious responsibility on this project and they’re delivering exquisite results. Making a feature film is a massively complex project and our students are rising to the challenge in every department.”

Over the summer quarter, students in Prof. Melinda Simon’s “Feature Film: Post-Production” class assembled the first cut of the film. Post-production and distribution planning continues this fall, with an anticipated premiere in 2024.

Students built two sets in our soundstage of a tree house and a bunker

On August 13^th, Profs. George and Melinda Simon held a private screening of their indie feature Don’t Get Eaten at The Ritz Theater in Escondido. In this zany family comedy, an exasperated mother tries to keep her family afloat while her internet streaming husband ekes an existence creating “zombie survival” videos with their daughters. A couples therapist prescribes a technology-free getaway, which seems to be going well — until an actual zombie apocalypse intrudes on their family’s weekend.

The film was written and directed by George and his brother Joe Simon, and produced by Melinda (Collins) Simon, who also stars. All three are alumni of JPCatholic, and Don’t Get Eaten is a passion project over a decade in the making. George completed and submitted the very first draft of the screenplay when he was a student at JPCatholic, just days before graduation.

“It’s incredible to think back on all the events that transpired to make this movie possible,” said George. “From finishing that first draft of the script on my balcony in college, to having a discussion with Melinda and Joe about making our first feature eight years later, to flying from San Diego to Michigan with seventeen suitcases and three small children to film the movie. It’s been a ten year process and we are all so grateful that we were able to complete the journey.”

Since completing their degrees at JPCatholic in 2012 and 2013, respectively, George and Melinda have each worked in various sectors of the film industry for both secular and Catholic productions, including Emmy-winning projects with Spirit Juice Studios. Now married with three kids, they both teach at JPCatholic while continuing their career as independent filmmakers. They are a creative team, with George normally writing and directing, Melinda producing and editing. In recent years, their award-winning short films Almost Home and The Scar helped pave the way for their first feature length project.

Principal photography on Don’t Get Eaten took place over four weeks in Michigan in March of 2022 with a small crew consisting completely of JPCatholic alumni and students.

Over the coming months, the Simons will be submitting Don’t Get Eaten to festivals and pursuing distribution. They can be followed on Instagram @simonsmakesmovies.

Throughout 2022, three alumni from JPCatholic were busy developing motion graphics for the World Cup. As part of the team at |drive| studio, they were involved in creating the graphics and branding package for the U.S. broadcast on FOX Sports, and even the design of the physical set used for the broadcast from Qatar.

|drive| studio is a design agency based in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Nashville. Their large portfolio of clients and projects has included NASCAR, the NFL Super Bowl, The Masters, and National Geographic. They were also behind the graphics package for the Womens’ World Cup in France (2019) and the World Cup in Russia (2018).

Yssa Mitra and John Paul Diodati both graduated in 2021 with an emphasis in Game Development and started working at |drive| shortly after. Mitra was Production Coordinator on the World Cup Qatar project, keeping the pipeline organized and assisting with logistical operations.”

Diodati’s role was to use Unreal Engine to create 3D models of the stadiums and help design the broadcast set that was built in Qatar. “Working on this project alongside all the talented people at |drive| has been an amazing experience for me,” said Diodati. “I am very grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow, and for the help I’ve received from coworkers along the way. It is truly fulfilling to see our work airing live for millions of people to see.”

|drive| studio has had a close relationship with JPCatholic for many years, with co-founder and Creative Director Nick DiNapoli currently sitting on JPCatholic’s Board of Trustees. Over the years, |drive| has employed nine alumni and numerous interns from the University—a significant proportion given that their current staff is under 20 people. One of these alumni, Nate Sjogren ‘11, worked at Drive for nearly a decade; in 2020 he launched his own design studio Akimbo, and he also teaches Adobe After Effects as an adjunct at JPCatholic.

Zach Sadler graduated from JPCatholic in 2015 and throughout his seven years at |drive|, he has now had the opportunity to work on three World Cups. For Qatar, he served as Senior Designer, sharing a large responsibility for shaping the direction and aesthetic of the on air package.

“I could not ask for better leadership than what we have here at |drive|,” said Sadler, who works out of the new Nashville office.

At the 44^th Annual Sports Emmys, FOX received 5 Emmy nominations for their coverage of the World Cup, including Outstanding Live Special, Outstanding Interactive Experience—Event Coverage, and Outstanding Studio Show—Limited Run.

What do you do as a mocap technician?

I wear multiple hats when it comes to being a stage mocap technician, ranging from capturing the motion data, doing quality assurance of data, getting talent ready for a shoot, or utilizing Unreal Engine as pre-visualization for in-game cinematics. This year I received my first game credit, on NBA 2K24; I also technically did some DLC work for WWE 2K23 but was too late into the development cycle that I was not able to get a credit for that project. Still, there are plenty more projects on the way!

How did you develop an interest in this career?

My interest in motion capture started in Max Hulburt’s Intro to Virtual Production class in which we got to learn about Unreal Engine’s latest tech for filming cinematics. I came up with the short film A Knight’s Journey and was extremely excited with how the final result of that project came to be. Until that course, I only understood Unreal at an Environment Artist level and a handful of basics on how to operate the software. I want to give a very special shout-out to Liam Arter, Ezra Ho, Sophia Pappas, and Sebastian Romero for all their knowledge and expertise that brought that project to life. It was such a fun experience working with all my classmates to make that short, and it sparked a desire to continue doing more of that throughout my life.

What was your experience finding work after graduation?

I feel very fortunate with how it unfolded. About a week before graduation, Professor Hulburt reached out to me with the opportunity to work for AMGI Studios. The company had a close connection with the school, and it was a great fit with my interest in virtual production work. After some time at AMGI working on a variety of animation and game projects, I took a chance to apply for 2K. I still remember the anxiety I felt when interviewing, up until I got the final offer to be a part of the team - you would not believe the amount of excitement I felt when I received that phone call

What were the biggest takeaways from your education at JPCatholic?

I cannot thank my professors enough for teaching me everything they know and preparing me for my future. Shoutout to Rodney Figueroa, Max Hulburt, Nate Sartain, Joe Shoopack, and Fr. Andy Younan. And to all my fellow classmates, who still to this day continue to inspire and push me to achieve greater heights; it was also a great honor to learn just as much from them as it was from my professors. We had such a collaborative, creative class.

Last fall, Genevieve Pride pioneered our NET Ireland Study Abroad as the first student to participate in NET’s evangelistic outreach for credit. The program radically expanded this year, with JPCatholic sending seven stu- dents (and one alumni) to Ireland. In this unique opportunity, students earn practicum credit for participat- ing in programs including parish re- treats, street evangelization, and cof- fee shop ministry.

Watch Genevieve’s video to hear about how her experience with NET last fall transformed her life and deepened her own relationship with Christ.

Fr. Dominic '18 Returns to Campus as Spiritual Director

Fr. Dominic Smith, O.S.A. graduated from JPCatholic in 2018 with a degree in Communications Media, and was ordained a priest in the Order of Saint Augustine in 2022. This year, we welcomed Fr. Dominic back to campus to say Mass three times a week, and serve as a spiritual director for students.

Letter to Artists Season 2

Bailey Garland’s podcast Letter to Artists entered its second season this year — the podcast is inspired by St. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists and highlights the vocation of the artist. Each week, Bailey interviews JPCatholic students, faculty, alumni and other Catholic artists about their creative pursuits and pro- fessions. You can find the podcast on all major platforms or at jpcatholic.edu/go/podcast.