Resume
SCOTT A. STOLL
Imagination. Pure and Simple.
OBJECTIVE
Eager to use my skills to benefit a company specializing in television production and communications, as a producer I thrive on finding creative solutions to challenging problems and working with other professionals toward common goals.
Experienced in all technical aspects of video production, with emphasis on design and the creative element, the results are visually exciting and effective productions that meet and exceed the desired objectives.
EXPERIENCE
2008 TO CURRENT Space Studios Midland, MI
PAPIER MACHE ART INSTRUCTOR
-Designed, coordinated and taught papier mache workshops for adults and children interested in learning papier mache techniques.
-Developed unique techniques, recipes and procedure all designed to work in a classroom setting in a structured timeframe.
-Maintain a popular papier mache website that showcases innovative techniques and detailed instruction.
2001 TO 2007 Self Employed Midland, MI
FREELANCE TELEVISION PRODUCER/WRITER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
-Elected to become a stay-at-home father for my two young children.
-Managed numerous projects for local video production companies involving direct client communication, producing, graphic design, scriptwriting and directing.
1989 TO 2001 IMAGEWORKS, LTD. Midland, MI
VIDEO PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/EDITOR/VIDEOGRAPHER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
-Produced and directed video production for many large corporations and advertising agencies throughout Michigan.
-Produced and directed industrial presentations requiring special effect including matte paintings, miniatures, puppets, computer animation and traditional cell animation.
-Communicated and collaborated with a variety of talented writer, artists, actors and musicians to meet production objectives.
-Developed solid interpersonal communication skills to effectively work with a diverse group of clientele.
-Improved design skills by attending workshops, conferences and art classes.
-Demonstrated quick learning curve for computerized graphic, editing and animation software.
1986 TO 1989 Michigan Cable Ad Sales Battle Creek, MI
MANAGER/VIDEO PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/EDITOR/VIDEOGRAPHER
-Hired and supervised production staff for cable ad sales department.
-Planned annual budgets and handled all production billing.
-Produced and directed over 200 commercial spots from concept to completion in the two year period.
-Established procedures for new commercial production facility including creation of all forms, managing inventory and scheduling personnel.
-Completed seminars designed to help managers develop good supervisory skills.
1985 to 1986 The Dow Chemical Company Midland, MI
TELEVISION INTERNSHIP/FREELANCE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR/VIDEOGRAPHER
-Completed college internship in the Public Affairs Department and gained valuable technical experience freelancing in the Audio Visual Center at the corporate headquarters.
-Obtained additional experience that improved skills as video producer. Worked with 35 mm photography, 16mm motion picture film, 35mm multi-image production, word processing, theatrical set design, lighting and makeup.
EDUCATION
1981 TO 1985 Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI
B.S., TELEVISION PRODUCTION
ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Completion of special effects classes at the International Film and Television Workshops in Maine, completed cartooning classes offered through Delta College Community Education, completed the Xcellence: Critical Skills for Supervisors program. Experienced with Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Flash and SoundForge.
REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
The following is an expanded version of my resume detailing my career decisions and experiences.
Ferris State College (1981-1985)
Science and art were my primary interests throughout high school, my art teacher pushed for me to attend Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI but due to a number of reasons I chose to attend Ferris State University (a college back then) pursuing a career in science. After my first year of college I decided that science was not the best fit for me and I changed my major to television production.
Television classes came relatively easy; the concept seemed natural probably because I had watched and studied tons of horror and science fiction films paying close attention to the visual and make-up effects.
My first project in college was an instruction film shot on 16mm black and white film with a Bolex camera. Most students chose standard “how-to” topics but I elected to choose something a little more my style, I embarked on the production of “The Beginner’s Guide to Grave Robbing.”
The five minute film allowed me to build two papier mache tombstones, a papier mache and gelatin rotting corpse and a coffin built from scrap lumber. The Grave Robbing film really confirmed that I dug film and video production. I still have the original film although the soundtrack which was produced on ¼ reel-to-reel audio tapes has been lost.
In addition to television production classes I also took a number of classes that I found very interesting such as 35mm photography including darkroom techniques, advanced cinematography stagecraft, theatrical make-up, stage lighting, and graphic design classes. One of my big interests at the time was special effects make up and for a time after college I considered a career in makeup.
Looking back on my college days it is amazing to think how much has changed over the years; video cameras had tubes and needed registration, audio was edited with a razor blade and splicing block, graphics were physically created on art cards and going on “remote” meant lugging along a car battery for power.
The digital world was still several decades into the future.
THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY (1985-1987)
The television production program at Ferris required the completion of a six month internship in order to graduate. My internship was with the Public Affairs Department of The Dow Chemical Company. The position was paid and offered a great deal of hands-on experience especially in videography, editing and studio production.
Over the course of the six months I worked on a weekly news program for the company as well as numerous training videos. Beyond the television production experience I gained an understanding of the chemical industry and was introduced to the “real world” of industry and manufacturing.
The six months passed very quickly and after completing my internship I was offered a contractor position at the corporate headquarters.
The job was a complete opposite of my internship; instead of suiting up in steel toed boots and safety glasses I actually suited up in a shirt and tie.
The experience was very insightful but after six months in a corporate setting I decided it was time to explore other possibilities far removed from the world of chemical plants and corporate settings.
Michigan Cable Ad Sales (1987-1989)
Several months after leaving Midland and the world of chemicals I found myself working in Battle Creek for a startup company that produced television commercials for local insertion into cable channels such as USA, MTV, ESPN and CNN. Michigan Cable Ad Sales was a great experience and probably ranks up there as my favorite job to date, the people I worked with became friends and the whole experience was fun, exciting and unique.
My role at Michigan Cable Ad Sales was that of production manager which meant that I was responsible for video production as well as the production team which consisted of me, a creative director and several production assistants.
The technical capabilities of the production department were bare bones at best. Ikegami cameras, Sony ¾” U-Matic decks, RM-440 edit controller, a simple switcher and a Chyron VP2 character generator rounded out our equipment.
Plato once said that necessity is the mother of invention and in the case of Michigan Cable Ad Sales nothing could be closer to the truth.
Michigan Cable Ad Sales really forced me to explore my resourcefulness and creativity due to the fact that our competition was a full blown broadcast station capable of digital effects and wiz bang graphics.
The focus of my two years at MCAS was on developing creative methods to make our productions stand out and compete with other production facilities.
Techniques were developed using unique materials to create interesting graphic backgrounds, single frame animation to simulate digital effects and hundreds of other creative techniques.
In 1989 we won an ADDY award for one of our spots and continued to develop and deliver on our reputation as a very creative production facility.
My time at Michigan Cable Ad Sales wouldn’t be complete without mention of “Zombie Asylum.”
“Zombie Asylum” was a combination of annual Halloween party, murder mystery, role playing game and independent cheapo movie all rolled into one.
Each year we would have a Halloween party and all of the guests were given the attributes of a character that they needed to become while attending the party. During the party we would pose impromptu questions that the guests need to react to while staying in character.
The whole ordeal was videotaped and edited into what can only called one of the worse pieces of entertainment ever made. “Zombie Asylum” was tremendous fun and allowed me to get some creative urges out of my system in the form of hand painting backdrops, building asylum miniatures, creating props and trying my hand at shooting things film style.
IMAGEWORKS, LTD. (1989-2001)
After a couple of years producing commercials I moved back to Midland and returned to working on instructional programming. The situation was very reminiscent to Michigan Cable Ad Sales in the sense that IMAGEWORKS was a new company and the first several years were spent working very hard to establish style and reputation. The work paid off as we won an ADDY award the first year for our work on a United Way Campaign program.
Over the years with IMAGEWORKS the budgets of projects increased and during the early 90’s I had the opportunity to travel quite a bit shooting programs in California, Texas, Arizona, Florida as well as the surrounding states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. IMAGEWORKS also gave me the opportunity to work with many advertising agencies and top level executives of major corporations.
As technology improved so did our production capabilities but the need for creative and what some would call “an old school approach” was always present. Projects came along that required me to create traditional cell animation, build miniatures, create unique graphic treatments and try my hand at puppetry.
In 1992 an interesting project came through the door requiring the production of traditional cell animation. The project was very challenging requiring me to take a cartooning class at a local college as well as research the means to effectively make the animation successful. The result was a crash course in all aspects of cell animation including pencil tests, inking and painting thousands of cells, single frame animating and lip syncing. The experience was fun, educational and very rewarding.
Eventually Photoshop, Aftereffects, non-linear editing and digital effects became standard tools in the edit suit, but even with all the digital magic available the ability to create something from nothing was invaluable.
A series of graphics created with Photoshop used in video productions:
FREELANCE (2001 TO CURRENT)
In 2001 I found myself in the position of being married with two small children, not enough hours in the day and huge daycare bills. My wife and I discussed our situation and decided it would be best if one of us could leave our job and stay at home to take care of the children and household. The decision was made based on the fact that my wife had much better benefits.
The job was much tougher than I could ever have imagined but after the first couple months I got the hang of taking care of the kids and running the household.
Once the kids started school my wife and I got very involved with PTO and I found it very enjoyable to use my skills again by volunteering for such duty as organizing school carnivals, designing posters and handouts, photographing events, designing fundraisers and even producing slide shows for special events.
During the last eight years I have also taken on various freelance projects such as scriptwriting, graphic design and producing projects for several different production companies. The freelance jobs were not only beneficial in regards to generating income but also helpful in keeping up with current software and technology.
SPACE STUDIOS AND PAPIER MACHE ART (CURRENT)
Sometime around 2004 in addition to freelancing, raising the kids and running the household I returned to creating props made from papier mache. Working with papier mache was nothing new to me, I had been playing with paper and glue for many years creating various pieces for my Halloween yard display. The difference was that I started to research and pay attention to what other artists were able to create with the medium.
In October of 2006 my first attempt at using new papier mache techniques and materials debuted, the result was nine foot tall Demon Reaper and Skeleton creatures.
Using the internet I shared my work for the first time through online papier mache groups and Halloween forums.
The feedback was plenty and positive and I listened and learned.
A huge boost to my enthusiasm came in December of 2006 when a photo of the papier mache creatures I had created won the Reader’s Digest/Shutterfly best Halloween photo contest netting us first prize of $2,500.
Following the contest win I started working on papier mache projects throughout the year, I joined numerous forums and social groups which allowed me to share my work and learn from others.
In the Spring of 2008 I contacted Space Studios in Midland, MI inquiring if they might be interested in offering papier mache classes to the public, they were interested in the idea and a few months later I taught my first papier mache workshop.
The results were beneficial for everyone and the feedback from the classes was very positive.
In October 2008 I taught two additional workshops called “Papier Pumpkin Palooza” where students created large papier mache jack o’ lanterns over the course of three evenings. The experience was again good and future classes are possible if the workshops fit with my schedule.
Currently I am working on developing new papier mache techniques and designs, improving my graphic design skills and learning new software programs. One project in development is a method of using Photoshop to design and illustrate special makeup effects.
The one thing I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I’m never at a loss for ideas.
Great Ideas. Guaranteed!