Special Projects

The single-vessel scallop boat owner is all but extinct in New Bedford. On a regular scalloper’s salary, it is challenging to pay the average price of $8,000 for a boat and the necessary permits, not to mention general upkeep and the cost of gas.   “No one really owns their own boat now—it’s really expensive,” […]

The sound of flowing ice rips through the mild New Bedford air. Captain Jessica Walker, 36, and her crew sit on the deck of their fishing vessel Legacy waiting for the nearly three-hour icing process to finish. They will likely need all this ice to store their catch. Their target: scallops. Scallops are among the […]

In this short documentary, Liv Weiss takes us to a Milwaukee underground music venue called The Washroom. Once a basement laundry room, the venue opened up about a year ago and has created a valuable space for the local music scene to thrive.

In the 1800s, northern Wisconsin loggers claimed to see a creature with “spikes all the way down the entire length of its body with a fistful of needle-sharp pointed spears at the end of his tail… fangs that would rival a saber tooth tiger and could rip out the belly of the biggest bear.” As […]

In this short documentary, Madelyn Heimsch introduces us to Dominic Dean, a high school senior who has always been passionate about food and loved trying new cuisines from a young age. Because he is on the autism spectrum, Dominic struggled with reading and writing, and when he entered high school, his parents and teachers came […]

In this short documentary, Joshua Groninger invites us into his house to meet his dad, Craig. During the pandemic, he learned how to brew beer and now his garage is the setting for this hobby that helps him ease his mind.

Carole Dudek is a 76 year old woman who has gone through several medical emergencies (two knee replacements, quadruple bypass, back surgeries, cancer, etc), the death of her husband, and now the loss of sight in her right eye. In this short documentary, Morgan Betchkal shows us the experience of her elderly grandmother losing her […]

Grace Pagel takes us on a trip to Madison, WI, where a local band invites us into their house and stage. Meet Commonwealth.

People might think that being a member of the the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is just waking up at 5 a.m, exercising, and going to college classes. But in this short documentary, Alexis Treadway shows us there is a lot more that can come from the program. 

Meet Tyler. He founded UWM’s only A Cappella group called Public Hearing. Through rehearsals and a final performance, they prove that A cappella is more than singing: there is choreography involved as well. Samantha Calderon tells us more in this short documentary.