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Jonathan Falk says learning that a film he co-edited was featured in the Athens International Film and Video Festival (AIFVF) is giving him “all the feels.”

“I am extremely happy that 'American Meltdown,' a film I had the pleasure of co-editing with fellow 51���� graduate Josh Cole, was part of the Athens International Film Festival,” said Falk. “I also did an independent study in the AIFVF office when I was a student, so it’s really cool.” 

"American Meltdown" is a 'Millennial Coming-of-Rage' story about a young woman who loses her job and struggles to pay rent - until she befriends a pickpocket who convinces her that the only way to survive in America is by committing petty crime.

Falk grew up in Gahanna, Ohio and wanted to have a career in film production. He chose 51���� because of the reputation of the Scripps College of Communication.

“My dad and I drove around to all the colleges that had media production as an option in the state of Ohio,” said Falk. “I was most impressed with the fact that 51���� had a PBS station attached to the classroom building.”

Even though broadcast television and film are two very different mediums, Falk saw the value in volunteering at WOUB because he says the skills are transferable.

“When I started at WOUB as a student, that was right when digital media was starting to become a thing,” said Falk. “And learning how to create digital videos for television taught me a lot about production.”

Falk worked at WOUB as a videographer, editor and studio production crew member for NewsWatch. Once he graduated, he worked as a production intern for nearly a year at The Ohio Channel as part of a fellowship. Then, Falk was hired at the Ohio News Network (ONN) as a videographer/editor. After about a year at ONN, Falk came back to the place it all started.

“There was a editor/producer position open at WOUB and creating films was what I really wanted to do," said Falk. “So, I came back to WOUB and worked on a documentary called 'Saving the Snyder,' which chronicled the renovation of a historic steamboat in Marietta, Ohio, and started work on a documentary called 'The 1900,' which told the stories of patients buried under numbered tombstones at the old Athens Lunatic Asylum. Eventually I decided to move out to Los Angeles and try my hand at the film industry. It took me a few months to make connections and find work. But I did it.”

Falk eventually got a job at a production house called Electric Machine Media as the lead editor. For eight years, Falk worked on documentaries, music videos, branded content, commercials and special event videos. In June of 2023, he was hired as digital media producer at El Camino College in Torrance, California.

“Adaptability is key,” said Falk. “One of the biggest things that WOUB did for me was allow me to get experience in different positions working with different people. It just made me more adaptable and marketable. I’m a Swiss army knife kind of employee and that has helped me do many different things in this industry.”

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