William Mueller, Another NFI Success Story!!by Sue Wilson
While visiting the Nashville Film Institute (NFI) campus earlier this week I was introduced to William Mueller, a June 2011 NFI graduate. William had stopped by NFI to pick up a copy of his diploma and to tell Prema (PremaThiagarajah, President and CEO of NFI) about his new job at WKRN, Channel 2, Nashville's ABC affiliate. William was just recently hired as WKRN's prime time and weekend news editor. Not a bad gig for a young man who admitted to me that he had a hard time getting through high school.
Prior to beginning NFI in September of 2010, William graduated from Middle College High School in Franklin, TN, where his instructor, Jason Glassman, told him about the film program at NFI. William said he had always had an interest in film and film editing, but he was not really interested in making movies. It wasn't until he learned more about the film program at NFI, that William realized he could take the skills he learned at NFI and apply them to many areas of the entertainment industry, whether it be film, TV, documentaries, music videos, commercials, and other entertainment industry opportunities.
William started his film career in the seventh grade when his parents gave him a small movie camera and he spent all his free time filming his friends skateboarding. He gained experience in film shooting a silent film, music video, commercial, documentary and a short film as part of his coursework while attending NFI. He said these five school projects helped prepare him for the opportunities that awaited him after graduation.
"Shooting my first class project (the silent film) was difficult", William stated, "but the rest of the NFI curriculum helped me to get structure in my projects after the first module of classes (nine weeks)". "After the first project, the other class projects became easier," William said, "but each project had its' own specific challenges," he added. "For instance, I had difficulty finding a location for my music video. I had several places lined up for the video, but for one reason or another they all fell through. It wasn't until the day before we actually started filming the video that I was finally able to get a location secured." From this "real-world" experience William learned that he should always have a "back-up plan".
Since graduation from NFI in June 2011, William has had the opportunity to free-lance as a PA (production assistant) on a movie set for a few months, and then he worked for a production company who flew him up to a location in Michigan to work on a commercial for E3 Spark Plugs. William said this E3 gig was especially exciting for him since he had always been a gear-head and loved working on cars.
William and his dad are also working on a documentary film that they are producing about a friend with congestive heart failure. It is a film about a man dealing with his own mortality, and the toll it is taking on his family and friends. I personally can't wait to see the finished film.
Now with his diploma from NFI in hand, and his film skill set honed, William is ready to take on whatever challenges his new position at WKRN might present him. I asked William if he had any parting words for other NFI students or prospects and he said, "It is what you make it." The opportunities for success are presented to you while you are a student at NFI, and it appears that William is making the most of them. We want to extend our CONGRATULATIONS to William on his new career at WKRN TV!!