By Courtney Weekley
Nick Kellis, a producer and director, from Lima, Ohio, is now part of the Bluffton community. Kellis moved back to Lima after he realized something was missing in his career. He felt the need to give to the people as well as grow in his faith, so he came home. Kellis is now teaching video production to Bluffton students.
Kellis graduated locally from Shawnee high school. He then continued his academic career at The Ohio State University to get his degree in print journalism and public relations, graduating in 1989.
With the dream of becoming an actor, he packed his bags and went to Los Angeles. Humbling himself after being an extra off of a Fox soap opera called “Tribes,” he was impressed with the stage managers enough to change his mind to become a movie producer.
After getting a job as a production assistant, he started to realize how natural his talent came to him.
With an impulsive decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada, he packed his bags again and moved. Three jobs later, Kellis finally got noticed from “Honey I Blew Up the Kid.”
He then moved back to Hollywood and worked as 2nd assistant director for one of the “Power Rangers” shows.
Kellis worked behind the scenes on the set of the show. He would arrive early in the mornings to get the set ready to shoot. He was in charge of taking care of the actors, getting them from hair, to make up and then wardrobe. Kellis was responsible for production reports to keep track of the scenes shot that day. He said his position on this set really got him his training to be a producer.
“It all happened so quickly that I didn’t have a moment to realize how fast it was all moving and making a movie was a big jump,” said Kellis.
Olivia Westcott, a sophomore, convergent media major, is currently in Kellis’ video production class on Thursdays evenings.
She said the class has given her a new perspective on video production because Kellis has been very engaging and knows what he is talking about from his previous experiences.
“He is a very lively teacher, and I appreciate how energetic he is because we are there for almost three hours,” Westcott said. “He is just very relatable, it is almost like he is our age with the humor he has and he’s so easy to talk to.”
Along with the video production class, Kellis also is involved in a summer program to students who are in grades six through 12. He also teaches at Heir Force to grades five through eight. He said he plans to keep it going to build leadership and citizenship while making content for these young students.
Kellis started the Heartland Image Foundation teaching. The students got to be involved in filming the movie “A Walk with Grace.” What started as a home exercise, turned into an investment to shoot the start of the movie to give back to his community.
“I am excited to be here, and I love that Bluffton has a strong convergent media focus because I can teach the kids [students],” Kellis said. “My goal is to give students applicable skills because that is where it starts.”
