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Download (//d2ihvqrbsd9p9p.cloudfront.net/contentAsset/raw-data/ccba887d-a038-480d-a432-a99e7cbec694/image1)Three Macalester alums’ video about N.D. oil boom featured on NewYork Times websiteSt. Paul, Minn. – An excerpt of a documentary by threeMacalester alumni is being featured on the New York Timeswebsite.James Christenson ’11, Eliot Popko ’11, and Lewis Wilcox ’12produced “Running on Fumes in North Dakota” about the oilboom in that state at the Bakken Oil Range. The short featuresJonnie, a 38-year-old female truck driver, who tells it like it is,being a woman in a place where few others of her gender exist.The short is a part of their "Project NoDak" study. They’vebeen working for the past 18 months on a yet untitled feature-length documentary still in production.A couple facts: the crude oil industry now unearths one millionbarrels a day by fracking North Dakota, and thousand ofmigrants come to the oil fields looking for work.Last fall, the three alumni won a video competition sponsored by the New York Times which then led to theirdocumentary being featured on the newspaper’s web site. We asked them a few questions about thedocumentary:Q: Why did you pick this topic?A: We got the sense that something important was happening in North Dakota, something that might be apreview of things to come for other resource-rich and population-poor areas in the U.S. heartland. It's a hugeconglomeration of some of the most important foreign and domestic policy issues of our time.Q: You focused on Jonnie. What’s her job? A driver?A: Jonnie, the subject of this short, is a hotshot truck driver, basically a round the clock special deliverydriver. A friend back home suggested she get a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), which is like a goldenticket if you absolutely need to find a job. Trucking is one of the major job sources in Northwestern N. D.,along with construction. As a hotshot driver, Jonnie is on call 24/7. When a rig or a pump jack breaks down,they call a hotshot and have them rush a new part out to a site, often in very remote areas. Jonnie calls it"UPS on steroids." She's expected to go fast, because operators are missing out on so many dollars per minuteany time a drilling operation is stopped.Q: Why did you choose her story?A: We have spent enough time with her to have a good understanding of what she's been going through. Wemigrated, too, and have spent a long while now just barely scraping by - like Jonnie, so we have an idea ofwhat it's like. We chose to release her story sooner because it sets up some of the wider-scope issues we planto address later on. The migrant labor story has been the mainstream media's favorite thing to cover about theboom, and so often it's just mindless recycling of the same stuff - anyone can get a job, everyone is making100K plus - it's almost like the media wants everyone to think that the oil boom is magic. But that ignores thefact that even in a boomtown people are fighting for even a decent living and often still falling through theThree Macalester alums’ video about N.D. oil boom featured on New Yo... http://www.macalester.edu/news/2014/01/three-macalester-alums-video-...1 of 2 7/7/2016 4:26 PMcracks. The oil fields require a lot of skill, whether it's petroleum engineering, welding, or pipefitting, thatsort of thing. I think most North Dakotans want people to know these things before they just get in a car andshow up in Williston.Q: How did your association with the New York Times come about?A: There's not a ton of money in documentary filmmaking, so over the summer we were pouring over everygrant and opportunity we could possibly find. We applied to a couple "pitch" competitions at a little doc filmfestival in Camden, Maine in the fall. We were selected among six finalists out of almost 200. We pitched ourmovie to a table of big shots on stage at the Opera House in town, which was a little nerve-racking. We alsopitched the New York Times video staff on a short, and were thrilled to be selected. We're looking forward todoing another one this summer.Q: What else have you all been doing?A: This has basically been our crash course in filmmaking and business. We've been fundraising non stop fora while now, writing grants, and also dealing with LLCs (limited liability company) and taxes and investmentcontracts, producers agreements, legal and accounting - all on top of figuring out how to tell a really broadand complicated story in a personal and entertaining way. And everyone's always telling us to be thinkingabout the next one.Q: How did Macalester prepare you for your work now?A: Can't really imagine doing this without the education we got at Mac. The subject we're tackling feels likeone big case study in applying everything we studied: planning and development, urban and rural geography,sociology and ethnography, the micro and macro level politics of it all, social and economic justice, geologyand environmental science, the list goes on. Add to that our time studying film, screenwriting, discursiveanalysis, and critical theory...we're well prepared for this line of work.Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 2,011students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence,internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement. Learn more at macalester.edu.Running on Fumes in North Dakota (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/opinion/running-on-fumes-in-north-dakota.html?hp&rref=opinion)January 14 2014About Macalester (http://www.macalester.edu/about/)Academics (http://www.macalester.edu/academics/)Admissions & Financial Aid (http://www.macalester.edu/admissions/)Life at Mac (http://www.macalester.edu/lifeatmac/)Support Mac (http://www.macalester.edu/supportmac/)Three Macalester alums’ video about N.D. oil boom featured on New Yo... http://www.macalester.edu/news/2014/01/three-macalester-alums-video-...2 of 2 7/7/2016 4:26 PM

Three Macalester alums\u27 video about N.D. oil boom featured on New York Times website

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Three Macalester alums\u27 video about N.D. oil boom featured on New York Times website

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