University of Milwaukee Freshmen Produce Caregiver Documentary

Riley Killian admitted that it was a rather strange request.

A freshman film student at the University of Milwaukee had to notify his teacher one afternoon last semester that he would be absent from class.

“And why is that, Riley?” said the teacher.

Killian, who graduated from Appleton North High School in 2021, said: “My movie is playing in Fox City and I have to leave.

“Have you made a movie?” replied the teacher.

Yes he did.

Not only was Killian a self-taught filmmaker, he accepted commissions to make documentaries about caregivers caring for loved ones with dementia and amnesia.

It’s a difficult subject to tackle, even for seasoned filmmakers. But after months of filming and editing, ‘Unconditional: A Journey of Selfless Love’ is ready for viewing.

“I think Riley did a great job,” said Katie Newman, community life director at Eagle Point Senior Living in Appleton, where the documentary was shown.

“When I first saw this video, I thought, ‘I know all about dementia, even though I’ve been working in this field for 16 years.’ I wasn’t expecting much from this. I was glued to it and he did a great job of reaching out to the community.”

“During the screening of this video, we also had a loved one’s family in our building and it was very emotional.It was such a shock. And I couldn’t believe how well he conveyed that to the documentary.”

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When he was in fifth grade, Riley Killian went crazy when Star Wars was selected for the family movie night.

“I was like, ‘I want to do that.’ I want to make a movie,” he said.

And as the son of two engineers, this apple fell some distance from the tree.

Years passed, but the dream did not disappear. But Killian didn’t have the time or resources to push it forward. However, as a senior in high school, he started his own company, RK Videos, LLC. When he graduated, he decided to take a gap year because COVID cost him two jobs, but gave him time to pursue his first love.

(Riley Killian)

And this is the part in Riley’s film where he gets his big break.

He had previously contacted a fellow cross-country runner two years older than him to start his own company to make videos around Fox Cities. Killian started by helping him edit the video. But then a friend of his went to California, so he turned some clients over to Killian, who stepped in to fill the void.

Killian had the will, but not the knowledge.

“For the most part, I am self-taught in all this,” he said. “I watched a lot of videos, learned from other people, talked to people, then made my own. So each project is a learning curve.”

A local nonprofit then reached out and asked if I would record a play at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. he agreed to do so. The nonprofit liked the results and contacted us again.

“Riley, what do you think about taking this story further and taking it to another level with a documentary interviewing family caregivers about this journey?” Killian said of the conversation. said.”

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As with filmmaking, the roles of dementia sufferers and caregivers were unfamiliar to Killian. So he approached it in the same way. He and his co-director Aidan Wallace read book after book.

They then created a list of questions and, with the help of nonprofits, sent them to caregivers around Fox Valley.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” he said. “Because this is such an intimate and personal story, I’m not sure if people want to share it.

“They have their personal lives, and it’s hard to share it with someone.

Killian told caregivers that if questions made her uncomfortable, she could pass them on. However, the reaction he received was astonishing.

“When we were filming B-roll footage at[the caregiver’s]house, the ‘Oh, can we shoot this?’ situation occurred,” he said. She said, ‘No, please. We want to show people. No, this is our life, this is what I do every day.

“And it really turned into something different, because I was like, ‘Wow, it’s great that they want to share all this information with the world.'”

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The first time I saw “Unconditional” was the subject of a documentary.

“I was scared,” Killian said. “I don’t know if he’s ever been this nervous.”

He was worried because he wasn’t sure if they would like it. He wondered if he accurately portrayed the struggle, compassion, and love that caregivers give to their loved ones, and if some families would insist that certain parts be edited out.

“Uncertainty killed getting into it,” he said.

(Riley Killian)

But when the documentary ended, seeing their tears and smiles and hearing their words of gratitude, he learned the power of what a documentary can do for people’s lives.

Wallace said one of her caregivers approached her after the documentary and her reaction touched her heart.

“She told us she was kind of nervous watching this because she didn’t want to be embarrassed by it because she didn’t want to see herself,” Wallace said. Afterwards, she said she was moved to tears because it summarized her journey and that of many other caregivers.

“This is one of the best feedback we have gotten because one of the main goals of this documentary was to show the lives and struggles that caregivers go through and the love they have for their loved ones. .”

This documentary was screened twice at Eagle Point.

“They could have something to do with it,” Neumann said. “We are trying to debunk the stigma of dementia and amnesia and want a very welcoming and open society.

“And it really broke down barriers that residents had. Like, ‘I can’t tell anyone my wife has dementia.’ They were able to open up and relate to someone else with dementia to help them understand and bring awareness. It became a big topic in our community. ”

Story ideas? You can contact Mike Woods at 920-256-6321 or michael.t.woods1@charter.com.