As a child, Michelle Maslanka ’14 regularly assumed the role of a giant monster, destroying buildings, eating people, and wreaking havoc—at least until the clock expired. A classic arcade game enthusiast, Rampage won the heart of Maslanka at an early age.
“I remember going to the arcade as a kid to play games like Rampage and Pac Man,” said Maslanka, director and producer at Motion Source, a video production company specializing in creative storytelling in Brookfield, Illinois. “It’s been very nostalgic diving back into this world as an adult for this project.”
Maslanka is currently the producer and first assistant director on Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence, a documentary featuring the life of Video Game Hall of Famer Doc Mack by Year of the Phoenix Productions. Endearingly referred to as the Willy Wonka of the local gaming community, Mack is known as an arcade legend.
“I’ve been working on this project for just about two years with my team,” said Maslanka. “It started out as a passion project, but quickly became the catalyst I needed to fulfill a life-long dream of making a movie.”
As a child, Maslanka recalls the magic of the movie screen and the endless possibilities it offered.
“My parents used to put the TV on for me as a kid, and I remember just getting so invested in whatever I saw,” she said. “Whether it was the characters, or the story—there was always something about it that drew me in.”
As Maslanka grew, she began creating photo and video montages and begged her parents to purchase the latest editing software. Always with a camera in hand, the understanding of what that meant materialized.
“One day I just realized I wanted to make videos professionally,” she recalled.
Maslanka joined the Motion Source team in March 2014, two months before completing her bachelor’s degree in the School of Communication at Illinois State University as a mass media: TV production major with a minor in sociology.
“When my boss Craig Bass called to offer me the job he was like, ‘Why don’t you just quit, and start work now?’ And let’s just say I told him there was no way that was going to happen!” said Maslanka with a laugh.
Beginning at Motion Source as a project manager, Maslanka was promoted to producer in 2015. Her current title is both producer and director. In both roles she has worked on a variety of projects including TV commercials, corporate branding videos, fundraising videos for nonprofits, education videos, music videos, short films—and now, a feature-length documentary.
Maslanka’s role changes on each project.
“For some projects, I work as both a producer and director,” she said. “I coordinate with the client and the crew, but then I’m also directing on set. Other times I’m working solely as a producer with a separate director.”
On smaller shoots like nonprofit videos, Maslanka typically assumes both roles and oftentimes does more. “I’m running the shoot from preproduction, to production, to postproduction,” said Maslanka. “But I love it. It’s a new challenge and learning opportunity for every project.”
Maslanka stepped into the directing role out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now finds it equally as enjoyable.
“When the world opened back up a little in June 2020, Motion Source took on smaller-scale outdoor work. To keep our footprint small, we worked with a smaller crew. That meant I had to step out of my comfort zone and direct. It worked out though, because I absolutely love it!”
As a producer and director, Maslanka’s days can be chaotic, often bouncing back-and-forth between her home office, the studio, or filming on location. She typically has her hand in 8-10 projects at one time, all in varying stages of production.
While the day-to-day projects have been great experiences, revenue generators, and learning opportunities, Maslanka’s passion lies in creating documentaries.
“Craig Bass learned about Doc Mack because our studio is based in Brookfield,” she said. “Doc owns Galloping Ghost Arcade down the street. It’s the largest arcade in the world and has over 930 games.”
Due to a well-timed tip at a Christmas party, Bass visited the arcade to explore. “And literally one conversation later, we all agreed that Mack had a story worth telling,” said Maslanka.
Mack has spent nearly three decades working on a video game that he believes has the potential to supercharge a struggling industry. The documentary will detail the story of a man who never gave up on his childhood dream. Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence follows Doc’s journey to create a live-action 2-D digitized fighting game inspired by the original Mortal Kombat games.
“Mack is known by his online gaming moniker Ghostlord. Dark Presence is the name of the game he’s been working on,” explained Maslanka. “The film is then of course about that journey, but also about the opening of the Galloping Ghost Arcade.”
But it’s not all about fun and games.
“At the end of the day, it’s a story about not giving up on your dreams. And that was a big thing for me,” she said. “Making films and documentaries has always been a dream of mine. This project has been this cool overlapping experience for me because I feel like I’m finally doing what it is I’ve always wanted to do.”
Maslanka credits her skillset and growing passion for docu-style productions to her time spent in the School of Communication at Illinois State University.
“I absolutely adored my time at ISU,” she said. “I loved my teachers, my classes, and my peers. All the different classes I took let me explore different interests.”
While pursuing her degree, Maslanka enrolled in a variety of coursework that furthered her education and growing excitement for the industry.
“I took a documentary class with Dr. Brent Simonds, and it was just so amazing. I also took a screenplay writing class with Dr. John McHale that was very intense, but it was incredible to have a written film script at the end,” she recalled.
“Michelle was an outstanding student with a great attitude and work ethic. I remember that she asked great questions that showed she was thinking deeply about content and filmmaking techniques that she could use in other contexts,” said Dr. Brent Simonds, professor of communication and mass media program coordinator.
Maslanka attributes her main inspiration for pursuing a career in production with TV-10 News though. TV-10 is the School of Communication’s working laboratory and academic unit that provides students with hands-on training in broadcast journalism and production.
“Working with TV-10 allowed me to explore,” she said. “Obviously, the news-focused content is a little bit different from what I’m doing now, but I learned how to work with a team and put a story together. That’s really the heart of it.”
The School of Communication prides itself on not only the hands-on experiences, but also the network of successful alumni willing to return to Fell Hall to share advice with current students.
“I remember Griffin Hammond coming to talk to us in my senior production class in 2014 about his award-winning documentary Sriracha. It was definitely the moment where I thought to myself, ‘that’s so cool. Someone from ISU made this really recognizable film.’ And that meant I could do it too.”
Knowing there was a successful filmmaker who walked the same hallways and took the same path demonstrated to Maslanka that it was possible.
“I had so many amazing and supportive professors in the School of Communication. But the biggest two were definitely Bob Carroll and Laura Trendle Polus. I spent the most time with them, and they taught me the skills I literally use every day. They’re the most fantastic duo… absolutely wonderful,” added Maslanka. “Without my TV-10 experience I know I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“I always think of Michelle when we show examples of the final story in our 200-level class,” said Laura Trendle Polus, director of TV-10 News. “Hers was so good; we continue to show it every semester. She did the story of a local mom, and the first shots show her baking a cake with her little daughter, and it’s so sweet. But then she says, ‘then I go to practice’ and music kicks in and we see mom is doing roller derby. It’s so well done!”
Maslanka’s work not only lives on in Trendle Polus’ classroom, but also in Bob Carroll’s.
“Michelle was the kind of student who makes it easy to be a teacher,” said Bob Carroll, production coordinator of TV-10 News. “She was very motivated, and always open to suggestions. I still show some of her work as an example in class. Michelle has also been an ideal alum—staying in touch and taking time to share her experience with current students. It has been great to see her career so far, and I look forward to where it might go from here!”
From TV-10 to Motion Source and Year of the Phoenix Productions, Maslanka understands that filmmaking is a team sport, and building a network matters.
“It takes a lot of people with different skills to make it all come together,” she added. “At Motion Source, we have a small but mighty internal team and then hire freelancers for our day-to-day needs. And it’s not too different when it comes to Year of the Phoenix Productions.”
Maslanka describes Year of the Phoenix Productions as the film development branch to bring passion projects like short films and music videos to life from the Motion Source team—and now, most notably, Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence, which experienced a successful Kickstarter campaign in April 2023.
“We have over 150 hours of footage already captured,” said Maslanka. “We’re moving into our second phase of production now, focusing on b-roll, reenactments, and Doc’s childhood. Ideally, we’ll see this film completed by the close of 2023 and made available to major streaming platforms in early 2024.”
With this passion project underway for the Year of the Phoenix Productions team, the nostalgia of the 90s gaming world is a daily reminder for Maslanka to always pursue the dream, no matter what.
“Have fun,” she concluded. “And make movies. That’s always been my dream.”
Thanks to Ghostlord, the quest for happiness is within Maslanka’s grasp.
Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or visit the Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence webpage.
