MSUM Students Produce COVID Documentary

Students in the COMM 440 class produced and directed a documentary, "MSUM: Under the Mask," which follows students, faculty and staff at MSUM during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sometimes it’s hard to understand how other people are being affected, so it’s important to be able to show people stories they might not know about otherwise,” said Marissa Shiock, documentary reporter and producer.

The class interviewed those battling COVID, students in quarantine, athletes, musicians and many others. The documentary was shot and edited as part of the fall semester documentary class at MSUM, and premiered on January 28, 2021, on YouTube. It also aired on WDAY Xtra on February 13.

Fifteen students were involved in the production. Kevin Wallevand, WDAY TV news reporter and adjunct professor, is the class instructor.

“I’m really proud of everyone involved,” said Madison Nelson-Gira, co-director of the documentary. “With the timeframe and COVID we really produced something awesome against all odds that will live on through the years. People will look back on 2020 and the documentary is an awesome way to catalog what happened at MSUM.”

“Having the chance to document MSUM history for students decades from now is a really unique opportunity,” Shiock said.

Watch the documentary now.