When Kevin Willmott was a little boy growing up in Junction City, Kansas, he and his mother watched the Academy Awards every year. He would dream about what it would be like to be on stage, accepting an Oscar. Fast-forward to 2019 when Willmott found himself on the stage with famed director Spike Lee, accepting his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie BlacKkKlansman. Though he let Spike Lee do most of the talking, Willmott did manage to utter a “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” as they were played off the stage by the Academy orchestra he recalled with a chuckle. The next day, he was back in the classroom, inspiring the next generation of filmmakers.
“I took the Oscar with me and passed it around,” said Willmott. “I let every student in the room hold it. I wanted them to know that the distance between Lawrence and Hollywood doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, I see it as my mission to shrink the distance between these two places. I want my students to have big dreams, like I did when I was growing up in Junction City. More than that, I want them to believe they can achieve them.”
Willmott has big goals for making the leap from Lawrence to Hollywood smaller. He wants to produce a film a year with students filling every role needed to make that happen. “Giving our students an opportunity to work on a real set, experiencing what they would if they were working in Hollywood, will be invaluable,” Willmott said. “Graduating with an entry already on IMDb will set our students apart, bringing them one step closer to achieving their dreams. To me, that’s what it’s all about.”
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