Ever since she was little, Frances Wilkerson has loved movies and how they can transport an audience.

“I remember making scripts of my favorite movies and TV shows and having my friends perform the roles while I directed them,” she said. “I am so excited to have come back full circle to my dream as a child.”

Wilkerson had previously attended veterinary school, earned her doctorate degree and worked as a veterinarian. But her love of film brought her to College of DuPage and the Motion Picture/Television (MPTV) program, where she could take the classes she needed to pursue a new career.

I feel confident in my abilities as a filmmaker, and COD’s MPTV program has everything you need to succeed.

Frances Wilkerson

“I was not looking for a traditional four-year film program due to the high cost of tuition for these schools. I just wanted to take all the film classes I could, even if they weren’t needed for a degree or certificate,” she said. “COD was the best choice for me because from day one, you are making films. Theory of filmmaking is taught as well but using that theory with hands-on experience in every class is what has helped catapult me as a filmmaker.”

While taking classes, she completed an internship with Periscope Post and Audio located at Cinespace. Wilkerson learned much while observing the post-production process at one of the major post-production houses in Chicago, and she then had the opportunity to work on several freelance projects at Periscope. She was a dailies technician for the TV shows “Single Drunk Female” and “61st Street,” a backup dailies technician and promo puller for the TV show “The Chi,” and an assistant editor for the AMC movie “Christmas with Felicity” and the feature film “The Class” starring Anthony Michael Hall. She also was an editor for the ION television movie “A Christmas Witness.”

In addition to writing and filming her own projects, Wilkerson would like to be a show runner and director of both movies and television.

“I personally believe that it is important for a director or any head of production to be well-versed in all departments of filmmaking,” she said. “Having this knowledge helps me communicate with department heads more effectively. This is why I take as many classes as I can, and when new classes become available, I enroll in them. This is also why I take jobs related to other departments.”

Wilkerson believes COD is a great place to study film. It also provides a strong launching pad for transfer to schools like Columbia College Chicago or DePaul University.

“The program at COD will give you as much as you put into it,” she said. “It won’t happen by osmosis. You will have to put in the work, but the work you put into it will pay off. I feel confident in my abilities as a filmmaker, and COD’s MPTV program has everything you need to succeed. Also, if you are an adult student or an adult who is thinking of going back to school for a second career, I can think of no better place than COD.”

Learn more about the Motion Picture/Television program at College of DuPage