From Cohort to Company: Merging chronicles, competencies, and community to forge new frontiers

Many fresh and new things are blossoming at SOC this year. For second-year Digital Media and Storytelling students Marina Donahue, Taylor Evans, Lexie Garrett, Duncan Hoag, Christina Hoffmann, and Keagan Hynes, it is the first screening of their documentary No Permit Necessary: An Oral History of Bughouse Square.  

The six students were motivated to bridge theory with practice by independently creating a documentary outside the classroom. “We learned all of these video and interview skills in our classes, and we felt like we needed to implement them in a real-world project,” Donahue said.  “Our cohort works well together, and I thought this would be an opportunity to use our individual skillsets to create something we would all be proud of.”  The crew arranged interviews with several Chicagoans who are experts on Washington Square Park, colloquially known as Bughouse Square, including Chicago History Museum Director of Exhibitions Paul Durica and longtime Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Kogan.   

The team was so enthused about the documentary work that they formed a professional production company, aptly titled “House of Bug Productions.” 

Now, new and exciting opportunities are blossoming for the cohort-gone company following the launch of their first film screening at the Mullady Theatre on March 13, 2023. “I learned so much about making documentaries from this project,” Taylor Evans shared. “I was able to get out of my comfort zone and acquire new skills. I enjoyed learning from my peers and figuring out how to bring our unique visions together to create one documentary.” And she is not alone in her sentiment: Duncan shared, “I have [also] grown in my level of confidence behind the camera, and this project had a lot to do with it. I learn best from experience and from doing stuff in the field, so getting out there and getting footage, helping others get footage, and advising on various visual aspects of the film was a crucial experience.”  

Moving forward, Donahue said that the team “would love to continue making projects together as well as working to submit No Permit Necessary to film festivals.” Learn more about this cohort of passionate producers and follow their journey as House of Bug Productions on Instagram.