Wright State’s Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures adds director, plans to grow

Motion picture production grad Nichol Simmons is the inaugural director of Wright State’s Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures. (Photo by Erin Pence)

In making a movie, it’s important to have a good story and a good cast. Wright State University’s motion pictures program has had the former, now it’s added to the latter with star power.

And under the heading of “coming attractions,” there are new goals, including establishing an endowment in memory of Julia Reichert, professor emeritus of motion pictures at Wright State, who died in 2022.

Nichol Simmons is the inaugural director of the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures, the state-of-the-art facility that houses Wright State’s award-winning motion pictures programs.

Since earning a bachelor’s degree in motion picture production from Wright State in 1999, Simmons has been immersed in the film industry and has mentored fellow Raiders.

“It’s an exciting time for the Tom Hanks center,” Simmons said. “Our faculty has come together beautifully. All of them are actively working professionals in their field.”

She praised Amy Faust, instructor of motion pictures, who, through a professional relationship with Cincinnati company The Camera Department, secured the loan of a professional-level camera for Wright State’s motion picture students. Simmons added that almost all of the faculty in the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures are Wright State alumni.

Simmons quickly parlayed her Wright State education into a career. After a few years of professional on-set experience, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a freelance writer for the TV show “Politically Incorrect.”

Then she landed at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, working in student-industry relations. She provided career counseling for students and helped them submit their films to film festivals.

“That was a good first job,” she said. “Freelancing was a difficult life.”

She then moved on to the American Film Institute, where she ultimately became the director of national workshops. In addition, Simmons founded a nonprofit called Film Camp for Girls, a three-week course focusing on young women in high school interested in film and video production. She also launched a Las Vegas-based post-production company.

While running her businesses, Simmons began mentoring Wright State motion picture students and recent graduates. She helped scores of students secure their first paid roles in the industry.

Now, as the director of the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures, Simmons is poised to help even more.

“One of my goals in this job and for this program is to shift the narrative about the motion picture program,” Simmons said. “People think of us only as being an arts program, and there’s artistry in what we do, but there is also science and technology involved. We hit every letter in STEM.”

She noted that technology and engineering are involved in creating and using the equipment needed for filmmaking.

“And mathematics is involved in what we do, especially for the camera department,” she said.

Simmons emphasized that it is also an economic development program.

“There is a lot more production happening in Ohio than most people may realize,” she said.

In Ohio, the motion picture and television industry is responsible for more than 18,500 jobs and more than $1.23 billion in wages, while the indirect and induced impact on local vendors and other businesses included more than 51,100 jobs in 2022, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

Simmons’s goals include starting a high school summer film camp and bringing back a summer production class for non-motion picture majors.

Another goal is to build relationships and advocate for the center by collaborating with businesses and fostering connections with alumni.

“I have been laying the groundwork for doing this job for a long time,” Simmons said of her activity on behalf of Wright State over the years. “I’m very passionate about this program.”

Another passion is a project close to her heart: starting an endowment to honor the memory of Reichert, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker known as the “godmother of American independent documentaries.”

“She and I became very close. She was my teacher and my mentor and my friend,” Simmons said. “She helped me get my first job. I wouldn’t have had the production career that I had if Julia wasn’t there. She also laid the foundation for what I aspire to be as an instructor and a leader.”

The aim is to raise $2.5 million for professional development, a visiting artists series and modern equipment for students.

“This endowment is critical to what I’m trying to do,” Simmons said. “I want to take what worked before that got our students’ films Student Academy Award nominations and Student Emmy and Sundance awards and to train students to be storytellers engaged in the world around them. I want to prepare students to be able to walk into the professional world and feel like they are trained to the highest level for those early positions. But most importantly, we want to help students find their voice.”

Simmons said of the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures: “We are poised to grow and thrive.”

To donate to the Julia Reichert Endowment, visit liberal-arts.wright.edu/alumni-and-giving/Julia-reichert-endowed-director-of-the-tom-hanks-center-for-motion-pictures.