MSUM students and alumni power new university commercials

Current Minnesota State University Moorhead students are being featured in the university's latest commercials. These commercials were produced by local agency and creative studio Tellwell, which also employs several Dragon alumni.

Tellwell's lead project manager, Lucas Rutten, was thrilled to be able to work on a project for his alma mater. "The opportunity to reach a wider audience and create a new generation of Dragons is really exciting to be a part of," he says.

Attracting more students to campus is something Lucas hopes these commercials do, as he looks back fondly on his time at MSUM. "MSU Moorhead is really an unsung hero, a hidden gem. People need to know about this great option for their education," he says.

"If you have grit, humility, and heart, you will be successful in your career after MSUM." — Lucas Rutten

Lucas graduated with a degree in music industry in 2015 and quickly worked his way up to being the general manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre, before making the switch to producing visuals for Tellwell. He credits the core values of MSU Moorhead with the success he's had after college.

"If you have grit, humility, and heart, you will be successful in your career after MSUM. They're doing a great service to their students by preparing them with those skills," Lucas says.

Lucas wasn't the only Dragon that worked on these commercials, as Jordan Ryan (film studies and production '16) was also filming on-set, and Kari Haaversen (multimedia journalism '20) worked heavily on the pre-production through writing and conceptualizing. Kari is Tellwell's content specialist, and she attributes the practical skills she gained at MSUM to her proficiency in her position.

"Campus News was a pivotal part of my time at MSUM; it gave me the practical experience I needed," she says.

Students' experiences were exactly what the team wanted to capture during the production of the commercials, which was something that social studies education major Jordan Mattson ('24) was encouraged by.

Jordan brings her energy and spunk wherever she goes, whether it's student teaching or being a lead Dragon Ambassador, and that led to her being one of the featured students. "I thought to myself, I'm not an actor, but it's senior year so I might as well audition," she says. Jordan was excited to be able to represent her campus, and that the team even let her student teaching be represented in her spot.

Jake Pletsch has an affinity behind the camera as a budding filmmaker and third-year film production major at MSUM. He wanted to know what it was like to act in a commercial to help him understand the difficulties and nuances his actors face. "Being an actor for a professional project like this makes me a better director and filmmaker," he says.

Kaelyn Lombard is a senior studying speech language hearing sciences and was encouraged by the Tellwell team. "The crew was sweet and encouraging, which made the experience so fun," she says. Kaelyn is busy making the most of her time at MSUM, serving as the president of the Speech Language Hearing Association and collegiate SERTOMA here on campus.

All of these commercials showcase the diverse offerings of MSU Moorhead, including activities that are near and dear to the students featured in them. "We made sure to include a lot of unique things MSUM has for its size, like a newsroom and rock-climbing wall," Kari says.

But most of all, they showcase the skills, talents, and excellence of our Dragons.