Movie

Spring 2021

What to watch: Movies and TV shows with WSU alumni and staff

Stories connect and comfort us. They let us into the hearts and minds of others, and entertain, enchant, and teach us. They give us new and different ways to see the world—and maybe even cope with it.

Stories have the potential to pull us out of ourselves and into other—even imaginary—realms. They transport us. They offer us hope and understanding, distraction and escape. They make us laugh. They make us cry. They make us wonder.

That’s the power of storytelling, not only during a pandemic or crisis but anytime. These days, though, while we are spending more time at home to help fight the spread … » More …

Spring 2021

WSM staff picks for the pandemic

WSM staff picks

Here’s what the staff of Washington State Magazine has been reading, watching, and listening to since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

Larry Clark (’94 Comm.)
Editor

Books

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish (Gallery Books, 2017) – Haddish’s comedy shines through some rough times in this memoir. I was laughing out loud during several parts.

The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner (Harper, 1972) – A classic of science fiction and environmental destruction

Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein (Tachyon Publications, 2019) – I enjoy a good novel about fiction becoming reality, and obsession. Goldstein’s words are gripping and, at … » More …

Scene for Rogue Warfare: The Hunt with soldier helping his wounded comrade

Spring 2021

Q&A with Andrew DeCesare

Get to know more about Andrew DeCesare, his work on the Rogue Warfare trilogy, and breaking into the movie business.

How did the trilogy come about?

We started talking about the concept in 2016. Originally, it was five films. We chose a terror threat and tried to play with the story and make people think about current events. The concept of a global special forces team upped its sales value. Really, this movie had seven leads instead of one or two like typical films. Our goal was to prove to ourselves that we know what we’re doing, we know what we’re talking … » More …

Spring 2014

Soldiers of Paint

Doug Gritzmacher ’98 and Michael DeChant Jr.

Double Six Productions, 2013

Through clouds of smoke, soldiers call out to each other at Omaha Beach in the Normandy fields they recreated in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. Paintballs fly through the air as Allied troops storm toward concrete pillboxes filled with Axis troops intent on preventing the invasion.

It’s a hot, humid June day at the world’s largest paintball game, an annual reenactment of D-Day on 710 private acres. Thousands of paintball enthusiasts gather for this monumental event, captured in all of its chaos and camaraderie in the … » More …

Fall 2008

During the War Women Went To Work

How often have you heard a group of women in their eighties reminisce about their service in World War II? My guess is—never. Out of all the interviews, books, films, and commemorations about World War II, female voices have seldom been heard. This video, funded by the Washington State legislature for use in the schools, and created by Bristol Productions under the direction of Karl Schmidt ’81, remedies this oversight. In it, more than 50 Washington women talk about their service in the state’s shipyards and aircraft factories, as WASP (Women Aircraft Service Pilots), in the Army (WACs), and the Navy (WAVES), as nurses, and … » More …