Lake Forest College Grad Shoots Movie on Campus

Before she was in Nightlights, Shawna Waldron appeared in this classic sports film. Do you recognize her? Look for the video on our Facebook page.

There may have been Hollywood lights shining on the campus last week, but Adam Dick felt very much at home.

The former Lake Forest College graduate was helping to produce the Indie film Nightlights, which used locations on campus as a backdrop for two days of shooting scenes.

“Lake Forest (College) always struck me as a very sanguine, idyllic setting, a place where people can come to feel peaceful and restful,” Dick said. “That kind of setting is the one we want to represent as the kind of facility we want to see statewide and nationwide.”

Nightlights tells the story of Erin (Shawna Waldron, The American Presidents), the sole caretaker for her twin brother Jacob (Stephen Louis Grush, a Steppenwolf and Goodman Theater actor), who is severely affected by autism.

After she stumbles into a chance of love, she is forced to redefine her relationship with her brother and make a most difficult decision. Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy, House, Halloween, Laverne & Shirley, Murder She Wrote, among others) plays Gina, the developmental therapist dedicated to helping them navigate their world.

The film’s director, David Midell, is a special education teacher in Mount Prospect. He formed a company to make films specifically about people in the special needs community to empower them, integrate them into the mainstream and correct misconceptions.

Last year, he directed a short narrative film about a young man with Down syndrome and the featured actor was the real-life person, who now plays a supporting role in Nightlights.

“It was a really neat experience to see him celebrated by other people impressed by his performance,” said Midell of the actor whose movie was accepted for New York and Korean film festivals.

Nightlights required a nonspecial actor to play Jacob, 25, who has low-functioning, nonverbal autism.

“I started working with some young adults with autism,” said Grush, who has no personal connection to the condition. “Getting to know the tendencies and mannerisms for the way they interact with the outside world, it’s one of these roles that carries a lot of responsibility.”

Easterbrook also never worked on a story like this, and after being glued to the script for two hours, she said, “I was exhausted from it. I was in tears.”

Producers Keaton Wooden and Dick, both of documentary backgrounds, spent extensive time working with the National Association for Down Syndrome, Autism Society of Illinois and community members to best understand, and to employ as actors in extra roles for, the people whom their fictional film portrays – those with autism and their family members.

“The three biggest goals for this entire project have always been cinematic – engaging, entertaining, something that everyone can see; widespread – a film that’s available both geographically and in understanding; and lastly to be entirely honest to the community it is representing,” said Wooden.

The Lake Forest connection didn’t end with Dick. Don Meyer, chairman of Lake Forest College’s music department, composed the score for the feature film.