When in high school, many people say they want to go into film because they have no idea what they want, and at the time it seemed like a good idea. By the time they go to college, most of these people can figure out this isn’t their dream and tend to do something different. That was not the case for Junior Mass Communications major Caleb Rogers. 

“I’d like to think of myself as a creative person, and film is an outlet for that,” said Rogers. “I started taking summer art courses when I was 5-years old so I grew up around the arts. I love movies and found an interest in how they were made.” 

Rogers was adopted from Shakhty, Russia when he was 6 months old and lived in Richmond, Virginia for 11 years before moving to Clarksville, Georgia where he currently lives with his parents and brother. 

As a child, Rogers had a huge love for movies and would always watch behind-the-scenes and production clips to see how they were made. He spent his years in high school building up his portfolio for college and helped build the art department at his school. 

“In 2017 I went to SCAD with a $25,000 scholarship and made the best of my time there,” said Rogers. “I had the wonderful opportunity to work on several student films, SCADS Emmy award-winning live shows, and my favorite was working as media at the Savannah film festival interviewing celebrities like Hugh Jackman, John Krasinski, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Armie Hammer.” 

Rogers has also spent plenty of time working on music videos and this May he will be working on his biggest project yet, “Shazam 2” as the assistant Visual Effects Coordinator. 

Rogers has been seriously working in the film industry for about two and a half years now and he shows no sign of slowing down.

“I want to continue my knowledge in film to later have my own business to make a fortune,” he said. 

Senior Mass Communications major, Cameron Verona, also has a big interest in film and finds Rogers’ work inspiring. 

“I respect and value the quality of his work,” said Verona. “I think his high profile experience in the industry can help grow the already phenomenal program we have at Piedmont.”

Rogers has been a huge part in building the film program here at Piedmont. Having a mass communications degree could only take him so far when it came to the film industry, so he has been trying to push the idea of a film major for a while now. 

“With the love I have for film I believed I could help push Piedmont to create a film studies program,” Rogers said. “I first had a meeting with Dean [Steve] Nimmo then with [Vice President] Dan Silber as well as [Department Chair] Joe Dennis and from that point on we four had several meetings figuring out how we can make this work and what the curriculum would look like.” 

Caleb Rogers still has a lot to learn in regards to working full time in the film industry, however, with the start he has now and the skills he is willing to pass along to others around him, he is going to go far.