A “Meet the Directors” event designed to connect NMU students with some of the Fresh Coast Film Festival (FCFF) directors will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the Wildcat Room of the Berry Events Center. For the second year, the School of Health and Human Performance and the outdoor recreation leadership and management program have partnered with the FCFF to host this free event. The festival runs Oct. 19-22 in Marquette.

“We hope to inspire students to the possibilities of merging their passions for film, nature, adventure, conservation and/or recreation as a viable career option and means of leisure, interpretation and activism,” said NMU professor Jacquie Medina.

Following is a list of potential directors attending the event:

Gary and Joanie McGuffin: Canadian explorers and conservationists. Joanie is a writer and presenter and Gary is a photographer. They are the subjects of two FCFF films this year. They've been at the center of numerous conservation efforts on the Canadian side of Lake Superior over the years.

Brenda Piekarski: The force behind Minnesota Adventure Films and is here this year with the feature-length climbing film "Jeff's World." Brenda is a climber and full time media creator in Minneapolis.

Aaron Peterson: A photographer, filmmaker and "outdoors fun hog" from the Marquette area and the co-founder of Fresh Coast Film Festival. He works primarily in the travel and outdoors industry with clients like Pure Michigan, Travel Marquette, Trek bikes, Cabelas and more.

Jason Whalen and Chris Zuker of Big Foot Media: Jason is the owner of Big Foot Media out of Chicago and Chris is one of his employees. Jason and his team create short, powerful storytelling content for organizations like the Nature Conservancy.

Students can check out the films schedule and festival at https://freshcoastfilm.com/films. The cost for students to attend the festival is $25 for the weekend. However, students (and the public) can also volunteer at the festival by emailing info@freshcoastfilm.com