As an independent filmmaker, Jeff Brown ’90 envisioned himself shooting films in all kinds of exotic locations. But he never imagined that he would wind up in the shower.

A critical conversation between two of his main characters, Heather and Jackson, in his recent film “I Will If You Will” takes place in an apartment bathroom. To capture the action as he wanted, he had to climb in the shower.

In a creative twist, the film is designed to appear as if it were done in one long shot, much like a stage play.

“I wanted to capture a sense of immediacy with Heather’s feelings, so I wanted the camera to stay with her at all times and never change angles or shots,” Jeff explains. The approach created some interesting technical challenges.

During a seven-minute scene in Jackson’s apartment, Jeff had to duck behind a cameraman as he panned left, and eventually jump in the shower. “We had to rehearse that little ballet several times,” he recalls. Jeff’s film was accepted as one of the five finalists at the Independent Feature Project Market in New York, an annual marketplace for filmmakers, distributors and producers. Jeff describes it as a “place where people who want money get a chance to meet people who have money.” What’s more, each finalist was commissioned by Microsoft to make a fiveminute short film for the festival. Although his project didn’t win the ultimate prize, Jeff says it was an honor being a finalist. “I gained valuable insight into how the industry works and was able to meet and commiserate with other filmmakers desperately seeking funds to make their next project,” he says.

Jeff says his interest in filmmaking developed over several years. At Jewell, he majored in English and completed an independent study on the writing of Faulkner with Dean Jim Tanner. As part of a musical family—Jeff is the son of Jewell music professors Don and Helen Brown—he took several music classes as well. He continued studying English at UMKC, where he earned a master’s degree. During a stint as a graphic designer after graduation, he decided to return to school for an MFA in documentary film. He recently completed his studies at Northwestern University.

At first, documentary filmmaking intrigued him. As a photographer and a writer, he felt the medium combined his talents and skills. However, he discovered an affinity for fiction filmmaking at Northwestern. “While non-fiction storytelling offers incredible characters and unpredictable events, fiction filmmaking offers unlimited ways of expressing story and character through all the mechanics of filmmaking—the camera angles and shots, film stock, locations, lighting and sound,” Jeff says.

Currently, Jeff remains in Chicago. His “day job” involves making videos for one of Chicago’s public transportation companies. He continues his film work and is now editing a feature film that he wrote and shot two years ago. He’s also re-editing a documentary that he made about the authenticity of old time music in the Appalachian region, and he’s preparing to shoot a short fiction film in the spring about two lonely people who meet through the news that NASA’s Galileo probe was going to be deliberately smashed into Jupiter.

Backburner projects include revising and enhancing a documentary he’s started about a cowboy stuntman from the ’60s and ’70s; Jeff refers to him as “the nameless guy who fell off countless horses and was shot by countless Indians.” When not making films, he feeds his musical soul by playing string bass in a traditional string band and guitar in a guitar-bass duo.

Jeff credits his time at William Jewell with giving him the foundation he needed to take risks. “Being at Jewell taught me the value of friendships, patience and determination,” he says. He relished walking around 150-year-old buildings trying to figure out what he had to offer the world. “Besides,“ he reflects, “where else can you sled on a cafeteria tray that days before you were munching a hamburger on across the table from your professor?”