Meet Jolee—the kind of creative who didn’t wait for permission to tell stories, they just grabbed a camera and started rolling. From filming DIY documentaries to pushing boundaries with a high school project that almost made it to the big screen (until it didn’t), they learned early on that storytelling was everything to them.
Milwaukee didn’t just give Jolee a landing spot post UW-Oshkosh, it gave them a playground to experiment, collaborate, and carve out their place in the city’s growing film scene.
Now, Jolee’s everywhere you want to be—working behind the scenes on indie films, shaping the digital voice of the Oriental and Downer Theatres, and quietly building a community of local creatives who actually show up for each other.
What is your background?
I’m a Milwaukee transplant. I’m from Neenah, Wisconsin, and I moved here in 2020 after I graduated from UW Oshkosh.
Any stories from your youth that define your path?
I have always enjoyed photography and film. I did maybe a third of my graduating class in high school’s senior photos. Growing up, I wasn’t really aware that the passions I had for storytelling, photography, and art would translate into filmmaking, even though I was already making very beginner-level documentaries every year at summer camp.
At my high school in Neenah, I remember spending a lot of time on a short form documentary project that I put together with local LGBTQ+ community members. I worked on it with a classmate Krista Mitchell. We had community members send in interviews and did some with members of our own High School GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) to show at an upcoming all school assembly for Spirit Day.
I was kind of the person that different clubs would go to make videos for, social media wasn’t really a thing yet so the edits I made still felt like something entirely new to a lot of students. I remember being pulled aside by the principal to be told we couldn’t show the short after we had already been told we were able to share it with the entire school. After she saw the contents, she wanted to let us know it wouldn’t really be appropriate for the student body. But my videos for other clubs would still be allowed to show. It was definitely a formative moment for me. Before I even knew I wanted to be a filmmaker, when I was still just seeing what this Canon T3 I got for Christmas could do, I knew I really felt a freedom in the storytelling that I did not want to let go of.
The bad feeling I got from that very first rejection I found a lot of motivation in to keep going.
When I graduated from Neenah High School in 2015, I made the school’s first ever Senior Class Documentary. It might actually be the only one coming out of NHS, I am not sure that idea was continued on after I left. But I was able to interview a lot of my graduating classmates about their experiences at our school and their feelings surrounding graduation. Before I ever learned about the actual process of approaching a documentary in college, I just went for it with this project. I always had the feeling that involving other people in your story would always make it better. Looking back at a lot of these early projects I definitely cringe a little bit about the quality of my work, but I still am proud of how eager I was to try and determined I was to keep getting better.
Where did you study?
I went to the University of Oshkosh Wisconsin. My major was Radio-TV-Film. I started out with a minor in Studio Art, so I had a lot of amazing three-hour long painting and drawing classes. When I learned I could graduate a bit earlier and miss out on some painful student loans, I changed my minor to Creative Writing, which I do find very useful now.
What do you do for work now?
Currently, I work as a filmmaker in Milwaukee, mainly in art departments of independent productions around the city. In my time living in Milwaukee and working in film, I’ve had the chance also to work on dozens of commercial sets, features, and short films. My first feature film I ever was hired on to and paid for was an amazing local production called Corridor featuring the Milwaukee Art Museum, the War Memorial Center, one of the coolest bathrooms on the UWM campus, and several other beloved Milwaukee buildings.
When I’m not working on set locally, it’s true that I also have a full-time job with Milwaukee Film. I am in charge of creating all of the social media content for the historic Oriental and Downer Theatres of Milwaukee as well as the Milwaukee Film Festival. It’s really just an interesting coincidence, I never had a desire to work in social media specifically, but I have a passion for filmmaking and content creation so making content about movies both new and old comes very naturally to me.
I really enjoy learning about the different aspects of Milwaukee Film through my work. I get to make videos with our projectionists and learn about the really special little quirks of film projection. I get to work with our cinema staff and talk to them about all kinds of movies. It’s kind of an everything position where I get to make content about many of the corners of the organization. Because I love the theatres and the people working to keep them alive so much it’s been a position I feel really sentimental about.
Can you talk a little bit about your career journey?
After I graduated in 2019 and moved to Milwaukee to find more work in photography and film, I was finding myself in between a lot of temporary odd jobs. I would find a job to work to pay rent while looking for photography and film work on the weekends and in my free time. I honestly struggled for a while to find full-time, meaningful, or well-paying work in film until I started working at the historic Oriental Theatre in 2021.
I started as a Cinema Associate at the Oriental Theatre. Probably one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever been able to work. I think back on my time behind the counter really fondly and I developed a pretty deep love for the theatre and the staff during my time there. Several months into this position I was able to be hired by Milwaukee Film as a contract photographer for their education screenings. Around March of 2023 I was hired for my current position as Social Media and Digital Coordinator. I now get to work for both the historic Oriental and Downer Theatre Milwaukee promoting all of the screenings, events, and cinema fun they plan throughout the year. It’s been a wonderful position to learn about so many different aspects of film festivals, cinema programming, marketing, and I do feel I can still make a really nice batch of popcorn depending on the weather.
During my time at Milwaukee Film, I have also been able to work on several feature films, local short films, and fun odd jobs like Top Chef when it came to town. Notably I was an art assistant on Corridor under Zach Erdman and Johnathon Olsen, that taught me a lot of lessons in film I look back on very foundationally. Recently I have been able to work on two of Director Martin Kaszubowski’s feature films Earlybird and Raffle as an Art Director.
Martin and his wife KP have helped me become a better filmmaker in so many ways I actually won’t start about it now, but I am so thankful for the learning opportunities they’ve given me since I’ve met them. It’s been really a wonderful gift to be able to have time to learn filmmaking practically and have a full-time job that understands that desire, also being a part of the industry I love.
Can you talk more about your community involvement or volunteer experience?
I really love Milwaukee. It’s been really easy to get involved here, especially in the film community. Once I finally did start to find regular film work on set and build my own connections, it started to feel like a good time to try to give back in a small way. I truly ended up feeling like Milwaukee was handing me gift after gift with so many opportunities after a few years of trying and failing.
I came up with an idea to host Filmmaker Headshot Happy Hours. I’m not sure why I called them “Happy Hours” because there wasn’t any alcohol offered it was always juice boxes but…. The idea was I would find a local business and ask them to partner with myself and another local photographer to open up free headshots and host a networking event for local artists and filmmakers.
I hosted the first one at La Gente with photographer Krystyna Nicole, the next at Mitchell Street Arts with Sptmbrborn, with the most recent event offering donations at CopyWrite Magazine with Krystyna, Sptmbrborn, and Natalya Cook. It’s been really wonderful to meet so many of Milwaukee’s artists and filmmakers through these events, and to see folks form connections with one another naturally when provided the space and time to do so.
I was also invited by the lovely instructors at Cactus Club’s Take One Teen Filmmaking course to present about local filmmaking and help with a day of filming. It’s always really fun to work with student on things specific like film. I volunteer at a summer camp in Waupaca that is far from the work I do here in Milwaukee and the most exciting night of my life was hosting a movie night for all of the girls at camp to Casper. I think there is something super magical about film no matter where I find it in my life.
What are some ways you have impacted the community in your line of work?
I hope I have impacted my community in some way. It’s hard to say or know exactly how I might have ever done this so far. I really appreciated seeing so many people show up for me for the first test screenings of my short film. I try to make sure to show up for the people around me in the best ways I can if that means volunteering my time for their own projects, offering them my silly props, and especially by being very loud about the names of the people who have helped me and who just deserve to have their names be heard.
I do really appreciate and feel seen when I receive feedback on the social media work, I do for Milwaukee Film along the lines of “I didn’t even know Milwaukee had a theatre like this until I saw your videos on TikTok”. I love seeing people fall in love with cinema for the first time and I love feeling like the work I do might reach audiences that would never visit our historic theatres otherwise.
What do you like about living in Milwaukee?
I really love how many opportunities you have in the city as an artist. Basically, everyone around here is doing something different, and people don’t really judge you for trying. I also really love how much good food there is here.
What do you want to see for Milwaukee’s future?
More financial opportunities for filmmakers. More paid work to come to Milwaukee so people don’t have to keep leaving a city that has so much opportunity for film production. I would love to see more support for the local arts organizations, it hurts my heart to know Wisconsin is ranked the lowest per capita in terms of state art funds at $.14, that’s 49th in art spending. Our artists, our community, and our local organizations deserve a lot better.
Anything else we should know about you, your job, community involvement, or life in general?
I have two short films in different stages of needing love! My first short film Sisterhood is just coming out of its festival run and my latest short film Cursed Tooth is coming out of post-production late spring 2026. I am hoping to host a public screening of Sisterhood when she’s finally free soon so please stay tuned if you’re local to Milwaukee!
If you’re free this Spring April 16th-30th I also highly suggest you stop by the Milwaukee Film Festival. Once individual tickets are for sale, you can truly try it out for just a day to start but I am really sure you will have a great time. The people at the OT and the Downer will make sure of it.