From the time I was two to about when I was 10, I lived just down the road from Greg Gilman. We were in the same grade school class, rode the same bus and our parents were friends. Then, as the old story often goes, my family moved away and we never really spoke to each other again — until we re-met on Facebook a few years back and I found out he lives and works a short distance from where I now live in western Maine.

It turns out, Gilman is following his passions in graphic design and video editing and sharing his talents with students at Gould Academy, all while raising a young family and supporting the local Maine culinary, brew craft and music scenes. I had a chance to catch up with him, and this is what I found out about my old friend.

Name: Greg Gilman

Age: 41

Town: Bethel

Marriage status: Married to wife, Jaime, with two kids: daughter Parker is 5 and son Marshall will be 2 in February.

Job: I work in the Gould Academy Communications Department as a communications specialist, but I mainly think of myself as a graphic designer and video editor, which I do for freelance work out of my home as well.

What drew you to your profession? I always loved design as a kid. I would cut up Sports Illustrated Magazines to make my own magazine covers. I was obsessed with movies and TV, too. I never saw those as an actual career though. I didn’t even realize being a designer was a thing. I always knew I wanted to make videos though and got started making outdoor television at Ursus Productions in Waterville with Andy Collar and Harry Vanderweide. Through that experience, I learned that I don’t necessarily love shooting video, but that I had a knack for design and editing.

What is one of the most challenging or exciting films you’ve worked to put together, and why? A video that comes to mind is one I just put together for Gould. A group of performing arts students and faculty spent the day with the Portland Symphony Orchestra working with some of their musicians, and I got to tag along. They had private lessons, a master class in performance as a group, and then we were treated to the PSO’s season-opening performance of Beethoven and Berlioz. It was a powerful and rich experience for all of us, but a really great opportunity for the kids. There was so much to shoot, and the PSO was so accommodating. I got enough footage to make a feature-length documentary. We’re usually shooting for one to two minutes though, to feature on our social media channels and on our website. I had plenty to work with, but it was really challenging to distill this big event to three minutes. It’s fun to share their stories. I just want to capture the amazing things they get to do in an authentic way. You can see the results here. (Go to: https://youtu.be/tpGVJbn8aXw) 

What do you hope your students take away from your video production classes? Teaching video production is really a little bonus I get to do. I also get to put together the student film festival at the end of each school year with my class, which has become a pretty big event. The one thing I want every student to take away is the ability to tell a story. I start every year by telling them that 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and then ask why is anyone going to take the time to watch their video? You need to be able to tell a story, and do it in your own unique voice. I stress the importance of pre-production preparation, and having a vision for their project. I don’t want them to just shoot a ton of footage and then see what they can make out of it. There’s a saying in video production: “Garbage in, garbage out.”

What kind of projects do you do with your students, and is there one that stands out in your memory as being extra special? I try to let the kids drive where we go and what we do in the class. Last year’s class wanted to make a short film as a group, so we did. I wrote a quick script, they improved on it, and we put together a cast and crew and got to work. They worked so hard on it. Every class was exciting. I couldn’t wait to see where it would take us. Their ability to think on their feet and problem solve in real time was amazing to me. It was the most rewarding experience I’ve had as a teacher to watch some of the students step up and take the lead. It’s probably one of those things that’s only good if you know the people involved, but I’m really proud of it. Sam: In Real Life. (Go to: https://youtu.be/bO3OtlY3__E)

How do you spend your spare time? I don’t have much spare time these days. Working at Gould you do a little bit of everything, and you’re really immersed in the boarding school world — from weekend duty in the dorms, teaching video production, nighttime study hall duty, plus working in the Communications Department is a regular full-time job all on its own. It’s a great community to raise a family in. What down time I do have I spend with my family. We try to get out and camp as often as we can during the summer, as well as spend time on the coast. I love taking advantage of all Maine has to offer. Restaurants, local music, craft beer. There’s a lot to explore.

It sounds like you really love the state of Maine. What secrets can you share about places you’ve found that may be a bit off the beaten path? I’m not sure this place is a secret, but one place I love to go is this little lobster wharf in Round Pond, near Pemaquid. The lobsters are cheap, you can bring your own cooler, and sit and watch an authentic working Maine lobster operation.

OK, favorites. Go! Local restaurant? Local music? Craft beer? The best meal I ever had was at Fore Street (in Portland). Typical answer, but it’s amazing. Favorite local musician is Sumner McKane. If you don’t know his music, check him out. He’s a guitarist and ambient music composer, and he does all these cool multi-media projects that revolve around Maine history. He makes a documentary, writes the score, then performs it live while the film plays, with Josh Robbins on bass. I love seeing them play. Favorite craft beer is a long list. There are so many great brewers in Maine. Allagash, Baxter, Oxbow — we’re really lucky to be in Maine. I love Maine Beer Co.’s Lunch IPA. And Bissell Bros.’s “The Substance” is great too. One brewery I think is underrated is Sebago Brewing Co. I feel like they get lumped in with the regular brewpubs, but they consistently make great beer.