Welcome back to our Employee Feature series, where we give you a “behind-the-scenes” look at our team. This week’s Meet Motion Source will be featuring Michelle Maslanka, our Producer.

Michelle was born and raised in a south suburb of Chicago (Oak Lawn). She has always been very close with her family, noting “for better or worse, I am a middle child, with an older sister and younger brother.” Almost all her life, she played basketball and softball, and still loves watching and playing sports to this day. After attending the largest all girls high school in the country, she made her way to Illinois State University. While there, “I worked at a news station for three years and truly fell in love with video production as a storytelling medium.” She graduated cum laude with a degree in Mass Media, with a focus in Television Production.

She started working at Motion Source in May of 2014 as a Project Manager, just two weeks after graduating college. She recalls, “I actually reached out a few months before then, while I was still in school, and was invited in for an interview. Just a few days later, I was offered the available position. It all happened so fast, but the timing was perfect!”

Fun story from set: I was project managing a large commercial shoot at a client’s location. This client just so happened to be a combination pizza/frozen yogurt restaurant. The crew and I were thrilled to be working on this set because we quickly found out that it meant all-you-can-eat pizza and froyo all day! At first, we were enjoying trying the different pizzas and new yogurt flavors and toppings. However, after a 14-hour day, these foods began to lose their appeal. At the end of production, there were so many leftover pizzas, that we were sent home with two or three pizzas each. Unfortunately, I lost my appetite for pizza and frozen yogurt for about two weeks following the shoot.

When she’s not at Motion Source: I have a great group of friends from both high school and college. Outside of work, I am usually spending time with them or my family. I love music of all genres, and go to as many concerts as I can. So far this year, I have seen Muse, Vance Joy, AC/DC, and The Smashing Pumpkins. And of course I love watching TV shows and movies- I justify my binge watching by calling it “research” for work.

Personal Mantra: Work hard, play hard.

Favorite Movie(s): Always a tough question. It certainly changes based on what I am in the mood for! Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, A League of Their Own, Garden State, Chicago, and Wizard of Oz, just to name a few. I definitely enjoy a good dramedy (drama-comedy).

Fun Facts:

I have been to 26 states and three countries (and counting).

I am double-jointed.

I have never used an airplane bathroom.

I am 50% Italian.

I broke my nose playing softball when I was 12.

I love sushi.