“Lost in the In-Between: Graduating Into 2020” dives into the lives of students who graduated from the University of Iowa in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and was directed by UI alum and documentary filmmaker Jenna Galligan. UI alumni Ryan Adams and Jake Maish served as first and second assistant directors, respectively. The film was produced by documentary photographer and filmmaker Danny Wilcox Frazier, who also serves as the DI’s photo and film coach and as the workshop’s director.

DI publisher Jason Brummond served as executive producer, and DI documentary films coach John Richard served as the film’s executive editor. UI alum Joseph Normon composed the documentary’s original score.

The DI Documentary Workshop functions as a training ground where students work alongside seasoned professionals. Wilcox Frazier said he served as a teacher, boss, and producer at different points during production. He described his teaching role as the most important, especially when it came to developing each student into a director.

“We dedicate ourselves,” Wilcox Frazier said. “When someone opens up their life — allows us this intimate access, this completely candid view of their lives — we have an obligation to give the story everything we have.”

Wilcox Frazier compared the dedication shown by “Lost in the In-Between” student filmmakers to that of a professional athlete. Galligan and Adams stayed on the team after graduation to see the project to fruition, and Wilcox Frazier said the entire team worked long nights and weekends. In addition to the student directors, eight other students served as directors of photography or helped with post-production editing.

“I knew they could do it. I knew they would do it,” Wilcox Frazier said. “That said, I’m still in awe of it.”

Adams said he was pushed by Wilcox Frazier in ways he never thought he could be and was surprised to see his growth after working on “Chasing Greatness: Wrestling Life,” another DI Documentary Workshop feature that premiered March 4 on Big Ten Network.

“To be able to work with the amount of talent and knowledge that they bring and to be able to develop as quickly as we have is something I don’t think any other place in the country is doing with a student newspaper,” Adams said. “And I genuinely hope that it’s something that just keeps going and going.”

Wilcox Frazier’s future goals for the DI Documentary Workshop include involving graduate students in the filmmaking process, providing scholarships, and covering lesser-known issues that may not receive national attention.

“Lost in the In-Between” opposes today’s politics of division, Wilcox Frazier said, a message conveyed thanks to the care given to the subject matter by the DI Documentary Workshop’s crew:

“This film is going to  show our university community — and I hope it goes much further than that — that we have much more in common than we have that is different.”

Parker Jones contributed to this report.