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Cy Dodson’s (BSC ’96) career as an independent filmmaker has garnered him much recognition, but the School of Media Arts and Studies audio production major wasn’t always pursuing a career in film.

“I came to Ģ����Ƶ University from Zanesville, Ģ����Ƶ and started out as an engineering major. But I drifted around a little bit,” said Dodson. “My initial goal was to pick a degree where I could find work. But I wasn’t connecting with the classes. I had a roommate who was in the audio sequence in the Scripps College of Communication. I had always played music. I played piano and guitar. So, the audio sequence interested me. Part way through my junior year, I switched to Scripps.”

In making the switch, something just clicked for Dodson. He took several music audio production courses and really found his passion.

“Up until the point I started as a communication major, I had never worked on anything in the creative aspect and production realm,” said Dodson. “It was cool to be able to focus on that kind of work, and it provided me with a connection to music, which I loved.”

After graduation, Dodson got a job at his hometown TV station, WHIZ. The small market station gave him the opportunity to try a lot of different things.

“I grew up watching WHIZ,” said Dodson. “The station had the same anchors and people I grew up watching. So, it was a really comfortable place for me to try things. I worked in master control. I directed newscasts. I went out on stories with reporters, and I tried to tell good stories all the time.”

While working at WHIZ, Dodson’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. Working so close to home gave him the opportunity to be there for his family. After about a year and half at WHIZ, Dodson started looking for new opportunities.

“I got a job in Roanoke, Virginia at a news station where I was an editor and then videographer,” said Dodson. “Then I stayed in news for quite a while working at stations in Lexington, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota before wanting to try something different.”

Dodson wanted to focus his creative energy on storytelling and the news business didn’t always provide the time and space to tell the kinds of stories Dodson wanted to tell.

“I started working for a production house in Minneapolis where they did long-format storytelling,” said Dodson. “While working there, I had the opportunity to also work on network TV shows. But I was laid off in 2006, and that’s when I decided to try and do my own thing.”

Dodson started . At Triumph, Dodson specializes in documentary-style content where he combines his use of cinematography and editing to produce compelling tales of the human spirit to create memorable, gripping productions. 

Dodson’s 2018 documentary , which tells the story of a Zanesville, Ģ����Ƶ tattoo artist who covers up hate-filled tattoos for free, allowing people to "erase their mistakes,” was screened across the globe winning more than 30 festival awards, was nominated for a national Emmy in 2019, and qualified for the Academy Awards in 2018. Dodson also received the 2020 McKnight Fellowship for Media Arts for his documentary and the 2021 Jerome Hill Fellowship for Film.

“Telling stories is where my passion is. I’m always looking for ways to tell great stories,” said Dodson. “I'm currently working on several marketing projects and am in production on a new documentary which is an artist profile on prolific Midwest Artist David Cook.”