Many wondered, “Who is the cinematic genius behind this masterpiece, and why is he working at a high school?” The credit belongs to the one and only Mike Rohlfing. On the last day of Spirit Week 2020, students were amazed after watching the teacher film project entitled “The Academy: A Star Wars Story.”

Mr. Rohlfing currently works as the director of marketing and communications at Westminster. However, he has an impressive history of experience in the world of media and production. From experimenting with cameras as a child to winning four Mid-America Emmys and meeting some of the most famous people in the nation, Rohlfing’s journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. 

“I’ve always had a passion to entertain and be creative. Even from a young age, my cousins and I used to play around with technology and cameras,” said Rohlfing.

Rohlfing kept his creative juices flowing as he entered into the gates of Westminster Christian Academy. Interestingly enough, he was taught by our very own Mr. Kim. Because he was one of the only students devoted to digital communications at the time, Mike was granted numerous unique freedoms and opportunities, including being Mr. Kim’s teacher’s assistant.

After graduating in 2005, Rohlfing kick-started his career at Calvin College.

“I also visited the University of Kansas, the University of Tulsa, and others, but Calvin College had the best facilities and atmosphere for my success. It was rather small, so I was able to have more of an impact at the school as well as receive more opportunities such as working at tv stations or concerts,” said Rohlfing.

After graduating with a degree in media production, Rohlfing began his first job at a St. Louis production studio called Coolfire Media, a company that he had interned with during his time at Calvin. Throughout his time there, he created commercials for numerous prominent organizations such as Energizer, Build-A-Bear, and the Cardinals. Later on when he became the lead director of photography and editor for tv development, Coolfire started to create original content, pitching tv shows such as “Fast N’ Loud” to popular channels like HGTV, Discovery Channel, Esquire, Nickelodeon, etc.

One example of the reality shows that was bought into was “Alternate Route,” an Esquire Network series where Rohlfing and his crew followed blogger and photojournalist Matt Hranek around the country as he explored exotic cultures and underwent various adventures.

“After a while, I decided to leave the TV development world and decided to work full time as the executive producer for a show called “In Depth with Graham Bensinger”  for two and a half years,” said Rohlfing.

Rohlfing was able to travel across America to meet Bensinger’s impressive celebrity interviewees such as Kobe Bryant, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mike Tyson, and more.

After a stressful yet enjoyable experience, Rohlfing decided that it was time to lessen his traveling in order to be more present for his newborn baby girl. 

“Around that same time, I saw that there was a job opening at Westminster where my wife worked, and I used to joke to her about the possibility of us working together,” said Rohlfing. “Soon enough I was interviewing with Mrs. Peggy Johnson and got the job of Director of Marketing and Communications.”

The job contains an abundance of diverse responsibilities and projects, and Rohlfing loves it. 

“The communications team is responsible for promoting, marketing, and advertising the school. We talk with the media, buy ads in newspapers and publications, and more. It’s our job to get our name out there, make sure that people know about our school, and make sure that our mission and vision are clear for prospective students and their families,” said Rohlfing.

In addition to being responsible for all public communications, the department is responsible for the “Chimes Magazine”, found both printed and on the Westminster website, posters all around the school relating to social distancing, one-way staircases, and more, and all emails that are sent out from the school, such as Dr. Mosbacker’s email for the cancellation of the first day of school. (https://wcastl.org/alumni/chimes/)

Rohlfing is personally in charge of running Westminster’s social media accounts, including the impressive Instagram page. (https://www.instagram.com/wcastl/?hl=en)

“What I love about working at Westminster is that I do feel truly invested in my work as well as the mission and the history of the school. I hope that what I create here can shine a light on our school and the work that God is doing here, and it’s a privilege to utilize my gifts and experiences to do that,” said Rohlfing.

Rohlfing greatly enjoys the freedom and fun that he’s had at Westminster, so he’s not sure if he will ever go back to the fast-paced world of production. However, he still has a foot planted in the industry by occasionally working on side projects in his free time. 

One of Rohlfing’s proudest accomplishments was winning a short film project and making it all the way to the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in France with a film called “EVT.”

Although Rohlfing was privileged to work on many interesting projects and meet a lot of fascinating people throughout his career, one aspect that was missing from the job was a real emotional connection toward his work. 

“There were rare occasions where I was able to produce projects pro bono for charity organizations – The Pujols Family Foundation, Gateway 180 Homeless Shelter, among others- and those projects were often much more satisfying and edifying than the TV shows I was working on because I felt like they made a real difference for good causes,” said Rohlfing. 

After ten exhausting yet invaluable years of working in the television industry, Rohlfing learned that the best advice to give to people interested in pursuing the same career path is to “just get out and do it. Practice at it. Get internships. If you want to be successful in any creative field, you have to get your foot in the door and prove yourself,” said Rohlfing. 

If you want to see more of Mike Rohlfing’s work, check out his website: http://www.mikerohlfing.com.