A L U M N U S
P R O F I L E
“Solving problems on a shoot is like taking an exam.You’re reading along, you don’t quite understand it, but you have to figure it out.”
learning differences. There were even students with tougher obstacles than his own. “I gained some perspective,” says Fuglestad. “It’s a battle for everybody.” Fuglestad evolved in other ways, too. Arriving as a Black Sabbath metalhead, he left with an appreciation for the Grateful Dead. “I ended up being able to tolerate them,” says Fuglestad. “But I did appreciate that the other students were exposing me to new things.” Fuglestad was also part of a new thing at Forman: playing on the School’s first hockey team. After Forman, Fuglestad went on to Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, using what he learned at Forman in earning a Bachelor of Science degree. After college, he went to California, but didn’t stay long. “Fires, earthquakes? Too dangerous!” After arriving back east, Fuglestad reached out to a liveaction commercial director, the father of a friend, who gave him a start in the business. He’s still doing commercial work today. Live-action directors shoot car commercials or spots with big sets and dialogue. They do advertising for all kinds of products and usually have people in their ads. But Fuglestad is a “tabletop” director who designs and shoots things, well, on a tabletop. It’s very detailed work that is often inserted into other commercials. “In a beer commercial, a live-action director will shoot the actors standing around the barbecue, talking and laughing,” says Fuglestad. “When they cut to the beer being poured into a glass, and it swirls around in slow motion, that part is done by a tabletop director.” Fuglestad is on the roster of directors at MacGuffin Films, which has offices in New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA. He lives in downtown New York with his
Nick and his family in Italy
Nick, right, with his Forman roommate Michael Graves ’89
wife, Jennifer, and their three daughters, Emerson, 8; Lucia, 11; and Isabella, 23. Fuglestad sees a connection between his work today and the skills he picked up at Forman. Commercial shoots come with pressure and deadlines. If it’s due today, you can’t get close and come in tomorrow to finish it. You might want a strawberry to spin on top of some cereal before it falls into the milk. Someone has to build a contraption for that specific action to take place. “There are a lot of special effects involved and I love working with the riggers,” says Fuglestad. “It’s my favorite part. I learned to collaborate at Forman once I gained some confidence.” “Solving problems on a shoot is like taking an exam. You’re reading along, you don’t quite understand it, but you have to figure it out. It’s the same question in both situations: ‘How do I get through this?’ The gift of my time at Forman is that I don’t have the anxiety of my younger years. I’m not afraid that I won’t get it done on time. I don’t stress about it. That’s why it was so important for me to find Forman. You learn tricks and you figure out how to compensate. You stay on guard. You learn how to work with it and compensating becomes second-nature. You’re leading a normal life. The fear, anger, and frustration are things of the past.”
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