Washtenaw Community College video instructor Matt Zacharias talks to students during the first meeting of video production class of the semester at the school on Tuesday night. The video program is installing a new green room complete with studio lights mounted to the ceilings. Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The thought of producing a story-telling video for a course at Washtenaw Community College was enough to make student John Inwood want to quit.

Rather than withdraw from the class and run, Inwood channeled his reluctance into a talent for producing award-winning, Emmy-nominated work. Today, Inwood has plans to finish at WCC and to enroll in film school in the hopes of producing documentaries and movies.

“I’m so grateful for everything they’ve taught me," said Inwood, 22, of Ann Arbor. "When I started two years ago I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life”

When WCC students returned to classes this fall, they were greeted by the school’s brand new, big league-style video production facilities inside an expanded, updated building.

It’s all part of a high-tech building expansion started last October; the production facilities cost $230,000, WCC officials said.

The 125 or so students - a record number in the school’s Digital Video Program - will be working on “absolutely top of the line,” equipment, said Matt Zacharias, an instructor who runs the WCC’s Digital Video Program with instructor Dan Kier.

The expansion includes a larger building and more modern classrooms, along with a control room full of high-tech bells and whistles, high definition cameras and the capability to seat a studio audience.

What’s known as green screen technology might be one of the most exciting parts of the renovation, Zacharias said. Green screen lets students create work in every imaginable setting with any manner of background and special effects.

“Right now we’re offering more classes than ever and they’re all filling up,” Zacharias said.

The increased interest is in part driven by dreams of working on Hollywood movie sets as Tinseltown’s movie producers find Michigan a welcoming and economical place to set up shop, he said. Director/producer Rob Reiner was in Ann Arbor filming just a few weeks ago.

But even before the facility expansion and before the “Hollywood hoopla,” the program was attracting a following, said Zacharias, a four-time Emmy winning TV producer.

The interest from years past was in part stirred by Michigan’s sputtering economy and the desire of students, younger and older, to retrain for new careers, he said.

“This program has been in place from the get-go. The movie industry activity has almost acted as free advertising for us,” Zacharias said.

While newfound dreams of moviemaking drive the interest of students today, they're encouraged and taught a variety of specialties and careers.

“For us, it’s just a coincidence that Hollywood came to town,” Zacharias said.

But if movie studios open permanent spots in Michigan, the program will add more courses to fill the staffing needs.

“Then we’re talking careers here, not just temporary work on movie sets,” said Zacharias.

The new digs will prepare students for such prospects and any number of careers from video production for corporations to digital editing for websites and more.

“What we have now is a major upgrade. It’s radically different,” Zacharias said.

It means Inwood, the once reluctant producer, and his fellow students are working on gear that rivals production tools used by the pros.

“I only signed up for the class because my friend wanted someone to take it with him,” Inwood said. “I ended up really liking the class. I learned so much. The professors really show you how to do it and they inspire you to do more than you think you can.”

His documentary “Lay Me Away” received a Michigan Emmy nomination earlier this year, and his public service announcement about proper disposal of motor oil into storm drains took top prize at Millers Creek Film Festival in March.

Fellow WCC Digital Video student Ben Brown’s “A Veteran’s Affair” also received an Emmy nomination this year.

The honors and awards received by Inwood and Brown, along with other student success stories coming out of WCC and the new upgrades and expansion tell Zacharias, “We’re really beginning to take off.”

Kim North Shine is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach our news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.