January 26, 2024

Columbus native and Columbus State University graduate Jonathan Vogler has been involved in developing, producing and directing film projects professionally since graduating in 2014. Look him up on imdb.com — the industry’s online source for movie, TV and celebrity information — and his credits include writing, directing, showrunning, co-producing and producing, and even operating a camera on occasion.

Now based in Los Angeles, the Columbus native still considers the Chattahoochee Valley his home — with his parents Ron and Christina Vogler still residing in town. He graduated from St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School in 2005, where he had already begun honing his broadcasting and production skills working on the school’s daily televised news program.

The seven years that followed are what Vogler calls “messy.” They included studies at other colleges, living in and playing semi-pro American football in Europe for a couple of years, and moving to Los Angeles for a time before finally landing back in Columbus and enrolling at Columbus State in 2012.

At the time, the university lacked a film program (one exists now in the Department of Communication), so Vogler gravitated toward the English and creative writing curriculum to feed his imaginative interests. Originally excited by the titles and descriptions of many of its courses, he later came to appreciate his close relationships with professors and his writing workshops with classmates.

“My studies helped me with writing and general communication, which I do a ton of [in my job]. And then, I really just love reading,” he said. “I learned how to take criticism when you put your work out there … and then how to do that in reverse and while being both critical and encouraging in your feedback.”

That critical creative eye serves him well in his current role at Mandalay Sports Media, which includes reading and evaluating pitch decks or articles that have been optioned for potential film projects. He joined the company soon after graduating from Columbus State — first as an associate producer and moving up to producer/director two years later before assuming his current role as vice president of unscripted development and production in 2022.

“My work centers around developing and producing projects — identifying which ones on our slate need the most attention, prioritizing the right ones and working with his team, whether it’s designers putting a deck together, something that’s in production, or others who include photography, editing, archival production and legal clearance,” he explained.

Vogler with "The Redeem Team" director Jon Weinbach and executive producer Greg Groggel .

Vogler’s most recent attention has been for his work producing “The Redeem Team.” Last May, the 2022 documentary about the 2008 USA Men’s Olympic Team won a 2023 Sports Emmy. It tells the story of America’s quest for gold in Beijing and the new standard for American basketball the team set following its disappointing performance four years earlier in Athens.

“[‘The Redeem Team’] was one of those projects that was almost too good to be true, that we get to be the ones to tell this story along with the players and coaches from that team,” he recalled.

“The Redeem Team” beat out four other productions in the Emmy’s “Outstanding Long Sports Documentary” category — including the History Channel’s “After Jackie” about Major League Baseball’s continued desegregation initiated by legend Jackie Robinson; CNN’s “Citizen Ashe” exploring Arthur Ashe’s tennis career, impact on the sport and HIV activism; and Peacock’s “Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair” detailing the “Nature Boy’s” prolific 50-year professional wrestling career.

“We definitely don’t set out to win an award for what we’re doing, but it was really nice recognition, and it feels good to get something like that,” he said.

Selecting just one project from the many Vogler (pictured with his wife, Lindsay) has helped direct and produce is likely difficult. His first foray into documentary work was his 2016 mini-documentary, “YouTube Star Sponsors the Fastest Rising Football Club in England.” It’s the story of how best-selling “The Fault in Our Stars” American author and FIFA-loving YouTube star John Green used his unorthodox fame and video royalties to finance the cash-strapped English AFC Wimbledon football club an ocean away.

His major follow-up projects continued with the sports theme. “The Making of the Ring” (2017) that he directed provided Golden State Warriors fans with an all-access look at the making of the team’s 2017 NBA Championship ring. He also served as executive producer and showrunner for the “Underrated” series first airing in 2020 as an eight-part series on Bleacher Report and TBS. The original season witnessed NFL players trying to improve their Madden NFL ratings through live drills in front of a ratings adjuster for that video game franchise; the two seasons that followed expanded to YouTube. It also grew beyond the NFL to other sports and to include professional gamers and top streamers as well.

One of his company’s most well-known projects is “The Last Dance” (2020), a 10-episode ESPN documentary series about the rise of the most notable dynasties in NBA and sports history: the 1990s Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan. The series was an entirely first-person film featuring Jordan, coach Phil Jackson and other team legends that included Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Vogler provided research and development support for the project, which racked up six nominations and 10 awards — including a 2020 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and a 2021 NAACP Image Award.

Vogler has stepped away from a sports focus on occasion — one of those times being the five-part documentary series “The Comedy Store” (2020). The production aired on Showtime and brought to life the legends, heartbreak and history created at The Comedy Store. Since 1972, The Comedy Store has launched the careers of a breathtaking array of stars. The series, which Vogler produced, was hosted by The Comedy Store alum and former stand-up comic Mike Binder, and it featured never-seen-before footage and interviews of comedy and showbusiness trailblazers.

“[‘The Comedy Store’] was like an endless parade of people I’ve looked up to for a long time,” he recalled. “Like, you can’t believe Jim Carrey or David Letterman are sitting five feet from you being funny and doing their thing. Being starstruck doesn’t ever seem to wear off.”

Vogler’s success underscores the growth of the entertainment sector in the decade since he graduated from CSU. During that time, and in response to the burgeoning film industry regionally and nationally, Columbus State established its Film Production program in the Department of Communication to prepare the next generation of Jonathan Voglers for the business.

He advised students to first look for local projects and opportunities to begin honing their craft and exploring their interests.

“Productions are happening everywhere, and if you look for those opportunities, you’ll get exposed to so much,” he said. “By getting involved in those, small or big, you’ll begin to find out you’re really interested in wardrobe, or set design, or cameras, or something else. There’s really no way to know without getting on a set and being part of it — doing a bunch of things and seeing which one speaks to you.”

Columbus State film production students can sample many of those specialties through their Film Production program studies, which now include a traditional bachelor’s degree in addition to a 15-hour minor for currently enrolled students and standalone 18-hour certificate and 60-hour nexus degree options. Any of them are ideal for budding filmmakers, broadcasters and multimedia storytellers.

Students benefit from the university’s prime access to hands-on opportunities locally and statewide that comprise Georgia’s $6 billion film industry. Its partnerships with the Georgia Film Academy and Columbus-based Flat Rock Studios place its film production students in the heart of film studios, production companies, casting agencies and related businesses.

“I think it’s great what’s happening in Georgia, and people here [in Los Angeles] talk about it all the time too. The consensus here is that [what Georgia has done] is really built to last,” Vogler said. “The important part is that the local people are the ones trained for the highly skilled jobs [the industry requires]. You can’t just grab a trained camera crew off the street.”

Media contact:
Michael Tullier, APR, Executive Director of Strategic Communication + Marketing, 706.507.8729, mtullier@columbusstate.edu  

Related news coverage:
Georgia native wins Sports Emmy for producing Netflix’s ‘The Redeem Team,‘ (Dec. 27, 2023, WRBL-TV)