Growing up, senior Devon Jezek always had a penchant for storytelling. At six, she would direct her brother, filming him using a little camera her parents gave her. Jezek said she has always had an interest in storytelling, but it has manifested itself in different ways.
Jezek’s passion for storytelling led her to the Park School of Communications where she is currently majoring in documentary studies and production and has been a producer, writer and anchor for ICTV shows like News Watch, Good Day Ithaca and Evening in America; along with having internship experience with WFRI Community Radio, WBNG TV and NBC Universal.
Senior Lauren Piccone, who worked with Jezek on her senior thesis film “Pages of Protest,” said that before working with Jezek, she was familiar with Jezek’s reputation as a person who cares deeply about the work she creates.
“I actually didn’t [have any classes with Jezek] at all,” Piccone said. “I came in as a transfer — so, my junior year — and she was studying abroad at that time. But I definitely heard of her, because she’s, like, I think the star of the documentary program here.”
A formative experience for Jezek was when she attended Interlochen Summer Camp for the Arts for acting when she was in high school. In her time at the camp she found her love for filmmaking and a mentor in one of her guest teachers — Kat Corio.
“She kind of took me under her wings and showed me how to film,” Jezek said. “I was like, ‘This is super cool. I love this.’”
Learning the process of filmmaking was only one aspect of Jezek’s creative journey. For Jezek, it is not about how much she can get done, but the impact the work she does has on her community. Finding a way to combine her love of film and her passion for community service is why Jezek first became interested in producing documentaries.
“I’m very passionate about making things better,” Jezek said. “I just want to make a stance, like, I want to change the world — and how am I going to change the world? That’s what really drove me to documentary filmmaking itself.”
Jezek’s passion for making an impact on the world reflects in her work. Her documentaries “Without Shame, Without Stigma, Without Fear” and “Pages of Protest” have a social justice lens and are focused on human rights issues. Her documentary “Without Shame, Without Stigma, Without Fear” won an award for best longform college documentary at the Cayuga Film Festival. Her senior thesis “Pages of Protest” — a documentary focused on book bans in the U.S. — was screened with other senior thesis’ in Fall 2024.
“Pages of Protest” centers around Da’Taeveyon Daniels, an incoming student at Rice University and youth activist, and his battle against censorship. The documentary also addresses the real-life consequences censoring books has in elections and within communities.
This documentary involved Jezek and senior documentary studies majors Lauren Piccone and Leila Marcillo-Gomez travelling down to Jezek’s home state of Texas during October 2024 — and staying there for a week to film.
Jezek said that being a Texas native and seeing firsthand how her community rejects specific beliefs and ideologies is where she got inspiration on what her senior thesis would be.
“I’m from Texas — a unique part of the country,” Jezek said. “It’s very different than Ithaca. I am from a bubble, as most people would call it. The city itself has had this overturn of banning critical race theory, banning gender inclusive bathrooms — pretty much anything that is somewhat like basic human rights –– my community has banned it.”
Piccone said Jezek’s drive and motivation was a trait she appreciated when working on the film and finalizing how they were going to get things done.
“The night before we were getting on the plane to go to Texas, she had a whole itinerary planned out, and it just made everything go so smoothly,” Piccone said. “It is a miracle that we even got good footage the way that things were leading up to [the trip]. And then there were still some things that we didn’t get — but she was able to go back to Texas all on her own and get some footage that helped amplify our documentary.”
John Scott, associate professor and program director for the Documentary Studies Department, is Jezek’s adviser and has supported her throughout her time at the college. Scott helped get Jezeks documentary “Without Shame, Without Stigma, Without Fear” shown at the Reproductive Justice Film Festival.
“From the beginning [I thought Jezek] was somebody who seemed serious minded,” Scott said. “She found our program all the way from Texas, which tells me that she looked around and she had a lot of good energy and a lot of spunk.”
Scott said Jezek’s motivation and attention to detail was something he noticed as her professor and adviser.
“She prepares for everything that she does in a way that’s rigorous and in a way that’s thoughtful — she doesn’t cut corners,” Scott said. “One of the things I admire about her is that she deliberately challenges herself in areas where she doesn’t necessarily think she’s strong. I don’t know if I’m always doing that, and I feel like that’s inspiring.”
This student profile was written for publication in the 2024-25 Year in Review.
