Sept. 10, 2026
Photo courtesy of Hannah Schuh
Robert Greene, filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, is once again making a splash with a new documentary — and this time, numerous Mizzou students are part of the story.
“Too Much Sugar” — which follows two friends in Moberly, Missouri, as they try to make a film about fatherhood — recently premiered at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
As he has done with previous films, including Netflix’s “Procession,” Greene incorporated the production into the center’s curriculum. With “Too Much Sugar,” he took that hands-on approach even further, inviting students from three graduation classes at the journalism school to fill a variety of roles in the production.
“We’ve really relied on the Murray Center to help create this film,” Greene said. “The students were completely involved throughout, including last fall, when we turned it into an entire semester lesson for the second-year students. We brought in the many heads of the departments to come and work directly with students about producing and directing and everything.”
One product of that process is that Method M Films, the center’s in-house production company, featured in the opening credits. It’s the first time that Method M has been credited in one of Greene’s films and marks a significant step forward for the production company and the center.
“Our students are so skillful and motivated that finding ways to include them is not in any way onerous,” said Sebastián Martínez Valdivia, executive director of the Murray Center and an associate producer on the film. “It’s really helpful because students are hearing something in a classroom, but they’re also seeing and experiencing it practically on the set of the film.”
JJ Measer, BJ ’25, and Hannah Schuh, BJ ’26, were two of the students who were with the film from the beginning. Schuh assisted with lighting and served as a digital image technician (DIT) — helping to back up and organize the footage from each day’s shoot — before becoming an all-purpose production assistant when the production kicked into a higher gear.
“It was great because I got to see all the angles of how it worked and not just stand there and watch,” Schuh said. “To actually have my hands on the project made me so much prouder of the end result.”
Measer’s time on “Too Much Sugar” started in a similar fashion, with him filling the role of first assistant camera — the person responsible for setting up and maintaining the focus of the camera — and also performing DIT duties.
But when Measer told Greene he hoped to build a filmmaking career and was looking for an assistant editor position, Greene didn’t hesitate to offer him the job. That role netted Measer a rare credit for someone who just earned his bachelor’s degree last year: assistant editor on an official selection of the Venice Film Festival.
Other former students involved with the film include Eric Kiekeben, BJ ’26, and Kyle Button, BJ ’26. Jonathan Murray, the founding donor of the center and a reality television pioneer, also contributed as an executive producer.
For Greene, who described the production as “Missouri Method through and through,” the contributions from students and the film’s distinct mid-Missouri flavor add up to something special.
“These are the worlds that don’t get shown, and it wouldn’t have happened without finding creative ways to work with the school and with students,” Greene said. “So bringing that to Venice — I’m incredibly proud of that.”
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