LSSU student pursues big-screen career

It's not that uncommon for those pursing a career in film or entertainment to get a college degree as a backup plan. But usually, those students can be found in New York City, or California. So David Geister is something of a rarity in the U.P.

A student in Lake Superior State University's sports and recreation management program, Geister spends summers and breaks working as an actor. He's originally from Detroit, and enrolled at LSSU in the spring of 2010.

He first got a taste of fame in 2005 as the teenage host of Fight Night in the Hills, although Geister says he was always interested in acting.

"I started looking into it when I was around 8," he says. "The mother of one of my best friends was an actress in The Evil Dead trilogies. She said I should give it a try. So I took a class, but I was the only boy in the class so I quit. Then, when I was 15, I got on as host of a UFC-type fighting show, Fight Night in the Hills."

That was followed up by parts in an Eminem music video, a short film called Daddy's Little Girl, and three 2010 films, The Art of Power, Tetherball; The Movie, and Win by Fall.

He's also completed filming a part as an orthodox Jew in A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, due out for the 2011 holiday season, and as the lead character in Return of Jason, a short promotional film, the latest from the Friday the 13th series.

Geister next is lined up for a horror film based in Michigan called Morrow Road, in pre-production right now.

As for why Geister chose LSSU? He had known of the school growing up, from an interest in hockey, and took a strong interest in continuing his involvement in sports.

The small size of the school also drew him, as a more personal setting.

"People who I know don't assume that I'd be going to Lake State. I don't have a background in the outdoors, but I do like that. I like Lake State because it's small and personal, and I know all of my teachers. I transferred a couple times as I was working, but I came back," he says.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: David Geister, Lake Superior State University