Makai Yllanes is a senior Documentary Studies and Production student with a minor in Environmental Studies. Currently, Makai works at the Park Portable Equipment Center and Services, conducting inspections and helping process film, lighting, and sound equipment for students and faculty. He also works as the DIT Manager at Park Productions. Over the summer before his senior year, Makai worked as a teaching assistant and residential assistant for the High School High Scholar Program, an organization that provides STEM-based learning and college-access programming to first-generation and/or low-income students. Makai has created and worked on several short film documentaries and fiction films, one of which was picked up by Syracuse's PBS affiliate station, WCNY. During his sophomore fall and junior fall semesters, Makai served as the teaching assistant for Professor John Scott’s (Former Director of the Doc Studies Program) and Professor Bradley Rappa’s senior thesis class, Documentary Workshop. Since his first year, Makai and a group of Park Scholars have volunteered with Finger Lakes ReUse at the Ithaca ReUse Center. The group has helped organize and clean used materials and worked with the marketing and social media manager to create advertisements and videos for funding. The group is continuing to work with ReUse in Fall 2026. During Spring 2025, Makai spent 5 months in New Zealand, studying at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. While there, he continued to explore his love for the outdoors and documented his travels through his photography. On campus, Makai is currently the President of two organizations: IC Mixed and the Ithaca College Outing Club.
WCNY Documentary - The Cherry Picker: https://youtu.be/tWOYgqnrtvw
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/makai-yllanes/
Ithacan Staff Profile - https://theithacan.org/staff_name/makai-yllanes/