Filmmaking Workshop hosted at Clinton Community College

4/21/23

Martina Fluck, Tim Ekhorst

William Henry David Koerner

Clinton Community College will partner with Clinton Hometown Pride and the Sawmill Museum to host a Filmmaking Workshop on Tuesday, April 25 at 10 a.m. The workshop will be led by Filmmaker Martina Fluck, who along with Tim Eckhorst, created a documentary about Clinton resident W.H.D. Koerner. The Filmmaking Workshop begins at 10 a.m. and will conclude at Noon with lunch included. The workshop will be held at the CCC Technology Center, 1951 Manufacturing Drive in Clinton. There is no fee, however registration is requested at 563-244-7001.

The Koerner documentary titled “Hugo Hercules & The Wild West” will make its North American Preview on April 25. Koerner was inducted into the Clinton County Walk of Fame in 2022, prompting interest in the German immigrant who arrived in Clinton at the age of 3. Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev Koerner was born in Germany in 1878 and emigrated to Clinton with his family in 1881. Here in the U.S., he became William Henry David Koerner, a comic pioneer, famous illustrator and Western painter.

Koerner created “Hugo Hercules,” the first superhero comic, in 1902 while in Chicago, provided images for important contemporary novels at the time, and discovered a love for the “Wild West,” of which he is considered one of the master illustrators. Over 2,000 of his illustrations have been published in over 14 popular magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post.

Koerner died in 1938 however his artwork continued to increase in value with a record set in 2021 when “The Pigeons” sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $576,000. Koerner’s works shape the visual image of the wild west, serving as templates for stage and costume designers.

Fluck had the idea for this documentary with Eckhorst for quite some time. Two years ago, it began to come to fruition with applications for funding, and filming finally began in the summer of 2022. Throughout the shooting of the documentary in northern Germany, Chicago, Clinton, Montana, and Wyoming, Fluck and Eckhorst have met people who deal with Koerner’s work artistically and scientifically while they’ve taken in the grandiose landscapes that inspired Koerner’s paintings. These include the people and landscapes of Clinton.

For more information and to register for the Film Making Workshop, contact Clinton Community College at 563-244-7001.