Beginning his third semester as an adjunct professor at Bakersfield College, Colter Allison has big goals for the future of the theater department.

Allison was involved in dance and theater before college, but had no intention of making it his major, and instead focused on sociology and football.

However, when there was a time conflict between playoffs and a role in a play, he made the decision to quit football and double major in theater and sociology. He graduated with his masters from the University of Georgia and spent two months at the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver, Colorado. Allison has had roles in films such as “Delivery: The Beast Within”, and small roles in shows like “Parks and Recreation” and “Dawson’s Creek”. He moved to Bakersfield to be with his wife, who he calls “the most wonderful woman on the planet”, and their children.

As a student, Allison and his peers were frustrated at the lack of on-film acting experience offered to them. Now as a teacher, he tries to rectify that by including camera work in his curriculum.

“No matter what you’re teaching at college, you have this program in place because you’re teaching people the skills to have a job,” he explains.

“If you want your program to be relevant, you have to mix in the things that are actually giving people the potential to make money or create a living at it.”

Allison has high hopes for making Bakersfield College’s theater program more competitive and helpful to students who want to make a career out of acting. In the future, he hopes to implement classes that are entirely devoted to acting on camera.

“You’ve got to teach practical skills, you’ve got to teach the business side of it, you’ve got to teach on camera.”