“TWINdeszoon: The Kris Cut,” a Greenlee School student documentary about a season in the life of an Iowa State football family, will have a premiere screening on Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Gold Room.
The film features the family of Cyclones defensive lineman Myles Mendeszoon alongside his twin sister Marijke and their parents Kris and Mark during the 2024 season, when the team set a school record for victories by going 11-3 and winning the Pop-Tarts Bowl to close out the campaign.
Senior journalism and mass communication students Liam Brennan and Blake Petersen served as lead videographers and editors for the documentary short, which looks at the past season primarily through the eyes of matriarch Kris (Konicky) Mendeszoon. The film essentially serves as a pilot project for Greenlee’s new sports media and communication major, which officially starts in the fall of 2025 and will introduce documentary filmmaking as one of the major’s capstone project electives, according to Assistant Teaching Professor Tony Moton, the film’s advisor.
“Really excited to put this project out in the world,” said Moton. “I had Marijke for a broadcast media production course in the fall of 2023, and when I found out she had a twin brother who played football, I wondered what kind of story could be told about them and their family. But to do that, it’s taken some amazing effort from a very talented team of students to bring their story to life.”
Teaming with Brennan and Petersen during various stages of the project were Greenlee students Sylvi Hanson (assistant producer), Taya Melendez (assistant producer), Marcus Williams (videographer), Jackson Haugh (production assistant) and Dylan Fobian (production assistant). The production also included students from outside of Greenlee in key roles: Tri Luu (video graphics), a biology and environmental science student, and Haesung Lee (videographer), a biomedical engineering student.
Thursday’s screening in the Memorial Union’s Gold Room immediately follows the 2025 Greenlee Student Showcase (4 p.m. start) and the Greenlee Awards and Honors Banquet (5 p.m.) in the Sun Room.
The Mendeszoons, from Chardon, Ohio, became staunch fans of the Cyclones after Myles chooses to play for coach Matt Campbell as a high school junior. Once Myles commits, sister Marijke (pronounced muh-RY-kah) follows him to Ames after injuries curtailed her athletic career.
While Myles plays football for the Cyclones, Marijke focuses on building a career as a sports journalist and works as a photographer for Iowa State Athletics and a sideline reporter for ESPN+ broadcasts. Parents Mark and Kris, both former athletes, are avid tailgaters who fly in from Cleveland to Ames for football games and, throughout the film, lament the end of the family being together – particularly on Saturdays.
Although Myles plans to return for a fifth and final year with the Cyclones in the fall of 2025, sister Marijke considers several post-graduation options, including pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot. Parents Mark and Kris also consider career changes that could further distance the family from happier times in Ames.
