January 28, 2025 • 37 mins
GVSU alums, Spencer Everhart (2012), Nick Hartman (2012), Breana Malloy (2021), Jackson Ezinga (2013), discuss the Grand Rapids Film Society and their work to help build a vibrant film culture and community in West Michigan.
LINKS:
Grand Rapids Film Society
GRFS Newsletter
GRFS Discord
Open Projector Night - Film Freeway
To learn about ways you can support GVSU film and video students:
LINKS:
Grand Rapids Film Society
GRFS Newsletter
GRFS Discord
Open Projector Night - Film Freeway
To learn about ways you can support GVSU film and video students:
- The Dirk Koning Memorial Film and Video Scholarship
- The Chuck Peterson Memorial Fellowship
- Morse-Cuppy Film, Video, Animation Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship
- GVSU F/V Alumni: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gvsufilmvideoalumni
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Welcome to Alumni Live (00:03):
The Podcast.
These are conversations with GrandValley State University film and video
graduates about the industry, thefilm, video, major and alumni profiles.
Hey folks, welcome to anotherepisode of Alumni Live.
My name is Spencer Everhart.
I'm here as an alum.
I graduated in 2012 from the filmand video program at Grand Valley,
(00:25):
but I'm also actually a frequentinstructor in the program.
I'm also a member of the GrandRapids Film Society, an organizing
committee who puts on the screeningsand community events and everything
else that the Film Society does.
And I am here to talk about that.
And I'm joined by a couple of fellowmembers of the Film Society committee to
dig into a lot of the community buildingefforts that we put on, how we're trying
(00:47):
to shift Grand Rapids and even WestMichigan in terms of its film culture and
film community, get more people involved,both Grand Valley students, alums, and
otherwise, and to try and keep pushing,the film culture forward in the area.
And so I'm joined by a coupleof folks here that I'd like
to have introduce themselves.
These are dear friends of mine who I'vebeen working with for a while, and they
(01:09):
have played an important role not only interms of the development of Grand Valley's
alumni presence but also specificallywith the Grand Rapids Film Society.
So I will pass it off first to Nick.
Hello, everyone.
My name is Nicholas Hartman,graduated Grand Valley in 2012.
And I am now Wealthy Theater'sFilm Curator and also the President
(01:30):
of the Grand Rapids Film Society.
Hi guys, my name is Breana Malloy.
I graduated in 2021 and I am aProducer based in Grand Rapids.
I work on narrative film, feature shorts,but my day job is a Producer at a local
production company and I'm also theirintegrator and I am a member of the
Grand Rapids Film Society committee.
(01:51):
yeah, I became a part of the GrandRapids Film Society committee about
one or two years ago now, helping outwith community events, and it's been a
wonderful part of my life ever since.
My name is Jackson Ezingaand I graduated from the film
program at Grand Valley in 2013.
I'm also a committee member forthe Grand Rapids Film Society.
(02:12):
I'm a full time freelance filmmaker.
I get hired to work mainly in production,such as assistant directing, production
coordinating, producing, and directing.
I also own my own production companycalled Ezo Productions in Grand Rapids.
Happy to be here totalk about Film Society.
And so obviously we're all heretoday because we are part of
the organizing committee behindthe Grand Rapids Film Society.
(02:35):
The Film Society itself has existed fora number of years in various forms and
at various levels of activity in GrandRapids, but the most recent version
of it is the one that we're a part of,which is entering its third year, and
is generally housed at Wealthy Theater.
And is a broader effort to try and puton not just screening events at Wealthy
Theatre, show cool movies, bring peopletogether to watch them in that wonderful
(02:57):
historic space, but also to put ondifferent social community events to
bring people together, maybe get people,together to collaborate on film projects.
But maybe also to just meetfellow like minded film lovers.
There's a lot of different aspectsto what film society is doing.
There's also a lot of ideas thatwe have about where we can take
it to make it bigger and betterand keep growing the film culture
(03:19):
and community in West Michigan.
First thing, I think, film screenings.
That's a big part of what we do.
In many ways, it's the core of whatwe try to provide for the community
in terms of showcasing films.
Some new ones, but mainlylooking back into film history.
So, In terms of film screenings, filmprogramming as part of our mission.
I wanted to have Nick speak a littlebit about that since he is the
(03:41):
Film Curator at Wealthy but also,of course, as you mentioned, the
leader of the Film Society itself.
In terms of programming, for GrandRapids Film Society, I personally want
to make it as democratic as possible, andbringing on like minded people . And that
goes in so many different variations.
One thing I think is really fun thatwe do is just saying, hey, we want
to play this movie, and this is whywe want to play this movie, because
(04:02):
we can sell it to an audience, wecan get people excited about it.
We say, hey, we want to do funseries, so coming up in January,
we're doing Michael Manuary, reallyunique events to get people excited.
So when it comes to programming, at theend of the day, it's bringing like minded
people that are excited and passionate toput on the best movies on the big screen.
Definitely and I'll add to that toosaying that there's been ever since the
(04:22):
sort of post pandemic film programmingworld has kicked back into gear, there's
been a lot of talk, especially in biggercities much larger than Grand Rapids,
about repertory film blowing up and lotsof people wanting to go see older films.
Part of that might be, maybe exhaustionwith the newer films that are coming out.
But, a lot of interest, especiallyamongst younger people, in going to
the theater to see older films andgetting together in that communal space.
(04:46):
And I feel like, the film societyis definitely riding that wave.
And we've seen it.
I feel like we've seen it with attendance.
We've seen it in terms of interest.
There is a real kind of culture,or there's something in the air
right now with people wantingto look back at film history.
, And I think in terms of some of theprogramming, that we've tried to put
on the screen, we've been able to seethat interest and we've been able to
(05:06):
see that kind of help us build something
I can definitely say, back in July, I wentto Art House Convergence, and Art House
Convergence is this giant conference offilm exhibitors and film distributors.
You get this opportunity to listento all these different panels and
there's one panel specificallyabout repertory screenings.
You had so many theaters anddistributors talking about how
(05:28):
big repertory is right now.
And a lot of studios that were therelike A24 and Neon we're having a hard
time competing with repertory screenings.
There's a whole conversation about it.
People revisiting these classics.
And then people that are gettingolder, bringing their kids, they grew
up watching these movies, now theywant to share them with their kids
. Repertory is really big right now.
I've even experienced it with thingsthat we've screened where there's
(05:49):
an older movie that I missed whenit was in theaters or I was too
young to go to theaters to see it.
And I hadn't seen it yet.
And for people who love going to thetheater, seeing an older movie that
you missed your chance to catch onthe big screen, it's cool to be able
to provide that experience for peopleincluding myself, but, I've talked to
a lot of people, who've come to ourscreenings who have said similar things.
(06:12):
So I mentioned earlier that in additionto screenings, the Film Society is
also actively involved in tryingto put on what we generally call
social events or community events.
And that's a pretty importantaspect of what we're trying to do
in terms of community building.
It's not just that we want to get peopleinto the theater to hang out, watch a
movie, maybe talk about it but there'sa lot more going on there as well.
Firstly, I would say one of the thingsthat Film Society has taken on as a
(06:34):
part of this is Open Projector Night.
And Open Projector Night is a seasonalfilm festival that's existed in
Grand Rapids for many years and itexisted in previous versions and
at different locations before butin the post pandemic world and with
the creation of this new versionof the Film Society, Open Projector
Night was taken up and revitalized.
And myself and Jackson and Nick, whoare here talking, have been a part
(06:57):
of Open Projector Night for manyyears, and it's now become a pretty
big part of what Film Society offers.
So I was wondering if Jackson, if youcould talk a little bit about that, maybe
in terms of the idea behind it, whatit is, and also how you see it fitting
into this community building aspect.
Yeah.
So I got involved with Open ProjectorNight, in its previous iteration, when
(07:20):
it was hosted at the Urban Institutefor Contemporary Arts downtown.
And for a while, that's where we wereholding this quarterly seasonal film
festival where we take submissionsfrom filmmakers that have some kind
of connection to Michigan, either,if it was made here or if there's
a filmmaker who say lives in L.
A.
or even in another country whoused to live in Michigan, or if
(07:43):
somebody somewhere made a film thatis about Michigan or takes place
there, or references it in some way.
Just a local showcase ofindependent short films.
And the reason it's called Open ProjectorNight evolved from its first show.
Its first show was almost a gong nightfor karaoke where it's like you bring
(08:03):
your hard drive up there, your flashdrive and you plug it in and play it until
you get kicked off, but now it does runmore like a traditional film festival.
We usually curate a programthat's about 90 minutes or so.
Nick and I have described itas a cinematic mixtape where
we play any type of film.
We play narrative fiction stuff,documentaries, animations,
(08:27):
music videos, experimental work.
We've even played some really creative,commercial and, corporate work before.
But it's just a great way to get abunch of filmmakers and people who
love film in a theater watching theseindependent films up on the big screen.
And then we always do a Q & Aafterwards with any attending
filmmakers and have an audience votewhere we offer prizes for the first,
(08:50):
second, and third audience choice.
So that's in a nutshell, what wedo, and we've been doing it for
a while, like over 10 years now.
It's great cause you never reallyknow what you're going to get as
programmers ourselves, we neverknow what we're going to get.
And then the audience walksin just knowing the titles, and
the filmmakers who made them.
And then they're treated to thiseclectic mix of independent short cinema.
I always try to put myself in the mindsetof a student or someone that wants to
(09:13):
get interested in film and look at itfrom the outside to make it better.
And I always think, man, if I wasa student, if I was on the outside
and I saw this program, I would bethrilled, because you're bringing so
many people together and it's not justabout playing your film on the big
screen in front of a live audience.
It's a way to connect withother filmmakers around you.
It's a way to get inspired.
And, it's all about community building.
That's one of my favorite aspects.
(09:34):
Definitely.
And I'll say too, for myown part, as an attendee.
just over the years to see the work thatwe get and what we end up showcasing,
it is meant to be a spotlight on WestMichigan mainly, but there's also a lot of
far flung filmmakers connected to Michiganin some way, but even if they're from
here, maybe they went to Grand Valley,maybe they're coming out of Detroit.
(09:54):
Wherever it is, the amount oftalent and the quality of the
work that is out there is amazing.
It's an amazing showcase of what is beingcreated here, and how many different
people are involved in filmmaking,especially really low budget, personal
kind of small scale filmmaking.
And I think to your point, Nick, thinkingabout maybe like students or just young
people in general who might come and seethat, and then they get the filmmaker up
(10:16):
on stage talking about how they made itand they might be talking about how tough
it was because they didn't have any moneyor they didn't have any resources and they
just talk about we did it anyway becausewe wanted to, and we were able to do it
because I have a team of people I trust.
And to be able to get people onthe screen, but also on the stage
and share that kind of informationto folks who maybe are interested
(10:36):
but not sure where to start.
We'll usually ask the filmmakers whatkind of advice would you give to young,
artists or filmmakers or film students?
And almost all of themare like just do it.
Just figure out a way to do it,don't let any kind of boundaries
or personal hindrances you think youhave stop you or be put in your way.
When you hear filmmakers saythat, and then you see the work
that they've done and it's on thescreen, it's pretty inspiring.
(10:56):
And I think it does a lot for,again, going back to this idea of
building a community and gettingpeople aware of what's going on.
And then just one more thing that Iwant to add is you also never know,
what could come from the films thatscreen at Open Projector Night.
Really early on, we actually had oneof the original short films of Marcel
the Shell, which is now a A24 film,play in the program because one of
(11:20):
the crew members was from Michigan.
And then also recently we had, LindsayNormington, direct and act in a film
that won the audience choice vote.
And now she is in, the film, Nora, whichwon, the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year.
It's independent stuff.
A lot of it's low budget and small,but you never know where the people
(11:41):
that make these films are going to go.
I'm a huge music fan, and you hearstories about CBGB or Nirvana
playing these small venues, andthen they become giant rock stars.
And it's like, I would love to hearthe success story of yeah, I put my
first film in OPN, in that venue.
And then they're giant filmmakers,this is a fun thing to think about.
In addition to Open Projection Nightunder the umbrella of social events,
(12:01):
community events, we have some moreregular recurring monthly or semi
monthly things that we put on as well.
Some of these events, involvewhat we call Round Tables.
We also put on a thing called PitchNight and a thing called Rough Cut Night.
So Breana, I wanted to ask youabout these, you play a very
central role in the organization andrunning of these types of events.
(12:22):
So I was wondering if you couldtalk maybe a little bit about each
of these, what they are, how theywork and how, they fit into this.
Yeah, so this was actuallypivotal to me joining the board.
I remember talking to Spencer, at anevent and I was like, I have all these
ideas that I've learned from all mydifferent business conferences that
I go to that work sends me to, andI'd love to bring it to a creative
space to bring people together.
(12:43):
And he was like, okay,come pitch it to the board.
And so I came, pitched it.
They liked it.
I spearheaded it at the very beginning,but I will really say it's a team
effort with everybody on the board now.
So yeah, we started with Round Tables.
It was something I took from my timeworking in leadership Round Tables.
It's where, specifically forme, it's women in leadership.
(13:03):
We would go to these Round Tables and talkabout issues and how to work through them.
And I was like, why don'tfilmmakers have that?
And so I wanted to bring it hereand we workshopped it and found a
way for it to work for filmmaking.
And so we usually split itup into cinephiles, general
filmmaking, and screenwriting.
And it gives people a chanceto not only if they have issues,
bring them up or talk through, butalso just meet other people in the
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community and talk about their craft.
Because for a lot of thesepeople, it's not their day job.
They have 2, 3 jobs.
And so it's just nice to be aroundpeople who love what they're
doing and want to talk about it.
And then we had screenwriters saying,Hey, I've written all these scripts.
I need help figuring out howto present these to people.
So the committee went back tothe table and we were like,
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all right, how do we do this?
And we were talking a lotabout how pitches happen.
Pitches are a real thing in filmmaking.
And we're like, why don't we just startthat here and do a practice Pitch Night?
And we started allowingroughly four filmmakers to
come in, with a presentation.
We time them.
They get to pitch their idea and we havepanelists that are filmmakers in the
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community, who have pitched themselves.
Just this last one, we had a filmmaker whoworks at the news and makes short films.
We had a filmmaker who runs one of thecompanies in town and then a Producer
in AD at another company in town.
We just bring people fromall walks of life together.
They have the chance to pitch their workand have people sign up to work on it.
And then Lastly, we have Rough CutNight, which we had talked about a
(14:30):
little in our committee meetings.
Matt Everett, who is amazing, wanted tospearhead it and I was like, thank you.
I'm a Producer.
I do not understand technical stuff.
So I don't think I'm the bestperson to run this event.
And so I talked a lot withhim in the conceptual stages,
but he's done a great job.
It's just a time where people can come,they've shot a film, they've got an
edit and they want to show a part of it.
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I think we show up five minutes.
And the audience is allowedto give feedback and tell them
what's working and what's not.
And it just all around makes abetter film at the end of the
day, hopefully, for everyone.
I just love how there was like anatural progression from talking
to getting the word out there.
And then.
showing the results of these ideasthat were discussed and pitched.
(15:13):
And now here they are on screen.
And the idea was to have this pipeline.
Round Table to Pitch Night is definitelylike a lot of people do that, but, Breana,
can you think of anyone that's done likeRound Table, Pitch Night, Rough Cut Night?
I know there's two examplesthat I can think of.
I don't think she's gone through all ofthem, but Taylor, she came to the first
Round Table, came to everyone since andshe ended up making friends from Round
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Table who were like, I'll edit the film.
I'll do this for the film.
So she met her entire crew throughRound Table and then did two different
Pitch Nights for her feature.
She came with an idea and she wouldworkshop it with the screenwriting group.
She met filmmakers in the generalfilmmaking group and then she pitched
her movie and has met an entiregroup of probably 10, 15 people that
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they're helping her make this movie.
So it's very cool.
But Neil, who came to our RoundTables, he's an older gentleman,
retired, and he was having trouble.
He had no idea how to edit.
He came in and he was like, guys,I don't know how to process film.
He had gone to Paris when Jean LucGodard had died and he had this cool
film he wanted to show and make, and hecouldn't, he didn't even know how to edit.
And so we were like, here's resourcesthat can teach you how to edit for free.
(16:17):
You can borrow laptops.
We showed him how to get his filmprocessed he did all of that, edited
his movie because he was so inspiredand then it got accepted to OPN.
So yeah, not Rough Cut Night orPitch Night, but it was really
inspiring to see, and he turned itall around in two, three months.
It was just beautiful.
I will say, the most excitingthing about these community
events is just seeing everybodyconnect and just become friends.
(16:38):
We cannot, fund all these movies andjust make every movie happen, but
what we can do is connect people sothey can lift each other up, and I
think that's one of the most rewardingparts of doing this and volunteering.
I think about that a lot and I thinkit really shows the community events
show that like cinema goes beyondthe screen, goes beyond the theater.
It bleeds into your communities.
Then you see our community come together.
(16:59):
You have your writers, your screenwritersand cinephiles, and everyone come
together in these rooms to talkabout movies, to get movies made.
It's just a beautiful thing.
Absolutely, and that actually seguesinto the next thing that I wanted to talk
about and ask everybody to reflect onis the idea of the impact of all this.
I mean, I think when each of us joinedthis crew and started to become active
in it, we're constantly thinkingabout and even talking about in our
(17:21):
discussions how this is going toserve people I think, what you all
were just saying is a big part of howit impacts filmmakers in the area.
I can say for my part in terms offilm screenings, or even at our Round
Table that Breana was describing,we'll often break up into different
groups based on a topic or an interest.
And one of them is just a cinephile group.
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So it's if you're not necessarilya filmmaker, or maybe you are, but
you'd rather just sit down and talkabout movies, maybe something you
watched recently, or maybe there'sa particular, topic that you want to
discuss with some people in the area.
We'll just get together andhang out and talk about movies.
It's been really nice to see the amountof people who will just show up to
one of these because they hear aboutit because they just want to meet
people who share a common interest.
They want to get in a room, sit downwith other people in a real space
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and share that interest and discussor just engage with other people.
And in a time when that is easier to dothan ever before through digital means,
I think it speaks volumes that peopleare interested in doing it in a real.
living space, with folkswho are in the area.
So I think the non filmmaker side ofthings, just the film lover, film fan,
it's been really nice to see peoplewho had no idea that film society was
(18:25):
the thing, but that there were so manyother people in the area who were so
interested in older movies or independentand art house films, and when you can
see that realization happen, even thekind of light bulb go off with people
being like, Oh yeah, these are sort of mypeople, or at least these are some of my
people, these are my movie people, that'ssomething that is just so nice to see.
And when you see it happen inreal time, you see it happen
in front of you in the room.
It really illuminates a lot of what themission is, , of bringing people together.
(18:47):
But I was also curious, for all of you,if you could speak on that as well in
terms of maybe filmmakers the impactyou'd hope that it would have, but also
the city in general, as a kind of broaderenvironment in a community, what you
think the impact is, or what you hope theimpact to be that film society can have.
Yeah, I have an immediatething that comes to mind.
Outside of filmmakers,which I think is beautiful.
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I've met some people that I think willbe in my life for the rest of my life
just because I come to these eventsand I hope other people feel that,
But we've started reaching out thecommunity more and, we just partnered
for Rushmore, with Campus Elementary.
We raised 600 for a teacher who was inneed of school supplies and so that just
showed me, yes, we're filmmakers anda lot of our stuff is geared towards
(19:30):
film, but we can have a big impact onthe community and hundreds of kids even.
And so it's just, yeah, through film, wecan touch so many other parts of the city.
Not only just sharing art and olderfilms that maybe people haven't seen
and teaching them about the films,but we can build up the community.
Movies are a way to escapethe world around you.
We live in pretty difficult times,we always will, always have, but
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the impact that I want to have onour community, the city, is knowing
these people, can communicate withother film lovers around them.
They can go into a movie.
They can come dressed upfor one of our events.
They go to a comedy.
They laugh away the pain.
And they walk out, and theysay, Hey, you know what?
I forgot about the world aroundme for X amount of hours.
And I got to be with people that arelike in communities, I always say that
word community, but I really mean it.
(20:13):
It's so important.
Community creates friendships.
The impact that I want to haveis creating a space for people.
I think cinema also allows peopleto create lasting memories for
themselves and their families.
And I think that we've put on some eventsthat some people will never forget.
There's one in particular that we did,last summer, where we put on a screening
of The Sand Lot in a baseball field, justoutside of downtown on the West side.
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So many people showed up.
There was probablyhundreds of people there.
And these were people, couplesand families having a great
summer night, watching a classicmovie in a baseball field.
And I think there's going to be a lotof people, both young and old who will
never forget something like that becauseit's just a little bit different than
your classic movie going experience, butit was free and open to the public and,
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putting on things like that is somethingreally special and can make a lasting
impact on people's lives and just createa fun memory for them to look back on.
It's funny because we're likepart of the programmers who
are putting on these events.
And it's had a huge impact on me.
I remember that night, walking tothe back of the field, had a hot
dog in my hand, a nice cold beer,and I was like, man, we did it.
This is awesome.
You know, And it was like a momentof being proud and seeing people come
(21:22):
together, it's just so beautiful.
Yeah, when we've had certainevents that we've put on, and, we
fill Wealthy Theatre, uh, and youcan feel the energy in the room.
There's nothing like it.
but There's a certain kind of energy andthere's a feeling in the air when you
get people together and they find thesame wavelength, you know, during a film
or even before a film when everybody'sjust sitting there waiting, they're
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chewing their popcorn and we've gotthe pre show going, the music playing.
And I've definitely had those moments too.
Even those small moments where I'min the back waiting for it to start.
Or maybe, we're doing our thing, handlingthe lobby and just feeling excited
and proud that we can get people tocome together for this kind of thing.
One of the things that we often striveto do with our programming for screenings
in particular is to try to think ofways to make the screening special
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in some way beyond just the movie.
Like showing the movies one thing andthat's always great and we love to do
that, but there's anything else that wecan do to make it a little more extra, a
little more special, we try to do that.
So, we did Titanic before and wetried to turn Wealthy Theater into
the Titanic, had people dress up.
We did a similar event not too long agothat Breana was a big part of where we
showed the, 2005 version of Pride andPrejudice, got people to come dress up.
(22:26):
We had books for sale from a localbookseller related to Jane Austen.
So trying to transform thespace, add something extra.
Those are the type of movie experiences,going back to your point, Jackson,
that people really remember becauseit's not just sitting down in
the seat and watching the movie.
There's something else going on, thatadds to the experience and again, going
back to my earlier point in a time whennew movies come out, you can go to the
(22:47):
multiplex and see them, when you cometo a place like Wealthy Theatre and not
only maybe see an older, interestingfilm, but that there's all this other
wild, fun things happening, it's adifferent type of movie going experience.
And I think that makes it stand out.
It creates a kind of contrastand it makes it different and
seem a little more special.
And I'm glad that this was brought upbecause that was one of the other things
I wanted to ask you all about in termsof impact, but more an impact on you.
(23:08):
But maybe before we get to that, whatmotivates you to be a part of this,
or what have you been gaining from itpersonally by your involvement in it?
We're in year three now this whole crewand the other committee members who aren't
here with us right now, how do you see itplaying a role for you and in your life?
Movies have played a role inmy life since I can remember.
uh, When I was younger, I was sickat epilepsy, and suffered quite
(23:31):
a bit, and my only escape waslaying in bed and watching movies.
And that movie for me wasPee Wee's Big Adventure.
It took me out of my pain, I felt likeI was on the road with Pee Wee Herman,
that has always been a motivation forme, uh, when talking about movies and
getting people excited about movies, justproviding, a space for people to forget.
And that's what honestlymotivates me every single day.
And just my passion for movies.
I love movies.
(23:51):
I love to talk aboutmovies with my friends.
I'm a huge horror fanatic.
I love getting together and,binging horror movies with friends
and just celebrating all that.
I would say the passion motivates me.
Absolutely.
I think it's really the same forme as long as I can remember.
Movies have been a huge part of mylife, both watching and making them.
I bought my first camcorderwhen I think I was 11 years old
and haven't looked back since.
(24:13):
When Nick offered me an opportunityto come and sit on the committee
and it was at its really earlystages, there was no hesitation.
I think that having something to dooutside of work, that I can volunteer
my time for, that's something that I'mreally passionate about, I felt like
that's something that was missing.
And so being able to participate inthe Film Society almost weekly it
(24:35):
really gives me something to lookforward to, that isn't just work and
isn't, the day to day life stuff.
It's something I'm really passionate aboutand just really enjoy being involved in.
It motivated me to feel thatI had a sense of belonging.
I didn't know a lot about movies whenI went to film school at Grand Valley.
And so I oftentimes felt insecureabout the movies I liked and my
(24:57):
opinions, because I didn't feellike I had as much experience.
As I finished school, I was like, Ireally have more opinions and stuff,
and, I felt like I needed a placewhere I could continue to grow those.
And so I was starting to go toFilm Society events and joining the
committee, it makes me excited aboutmaking movies because I think as we
get older and we get more into ourcareers, we're like, it's just a job.
(25:18):
It's a fun job.
It's reinvigorated my love for movies, butit also allows me to just continue to grow
an array of knowledge and love for moviesand also helps me be confident in what
I enjoy because you guys have all taughtme it's okay to like the most pretentious
movie and it's okay if you want to watch aHallmark movie, we probably won't screen
it, but, it's okay to like everythingand there's such, a vast ocean of movies.
(25:43):
And so I think that's what gets me themost is the community and love for movies.
Yeah, and I'll also say to touch onthat, that it's been really fun to be
a part of a group of people who I thinkshare that general idea in what we
select and what we program, we try notto discriminate, like we're just as
happy to play older, independent, evenmore like challenging films alongside
(26:03):
Hollywood block buster entertainment.
As you said the range and the diversityof cinema that's out there, all of its
different avenues and different channelshas worthy valuable stuff there and we try
to grab from it all and try to provide awider swath of offerings rather than have
a particular identity because we wantto bring in, I think, as many people as
possible, and maybe that's bringing inpeople who wouldn't necessarily watch
(26:25):
one of those challenging films, butthink, okay, maybe I'll give it a shot.
And then on the other side of things,maybe people who wouldn't necessarily
think to go see, one of our Summerof Sequels offerings, like the Road
Warrior or Gremlins 2, but decidingto come and being like, whoa, wait
a minute, there's something here.
I mentioned it earlier, but asking nowthat I was wondering if any of you do
you have any favorite experiences or anyfavorite stories from anything that we've
(26:46):
done with Film Society so far any kindof highlights that you want to mention?
One comes to my mind right away,this past October we had Open
Projection Night Halloween Edition.
And like I was saying earlier, OpenProjection Night started in like 2012.
And it started off very small.
First one we had, my filmwas in it, and there was like
five people in the audience.
And the last one we did, HalloweenEdition, I hosted it, and I was
(27:08):
on stage, and I looked out, andit was like an ocean of people.
And everyone was just so excitedto be there and everyone was
just cheering each other on.
There was just so much love and compassionand excitement for Michigan film.
And there's like this momentof clarity was like, We did it.
It's like a field of dreams.
You build it and they will come.
And that's just how it felt.
So I would say that'smy favorite experience.
We've started this annual tradition of,every year on Twin Peaks day, which is a
(27:31):
certain date that has meaning if you'rea fan of the show Twin Peaks, directed
by David Lynch, we usually put on thefirst two episodes of the TV show.
We've shown the filmadaptation Fire Walk With Me.
And we're planning on doingit again this coming year.
That was my favorite show growing up.
I discovered it in high school and Ihad this really small group of friends
(27:53):
that would all watch it together.
Anytime I try to talk about it withanyone else at school, everyone'd
be like, what are you talking about?
I've never heard of that.
It's an old show.
That's weird.
Whatever.
But then I just remember the firstTwin Peaks day we had, which I gave
the introduction for similar to Nick.
I got up on that stage.
We are also had costume party andjust a full audience of people who
loved the show or really wantedto check out what the show was.
(28:16):
And, think that was kind of aaffirming moment for me as well.
And I feel like this has come up a lotin a lot of our answers, but it's true.
Just feeling like we're not alonein our interests and passion.
And, that screening inparticular, I'll never forget.
I love a costume thatmakes no clear sense.
You have Lord of the Rings,we did costume contest.
(28:37):
I was the ring.
, , And then, Twin Peaks day, if you watch theshow, I was the fish in the percolator.
I still have that costume.
And so that's a big one forme, but honestly, a big one
for me, it was Nosferatu.
It was sold out, packed like sardinesin the theater . And I didn't realize
it would affect me so much, but Iwas just sitting there and as it's
starting to play, I got a littleemotional because I was like, this
(28:59):
is what they talked about in schoolabout how people used to watch movies.
They would go to a theater,the movie would play, and there
would be a live accompaniment.
I got chills, because I got toexperience something that might seem
small, but is just really special.
It's like when you see your firstactual film, in the theater and
you could just feel it in the room.
That's one of my favorite moments.
Yeah, that's the one Iwas gonna mention too.
(29:22):
It was Nosferatu, the original Nosferatu,a 16 millimeter film with live music.
We never done anything like that andthat's not anything that's really offered
around here also so unique and special.
So many people came out for as well.
To come and watch a 1920s silent Germanvampire movie, was amazing, and then, to
experience it and take it all in felt,think I even said to the people around me
(29:44):
that it felt like once in a lifetime, butI actually don't want to say that because
we should probably just do it again.
We're taking a short break totell you about the Dirk Koning
Memorial Film and Video scholarship.
Here's Gretchen Vinnedgeremembering Dirk Koning.
The Koning Scholarship enables studentsto get that kind of an education, to be
a good filmmaker, to be able to expresstheir voice and to continue Dirk's dream.
(30:07):
For more information, and todonate to the scholarship, visit
the link in the description.
Now, back to the show.
What type of experiences or what are somethings that you learned at Grand Valley
are helping you or serving you now asa part of this Society and as a part of
trying to do this community building work?
For me, Grand Valley actuallygave me confidence to speak up.
(30:27):
I can reflect on acouple different classes.
Film theory with Toni Perrine.
She's listening.
Love her.
She's great.
I remember getting into college andI was terrified to share my opinion.
Even though we're there to learnand actually remember a specific
class a lighting class I was takingand I felt like I didn't know what
to do and I was too embarrassedto raise my hand and ask for help.
Later down the road it kicked me inthe butt because I didn't speak up
(30:49):
and I didn't really learn anything.
But putting my pride asideand saying we're all students.
I'm not supposed to know everything. Learn and ask questions and speak up.
And that was a general thingI've applied to my life.
With the film industry or whatI'm doing as a film programmer.
Or working with you guys as a committee.
If I don't understand what you're tryingto say, well I'm gonna ask you a question.
And that just makes everything easier.
(31:09):
I totally resonate with that as wellbecause I feel like I was extroverted
in high school, but then once I got intocollege where I barely knew anybody, I
went back into my shell a little bit.
The classes that I took, especially in thefilm program where you're creating work
and then putting it up for critique, andcollaborating with other students, and
having to communicate your vision and yourstory to people who you might not even
(31:33):
know, was huge in helping me break backout of my shell that I put myself into.
The collaborative, group projectsthat a lot of the film classes
have helped me tremendously, bothprofessionally and, when we meet
as a committee, because we are allcollaborating towards the same goal.
And even when there's miscommunicationor, issues arise, we're all there
(31:55):
to work that out and continueforward and, put on the best events
that we can at the Film Society.
I think for me, like I said,I knew nothing about film.
So going to Grand Valley, first of all,I learned basic knowledge right there.
My freshman year, I stilldidn't really know much.
Sophomore year, I started to reallyfigure stuff out . The thing that
really impacted me and helped me a lotwas meeting like minded people and
(32:19):
just learning to be in that space.
Confidence was a part of it,like Nick said, and just honestly
being able to network andconceptualize projects with people.
I just think Grand Valley alongwith the education also gave me a
lot of opportunities that helpedme succeed early on in my career.
Meeting professors like Spencerand Suzanne and Joel, who I'm now
(32:39):
friends with and working with oncommittees is, such a special thing.
I just feel like my time therereally helped build me up as a
filmmaker and as a person, alongwith the technical knowledge.
So that is going to lead me into,a classic question, what advice
do you have for current students?
Come to Grand Rapids Film Society events.
(32:59):
I would say outside of that, findyour own communities where you are.
If you are out in Allendale or you aredowntown, a place like the Grand Rapids
Film Society is great and encourageyou to come, but also having a more
close knit group of people that canfunction on a similar level, but, more
interpersonally, just having friends,and, close collaborators that you
(33:22):
can bounce ideas off of, experimentwith, film and video techniques and
things like that outside of class.
I feel like when I was at GrandValley, I was just always trying to
find people who were making stuff.
And trying to volunteer onprojects that were being made for
classes that I wasn't even in.
And I think that is how Iwas able to find a community.
(33:44):
When I was at Grand Valley.
I think that is what set me up to havethe career that I have right now as
a freelancer, where I was just alwaystrying to find out, okay, who's shooting
what and where, how do I get involved?
The advice I would give isalways remain and be yourself.
Whatever you're interested in, whateveryou like, apply it to your art.
Don't let anyone else intimidateyou, if tons of kids are making a
(34:05):
certain type of film, don't feellike you have to make that film,
because everyone else is doing it.
Find your own voice, be who you wantto be, and celebrate who you are.
Take
So my one thing I'm choosing issomething that I just have felt
has come back around many times.
And as a producer and as a boss ofpeople at my job, is just to genuinely
care about people and try to be agood person every day and take care of
the people that are working with you.
(34:27):
You don't make a lotof money all the time.
A lot of times you just make stuff withyour friends and you help each other out
and it's, oh, this is a passion project.
Just genuinely care about thepeople make sure they're fed.
Make sure they feel appreciated on set.
I think those things are the thingsthat at the end of the day matter to me
the most and I want people to feel whenthey're on a set that I'm producing.
You will go much further in lifeif you just genuinely care about
(34:48):
people and do the right thing.
I think maybe I'll say something I thinkabout a lot, especially as someone who
is in the program still as an instructor.
The thing I think about and the thingI have told some students when this
comes up is, and this is hard to do.
This is one of those thingsthat's coming from an older person
who's been there trying to tella younger person who's in it.
Try to appreciate it while you're there,it's difficult because when you're in
it's the hardest thing to do, right?
(35:10):
But try to realize that whenyou're in film school you're in
an extremely unique environment.
You are surrounded by people whoare there trying to do the same,
or at least similar things as you.
Those people are possible collaborators,creative partners, artistic comrades.
You are also given access to resources.
I'm talking about cameras andcomputers, the actual stuff
that it takes to make films.
(35:31):
You're never going to find this again,really, when you finish school and
you go out into the world, you're notgoing to find what is essentially a
filmmaking collective or almost filmmakingkind of commune like environment.
Although, I will say, some of thestuff I think we're trying to do with
Film Society is trying to build thatoutside of a school environment and
trying to allow people who are inthe public, to access those things and
(35:53):
have that type of experience, but it'sjust something that is so unique and
not really available anywhere else.
And so I guess my advice with that in mindis like, just try to take advantage of it.
Do everything you can, try to use allthe equipment that you can try to meet
as many people and just do as much asyou can while you're in that environment.
Because, it's not going to be availablefor, as long as you might want it
to be, because once you graduateand get that degree, you're going
(36:14):
to have to figure out and adapt toa different type of environment.
So yeah, just take advantage of itfor all it's worth while you're in it.
Last thing I want to say to you is,while you're in school, find friends
that give a damn about you and careabout you because Spencer and Jackson,
I've known them since film schooland have been friends ever since,
have been there for me since day one.
I could not do Film Society and OpenProjection Night without them...
(36:35):
Meeting Breana has become ablessing, a great person, and
will be a lifelong friend.
So, surround yourself with people inschool that care about you, that will be
there for you, because they will carry youthrough this beautiful thing called life.
I want to thank everyone forlistening to this episode.
For people who are interested inlearning more about Film Society, in
terms of our events and our programming,or if you want to subscribe to our
(36:57):
weekly newsletter, which is calledBeam from the Booth that has all kinds
of great stuff, interviews, essays,features, different types of content
.If you'd like to hop on our community discord channel, follow us on Instagram,
all that stuff, all of those links andall that information is available in
the description for this episode whereyou can get connected to us, find out
more and hopefully become involved.
(37:18):
and you know, If you come in to oneof our events introduce yourself.
We would love to meet you.
We'd love to have you becomea part of this broader thing.
Thanks again everybody andwe'll see you at the movies.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
Subscribe to our podcast, to hear morefrom our alumni across the industry.
Check out Alumni Live onFacebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
(37:40):
For more conversations and networking.
Let us know what topics you wantto hear our alumni talk about the
Grand Valley State University FilmVideo Alumni Network is here for
you, and we're glad that you're here.
Thank you for listening.
The Podcast.
These are conversations with GrandValley State University film and video
graduates about the industry, thefilm, video, major and alumni profiles.
Hey folks, welcome to anotherepisode of Alumni Live.
My name is Spencer Everhart.
I'm here as an alum.
I graduated in 2012 from the filmand video program at Grand Valley,
(00:25):
but I'm also actually a frequentinstructor in the program.
I'm also a member of the GrandRapids Film Society, an organizing
committee who puts on the screeningsand community events and everything
else that the Film Society does.
And I am here to talk about that.
And I'm joined by a couple of fellowmembers of the Film Society committee to
dig into a lot of the community buildingefforts that we put on, how we're trying
(00:47):
to shift Grand Rapids and even WestMichigan in terms of its film culture and
film community, get more people involved,both Grand Valley students, alums, and
otherwise, and to try and keep pushing,the film culture forward in the area.
And so I'm joined by a coupleof folks here that I'd like
to have introduce themselves.
These are dear friends of mine who I'vebeen working with for a while, and they
(01:09):
have played an important role not only interms of the development of Grand Valley's
alumni presence but also specificallywith the Grand Rapids Film Society.
So I will pass it off first to Nick.
Hello, everyone.
My name is Nicholas Hartman,graduated Grand Valley in 2012.
And I am now Wealthy Theater'sFilm Curator and also the President
(01:30):
of the Grand Rapids Film Society.
Hi guys, my name is Breana Malloy.
I graduated in 2021 and I am aProducer based in Grand Rapids.
I work on narrative film, feature shorts,but my day job is a Producer at a local
production company and I'm also theirintegrator and I am a member of the
Grand Rapids Film Society committee.
(01:51):
yeah, I became a part of the GrandRapids Film Society committee about
one or two years ago now, helping outwith community events, and it's been a
wonderful part of my life ever since.
My name is Jackson Ezingaand I graduated from the film
program at Grand Valley in 2013.
I'm also a committee member forthe Grand Rapids Film Society.
(02:12):
I'm a full time freelance filmmaker.
I get hired to work mainly in production,such as assistant directing, production
coordinating, producing, and directing.
I also own my own production companycalled Ezo Productions in Grand Rapids.
Happy to be here totalk about Film Society.
And so obviously we're all heretoday because we are part of
the organizing committee behindthe Grand Rapids Film Society.
(02:35):
The Film Society itself has existed fora number of years in various forms and
at various levels of activity in GrandRapids, but the most recent version
of it is the one that we're a part of,which is entering its third year, and
is generally housed at Wealthy Theater.
And is a broader effort to try and puton not just screening events at Wealthy
Theatre, show cool movies, bring peopletogether to watch them in that wonderful
(02:57):
historic space, but also to put ondifferent social community events to
bring people together, maybe get people,together to collaborate on film projects.
But maybe also to just meetfellow like minded film lovers.
There's a lot of different aspectsto what film society is doing.
There's also a lot of ideas thatwe have about where we can take
it to make it bigger and betterand keep growing the film culture
(03:19):
and community in West Michigan.
First thing, I think, film screenings.
That's a big part of what we do.
In many ways, it's the core of whatwe try to provide for the community
in terms of showcasing films.
Some new ones, but mainlylooking back into film history.
So, In terms of film screenings, filmprogramming as part of our mission.
I wanted to have Nick speak a littlebit about that since he is the
(03:41):
Film Curator at Wealthy but also,of course, as you mentioned, the
leader of the Film Society itself.
In terms of programming, for GrandRapids Film Society, I personally want
to make it as democratic as possible, andbringing on like minded people . And that
goes in so many different variations.
One thing I think is really fun thatwe do is just saying, hey, we want
to play this movie, and this is whywe want to play this movie, because
(04:02):
we can sell it to an audience, wecan get people excited about it.
We say, hey, we want to do funseries, so coming up in January,
we're doing Michael Manuary, reallyunique events to get people excited.
So when it comes to programming, at theend of the day, it's bringing like minded
people that are excited and passionate toput on the best movies on the big screen.
Definitely and I'll add to that toosaying that there's been ever since the
(04:22):
sort of post pandemic film programmingworld has kicked back into gear, there's
been a lot of talk, especially in biggercities much larger than Grand Rapids,
about repertory film blowing up and lotsof people wanting to go see older films.
Part of that might be, maybe exhaustionwith the newer films that are coming out.
But, a lot of interest, especiallyamongst younger people, in going to
the theater to see older films andgetting together in that communal space.
(04:46):
And I feel like, the film societyis definitely riding that wave.
And we've seen it.
I feel like we've seen it with attendance.
We've seen it in terms of interest.
There is a real kind of culture,or there's something in the air
right now with people wantingto look back at film history.
, And I think in terms of some of theprogramming, that we've tried to put
on the screen, we've been able to seethat interest and we've been able to
(05:06):
see that kind of help us build something
I can definitely say, back in July, I wentto Art House Convergence, and Art House
Convergence is this giant conference offilm exhibitors and film distributors.
You get this opportunity to listento all these different panels and
there's one panel specificallyabout repertory screenings.
You had so many theaters anddistributors talking about how
(05:28):
big repertory is right now.
And a lot of studios that were therelike A24 and Neon we're having a hard
time competing with repertory screenings.
There's a whole conversation about it.
People revisiting these classics.
And then people that are gettingolder, bringing their kids, they grew
up watching these movies, now theywant to share them with their kids
. Repertory is really big right now.
I've even experienced it with thingsthat we've screened where there's
(05:49):
an older movie that I missed whenit was in theaters or I was too
young to go to theaters to see it.
And I hadn't seen it yet.
And for people who love going to thetheater, seeing an older movie that
you missed your chance to catch onthe big screen, it's cool to be able
to provide that experience for peopleincluding myself, but, I've talked to
a lot of people, who've come to ourscreenings who have said similar things.
(06:12):
So I mentioned earlier that in additionto screenings, the Film Society is
also actively involved in tryingto put on what we generally call
social events or community events.
And that's a pretty importantaspect of what we're trying to do
in terms of community building.
It's not just that we want to get peopleinto the theater to hang out, watch a
movie, maybe talk about it but there'sa lot more going on there as well.
Firstly, I would say one of the thingsthat Film Society has taken on as a
(06:34):
part of this is Open Projector Night.
And Open Projector Night is a seasonalfilm festival that's existed in
Grand Rapids for many years and itexisted in previous versions and
at different locations before butin the post pandemic world and with
the creation of this new versionof the Film Society, Open Projector
Night was taken up and revitalized.
And myself and Jackson and Nick, whoare here talking, have been a part
(06:57):
of Open Projector Night for manyyears, and it's now become a pretty
big part of what Film Society offers.
So I was wondering if Jackson, if youcould talk a little bit about that, maybe
in terms of the idea behind it, whatit is, and also how you see it fitting
into this community building aspect.
Yeah.
So I got involved with Open ProjectorNight, in its previous iteration, when
(07:20):
it was hosted at the Urban Institutefor Contemporary Arts downtown.
And for a while, that's where we wereholding this quarterly seasonal film
festival where we take submissionsfrom filmmakers that have some kind
of connection to Michigan, either,if it was made here or if there's
a filmmaker who say lives in L.
A.
or even in another country whoused to live in Michigan, or if
(07:43):
somebody somewhere made a film thatis about Michigan or takes place
there, or references it in some way.
Just a local showcase ofindependent short films.
And the reason it's called Open ProjectorNight evolved from its first show.
Its first show was almost a gong nightfor karaoke where it's like you bring
(08:03):
your hard drive up there, your flashdrive and you plug it in and play it until
you get kicked off, but now it does runmore like a traditional film festival.
We usually curate a programthat's about 90 minutes or so.
Nick and I have described itas a cinematic mixtape where
we play any type of film.
We play narrative fiction stuff,documentaries, animations,
(08:27):
music videos, experimental work.
We've even played some really creative,commercial and, corporate work before.
But it's just a great way to get abunch of filmmakers and people who
love film in a theater watching theseindependent films up on the big screen.
And then we always do a Q & Aafterwards with any attending
filmmakers and have an audience votewhere we offer prizes for the first,
(08:50):
second, and third audience choice.
So that's in a nutshell, what wedo, and we've been doing it for
a while, like over 10 years now.
It's great cause you never reallyknow what you're going to get as
programmers ourselves, we neverknow what we're going to get.
And then the audience walksin just knowing the titles, and
the filmmakers who made them.
And then they're treated to thiseclectic mix of independent short cinema.
I always try to put myself in the mindsetof a student or someone that wants to
(09:13):
get interested in film and look at itfrom the outside to make it better.
And I always think, man, if I wasa student, if I was on the outside
and I saw this program, I would bethrilled, because you're bringing so
many people together and it's not justabout playing your film on the big
screen in front of a live audience.
It's a way to connect withother filmmakers around you.
It's a way to get inspired.
And, it's all about community building.
That's one of my favorite aspects.
(09:34):
Definitely.
And I'll say too, for myown part, as an attendee.
just over the years to see the work thatwe get and what we end up showcasing,
it is meant to be a spotlight on WestMichigan mainly, but there's also a lot of
far flung filmmakers connected to Michiganin some way, but even if they're from
here, maybe they went to Grand Valley,maybe they're coming out of Detroit.
(09:54):
Wherever it is, the amount oftalent and the quality of the
work that is out there is amazing.
It's an amazing showcase of what is beingcreated here, and how many different
people are involved in filmmaking,especially really low budget, personal
kind of small scale filmmaking.
And I think to your point, Nick, thinkingabout maybe like students or just young
people in general who might come and seethat, and then they get the filmmaker up
(10:16):
on stage talking about how they made itand they might be talking about how tough
it was because they didn't have any moneyor they didn't have any resources and they
just talk about we did it anyway becausewe wanted to, and we were able to do it
because I have a team of people I trust.
And to be able to get people onthe screen, but also on the stage
and share that kind of informationto folks who maybe are interested
(10:36):
but not sure where to start.
We'll usually ask the filmmakers whatkind of advice would you give to young,
artists or filmmakers or film students?
And almost all of themare like just do it.
Just figure out a way to do it,don't let any kind of boundaries
or personal hindrances you think youhave stop you or be put in your way.
When you hear filmmakers saythat, and then you see the work
that they've done and it's on thescreen, it's pretty inspiring.
(10:56):
And I think it does a lot for,again, going back to this idea of
building a community and gettingpeople aware of what's going on.
And then just one more thing that Iwant to add is you also never know,
what could come from the films thatscreen at Open Projector Night.
Really early on, we actually had oneof the original short films of Marcel
the Shell, which is now a A24 film,play in the program because one of
(11:20):
the crew members was from Michigan.
And then also recently we had, LindsayNormington, direct and act in a film
that won the audience choice vote.
And now she is in, the film, Nora, whichwon, the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year.
It's independent stuff.
A lot of it's low budget and small,but you never know where the people
(11:41):
that make these films are going to go.
I'm a huge music fan, and you hearstories about CBGB or Nirvana
playing these small venues, andthen they become giant rock stars.
And it's like, I would love to hearthe success story of yeah, I put my
first film in OPN, in that venue.
And then they're giant filmmakers,this is a fun thing to think about.
In addition to Open Projection Nightunder the umbrella of social events,
(12:01):
community events, we have some moreregular recurring monthly or semi
monthly things that we put on as well.
Some of these events, involvewhat we call Round Tables.
We also put on a thing called PitchNight and a thing called Rough Cut Night.
So Breana, I wanted to ask youabout these, you play a very
central role in the organization andrunning of these types of events.
(12:22):
So I was wondering if you couldtalk maybe a little bit about each
of these, what they are, how theywork and how, they fit into this.
Yeah, so this was actuallypivotal to me joining the board.
I remember talking to Spencer, at anevent and I was like, I have all these
ideas that I've learned from all mydifferent business conferences that
I go to that work sends me to, andI'd love to bring it to a creative
space to bring people together.
(12:43):
And he was like, okay,come pitch it to the board.
And so I came, pitched it.
They liked it.
I spearheaded it at the very beginning,but I will really say it's a team
effort with everybody on the board now.
So yeah, we started with Round Tables.
It was something I took from my timeworking in leadership Round Tables.
It's where, specifically forme, it's women in leadership.
(13:03):
We would go to these Round Tables and talkabout issues and how to work through them.
And I was like, why don'tfilmmakers have that?
And so I wanted to bring it hereand we workshopped it and found a
way for it to work for filmmaking.
And so we usually split itup into cinephiles, general
filmmaking, and screenwriting.
And it gives people a chanceto not only if they have issues,
bring them up or talk through, butalso just meet other people in the
(13:26):
community and talk about their craft.
Because for a lot of thesepeople, it's not their day job.
They have 2, 3 jobs.
And so it's just nice to be aroundpeople who love what they're
doing and want to talk about it.
And then we had screenwriters saying,Hey, I've written all these scripts.
I need help figuring out howto present these to people.
So the committee went back tothe table and we were like,
(13:46):
all right, how do we do this?
And we were talking a lotabout how pitches happen.
Pitches are a real thing in filmmaking.
And we're like, why don't we just startthat here and do a practice Pitch Night?
And we started allowingroughly four filmmakers to
come in, with a presentation.
We time them.
They get to pitch their idea and we havepanelists that are filmmakers in the
(14:07):
community, who have pitched themselves.
Just this last one, we had a filmmaker whoworks at the news and makes short films.
We had a filmmaker who runs one of thecompanies in town and then a Producer
in AD at another company in town.
We just bring people fromall walks of life together.
They have the chance to pitch their workand have people sign up to work on it.
And then Lastly, we have Rough CutNight, which we had talked about a
(14:30):
little in our committee meetings.
Matt Everett, who is amazing, wanted tospearhead it and I was like, thank you.
I'm a Producer.
I do not understand technical stuff.
So I don't think I'm the bestperson to run this event.
And so I talked a lot withhim in the conceptual stages,
but he's done a great job.
It's just a time where people can come,they've shot a film, they've got an
edit and they want to show a part of it.
(14:51):
I think we show up five minutes.
And the audience is allowedto give feedback and tell them
what's working and what's not.
And it just all around makes abetter film at the end of the
day, hopefully, for everyone.
I just love how there was like anatural progression from talking
to getting the word out there.
And then.
showing the results of these ideasthat were discussed and pitched.
(15:13):
And now here they are on screen.
And the idea was to have this pipeline.
Round Table to Pitch Night is definitelylike a lot of people do that, but, Breana,
can you think of anyone that's done likeRound Table, Pitch Night, Rough Cut Night?
I know there's two examplesthat I can think of.
I don't think she's gone through all ofthem, but Taylor, she came to the first
Round Table, came to everyone since andshe ended up making friends from Round
(15:35):
Table who were like, I'll edit the film.
I'll do this for the film.
So she met her entire crew throughRound Table and then did two different
Pitch Nights for her feature.
She came with an idea and she wouldworkshop it with the screenwriting group.
She met filmmakers in the generalfilmmaking group and then she pitched
her movie and has met an entiregroup of probably 10, 15 people that
(15:56):
they're helping her make this movie.
So it's very cool.
But Neil, who came to our RoundTables, he's an older gentleman,
retired, and he was having trouble.
He had no idea how to edit.
He came in and he was like, guys,I don't know how to process film.
He had gone to Paris when Jean LucGodard had died and he had this cool
film he wanted to show and make, and hecouldn't, he didn't even know how to edit.
And so we were like, here's resourcesthat can teach you how to edit for free.
(16:17):
You can borrow laptops.
We showed him how to get his filmprocessed he did all of that, edited
his movie because he was so inspiredand then it got accepted to OPN.
So yeah, not Rough Cut Night orPitch Night, but it was really
inspiring to see, and he turned itall around in two, three months.
It was just beautiful.
I will say, the most excitingthing about these community
events is just seeing everybodyconnect and just become friends.
(16:38):
We cannot, fund all these movies andjust make every movie happen, but
what we can do is connect people sothey can lift each other up, and I
think that's one of the most rewardingparts of doing this and volunteering.
I think about that a lot and I thinkit really shows the community events
show that like cinema goes beyondthe screen, goes beyond the theater.
It bleeds into your communities.
Then you see our community come together.
(16:59):
You have your writers, your screenwritersand cinephiles, and everyone come
together in these rooms to talkabout movies, to get movies made.
It's just a beautiful thing.
Absolutely, and that actually seguesinto the next thing that I wanted to talk
about and ask everybody to reflect onis the idea of the impact of all this.
I mean, I think when each of us joinedthis crew and started to become active
in it, we're constantly thinkingabout and even talking about in our
(17:21):
discussions how this is going toserve people I think, what you all
were just saying is a big part of howit impacts filmmakers in the area.
I can say for my part in terms offilm screenings, or even at our Round
Table that Breana was describing,we'll often break up into different
groups based on a topic or an interest.
And one of them is just a cinephile group.
(17:41):
So it's if you're not necessarilya filmmaker, or maybe you are, but
you'd rather just sit down and talkabout movies, maybe something you
watched recently, or maybe there'sa particular, topic that you want to
discuss with some people in the area.
We'll just get together andhang out and talk about movies.
It's been really nice to see the amountof people who will just show up to
one of these because they hear aboutit because they just want to meet
people who share a common interest.
They want to get in a room, sit downwith other people in a real space
(18:03):
and share that interest and discussor just engage with other people.
And in a time when that is easier to dothan ever before through digital means,
I think it speaks volumes that peopleare interested in doing it in a real.
living space, with folkswho are in the area.
So I think the non filmmaker side ofthings, just the film lover, film fan,
it's been really nice to see peoplewho had no idea that film society was
(18:25):
the thing, but that there were so manyother people in the area who were so
interested in older movies or independentand art house films, and when you can
see that realization happen, even thekind of light bulb go off with people
being like, Oh yeah, these are sort of mypeople, or at least these are some of my
people, these are my movie people, that'ssomething that is just so nice to see.
And when you see it happen inreal time, you see it happen
in front of you in the room.
It really illuminates a lot of what themission is, , of bringing people together.
(18:47):
But I was also curious, for all of you,if you could speak on that as well in
terms of maybe filmmakers the impactyou'd hope that it would have, but also
the city in general, as a kind of broaderenvironment in a community, what you
think the impact is, or what you hope theimpact to be that film society can have.
Yeah, I have an immediatething that comes to mind.
Outside of filmmakers,which I think is beautiful.
(19:09):
I've met some people that I think willbe in my life for the rest of my life
just because I come to these eventsand I hope other people feel that,
But we've started reaching out thecommunity more and, we just partnered
for Rushmore, with Campus Elementary.
We raised 600 for a teacher who was inneed of school supplies and so that just
showed me, yes, we're filmmakers anda lot of our stuff is geared towards
(19:30):
film, but we can have a big impact onthe community and hundreds of kids even.
And so it's just, yeah, through film, wecan touch so many other parts of the city.
Not only just sharing art and olderfilms that maybe people haven't seen
and teaching them about the films,but we can build up the community.
Movies are a way to escapethe world around you.
We live in pretty difficult times,we always will, always have, but
(19:52):
the impact that I want to have onour community, the city, is knowing
these people, can communicate withother film lovers around them.
They can go into a movie.
They can come dressed upfor one of our events.
They go to a comedy.
They laugh away the pain.
And they walk out, and theysay, Hey, you know what?
I forgot about the world aroundme for X amount of hours.
And I got to be with people that arelike in communities, I always say that
word community, but I really mean it.
(20:13):
It's so important.
Community creates friendships.
The impact that I want to haveis creating a space for people.
I think cinema also allows peopleto create lasting memories for
themselves and their families.
And I think that we've put on some eventsthat some people will never forget.
There's one in particular that we did,last summer, where we put on a screening
of The Sand Lot in a baseball field, justoutside of downtown on the West side.
(20:37):
So many people showed up.
There was probablyhundreds of people there.
And these were people, couplesand families having a great
summer night, watching a classicmovie in a baseball field.
And I think there's going to be a lotof people, both young and old who will
never forget something like that becauseit's just a little bit different than
your classic movie going experience, butit was free and open to the public and,
(20:59):
putting on things like that is somethingreally special and can make a lasting
impact on people's lives and just createa fun memory for them to look back on.
It's funny because we're likepart of the programmers who
are putting on these events.
And it's had a huge impact on me.
I remember that night, walking tothe back of the field, had a hot
dog in my hand, a nice cold beer,and I was like, man, we did it.
This is awesome.
You know, And it was like a momentof being proud and seeing people come
(21:22):
together, it's just so beautiful.
Yeah, when we've had certainevents that we've put on, and, we
fill Wealthy Theatre, uh, and youcan feel the energy in the room.
There's nothing like it.
but There's a certain kind of energy andthere's a feeling in the air when you
get people together and they find thesame wavelength, you know, during a film
or even before a film when everybody'sjust sitting there waiting, they're
(21:42):
chewing their popcorn and we've gotthe pre show going, the music playing.
And I've definitely had those moments too.
Even those small moments where I'min the back waiting for it to start.
Or maybe, we're doing our thing, handlingthe lobby and just feeling excited
and proud that we can get people tocome together for this kind of thing.
One of the things that we often striveto do with our programming for screenings
in particular is to try to think ofways to make the screening special
(22:04):
in some way beyond just the movie.
Like showing the movies one thing andthat's always great and we love to do
that, but there's anything else that wecan do to make it a little more extra, a
little more special, we try to do that.
So, we did Titanic before and wetried to turn Wealthy Theater into
the Titanic, had people dress up.
We did a similar event not too long agothat Breana was a big part of where we
showed the, 2005 version of Pride andPrejudice, got people to come dress up.
(22:26):
We had books for sale from a localbookseller related to Jane Austen.
So trying to transform thespace, add something extra.
Those are the type of movie experiences,going back to your point, Jackson,
that people really remember becauseit's not just sitting down in
the seat and watching the movie.
There's something else going on, thatadds to the experience and again, going
back to my earlier point in a time whennew movies come out, you can go to the
(22:47):
multiplex and see them, when you cometo a place like Wealthy Theatre and not
only maybe see an older, interestingfilm, but that there's all this other
wild, fun things happening, it's adifferent type of movie going experience.
And I think that makes it stand out.
It creates a kind of contrastand it makes it different and
seem a little more special.
And I'm glad that this was brought upbecause that was one of the other things
I wanted to ask you all about in termsof impact, but more an impact on you.
(23:08):
But maybe before we get to that, whatmotivates you to be a part of this,
or what have you been gaining from itpersonally by your involvement in it?
We're in year three now this whole crewand the other committee members who aren't
here with us right now, how do you see itplaying a role for you and in your life?
Movies have played a role inmy life since I can remember.
uh, When I was younger, I was sickat epilepsy, and suffered quite
(23:31):
a bit, and my only escape waslaying in bed and watching movies.
And that movie for me wasPee Wee's Big Adventure.
It took me out of my pain, I felt likeI was on the road with Pee Wee Herman,
that has always been a motivation forme, uh, when talking about movies and
getting people excited about movies, justproviding, a space for people to forget.
And that's what honestlymotivates me every single day.
And just my passion for movies.
I love movies.
(23:51):
I love to talk aboutmovies with my friends.
I'm a huge horror fanatic.
I love getting together and,binging horror movies with friends
and just celebrating all that.
I would say the passion motivates me.
Absolutely.
I think it's really the same forme as long as I can remember.
Movies have been a huge part of mylife, both watching and making them.
I bought my first camcorderwhen I think I was 11 years old
and haven't looked back since.
(24:13):
When Nick offered me an opportunityto come and sit on the committee
and it was at its really earlystages, there was no hesitation.
I think that having something to dooutside of work, that I can volunteer
my time for, that's something that I'mreally passionate about, I felt like
that's something that was missing.
And so being able to participate inthe Film Society almost weekly it
(24:35):
really gives me something to lookforward to, that isn't just work and
isn't, the day to day life stuff.
It's something I'm really passionate aboutand just really enjoy being involved in.
It motivated me to feel thatI had a sense of belonging.
I didn't know a lot about movies whenI went to film school at Grand Valley.
And so I oftentimes felt insecureabout the movies I liked and my
(24:57):
opinions, because I didn't feellike I had as much experience.
As I finished school, I was like, Ireally have more opinions and stuff,
and, I felt like I needed a placewhere I could continue to grow those.
And so I was starting to go toFilm Society events and joining the
committee, it makes me excited aboutmaking movies because I think as we
get older and we get more into ourcareers, we're like, it's just a job.
(25:18):
It's a fun job.
It's reinvigorated my love for movies, butit also allows me to just continue to grow
an array of knowledge and love for moviesand also helps me be confident in what
I enjoy because you guys have all taughtme it's okay to like the most pretentious
movie and it's okay if you want to watch aHallmark movie, we probably won't screen
it, but, it's okay to like everythingand there's such, a vast ocean of movies.
(25:43):
And so I think that's what gets me themost is the community and love for movies.
Yeah, and I'll also say to touch onthat, that it's been really fun to be
a part of a group of people who I thinkshare that general idea in what we
select and what we program, we try notto discriminate, like we're just as
happy to play older, independent, evenmore like challenging films alongside
(26:03):
Hollywood block buster entertainment.
As you said the range and the diversityof cinema that's out there, all of its
different avenues and different channelshas worthy valuable stuff there and we try
to grab from it all and try to provide awider swath of offerings rather than have
a particular identity because we wantto bring in, I think, as many people as
possible, and maybe that's bringing inpeople who wouldn't necessarily watch
(26:25):
one of those challenging films, butthink, okay, maybe I'll give it a shot.
And then on the other side of things,maybe people who wouldn't necessarily
think to go see, one of our Summerof Sequels offerings, like the Road
Warrior or Gremlins 2, but decidingto come and being like, whoa, wait
a minute, there's something here.
I mentioned it earlier, but asking nowthat I was wondering if any of you do
you have any favorite experiences or anyfavorite stories from anything that we've
(26:46):
done with Film Society so far any kindof highlights that you want to mention?
One comes to my mind right away,this past October we had Open
Projection Night Halloween Edition.
And like I was saying earlier, OpenProjection Night started in like 2012.
And it started off very small.
First one we had, my filmwas in it, and there was like
five people in the audience.
And the last one we did, HalloweenEdition, I hosted it, and I was
(27:08):
on stage, and I looked out, andit was like an ocean of people.
And everyone was just so excitedto be there and everyone was
just cheering each other on.
There was just so much love and compassionand excitement for Michigan film.
And there's like this momentof clarity was like, We did it.
It's like a field of dreams.
You build it and they will come.
And that's just how it felt.
So I would say that'smy favorite experience.
We've started this annual tradition of,every year on Twin Peaks day, which is a
(27:31):
certain date that has meaning if you'rea fan of the show Twin Peaks, directed
by David Lynch, we usually put on thefirst two episodes of the TV show.
We've shown the filmadaptation Fire Walk With Me.
And we're planning on doingit again this coming year.
That was my favorite show growing up.
I discovered it in high school and Ihad this really small group of friends
(27:53):
that would all watch it together.
Anytime I try to talk about it withanyone else at school, everyone'd
be like, what are you talking about?
I've never heard of that.
It's an old show.
That's weird.
Whatever.
But then I just remember the firstTwin Peaks day we had, which I gave
the introduction for similar to Nick.
I got up on that stage.
We are also had costume party andjust a full audience of people who
loved the show or really wantedto check out what the show was.
(28:16):
And, think that was kind of aaffirming moment for me as well.
And I feel like this has come up a lotin a lot of our answers, but it's true.
Just feeling like we're not alonein our interests and passion.
And, that screening inparticular, I'll never forget.
I love a costume thatmakes no clear sense.
You have Lord of the Rings,we did costume contest.
(28:37):
I was the ring.
, , And then, Twin Peaks day, if you watch theshow, I was the fish in the percolator.
I still have that costume.
And so that's a big one forme, but honestly, a big one
for me, it was Nosferatu.
It was sold out, packed like sardinesin the theater . And I didn't realize
it would affect me so much, but Iwas just sitting there and as it's
starting to play, I got a littleemotional because I was like, this
(28:59):
is what they talked about in schoolabout how people used to watch movies.
They would go to a theater,the movie would play, and there
would be a live accompaniment.
I got chills, because I got toexperience something that might seem
small, but is just really special.
It's like when you see your firstactual film, in the theater and
you could just feel it in the room.
That's one of my favorite moments.
Yeah, that's the one Iwas gonna mention too.
(29:22):
It was Nosferatu, the original Nosferatu,a 16 millimeter film with live music.
We never done anything like that andthat's not anything that's really offered
around here also so unique and special.
So many people came out for as well.
To come and watch a 1920s silent Germanvampire movie, was amazing, and then, to
experience it and take it all in felt,think I even said to the people around me
(29:44):
that it felt like once in a lifetime, butI actually don't want to say that because
we should probably just do it again.
We're taking a short break totell you about the Dirk Koning
Memorial Film and Video scholarship.
Here's Gretchen Vinnedgeremembering Dirk Koning.
The Koning Scholarship enables studentsto get that kind of an education, to be
a good filmmaker, to be able to expresstheir voice and to continue Dirk's dream.
(30:07):
For more information, and todonate to the scholarship, visit
the link in the description.
Now, back to the show.
What type of experiences or what are somethings that you learned at Grand Valley
are helping you or serving you now asa part of this Society and as a part of
trying to do this community building work?
For me, Grand Valley actuallygave me confidence to speak up.
(30:27):
I can reflect on acouple different classes.
Film theory with Toni Perrine.
She's listening.
Love her.
She's great.
I remember getting into college andI was terrified to share my opinion.
Even though we're there to learnand actually remember a specific
class a lighting class I was takingand I felt like I didn't know what
to do and I was too embarrassedto raise my hand and ask for help.
Later down the road it kicked me inthe butt because I didn't speak up
(30:49):
and I didn't really learn anything.
But putting my pride asideand saying we're all students.
I'm not supposed to know everything. Learn and ask questions and speak up.
And that was a general thingI've applied to my life.
With the film industry or whatI'm doing as a film programmer.
Or working with you guys as a committee.
If I don't understand what you're tryingto say, well I'm gonna ask you a question.
And that just makes everything easier.
(31:09):
I totally resonate with that as wellbecause I feel like I was extroverted
in high school, but then once I got intocollege where I barely knew anybody, I
went back into my shell a little bit.
The classes that I took, especially in thefilm program where you're creating work
and then putting it up for critique, andcollaborating with other students, and
having to communicate your vision and yourstory to people who you might not even
(31:33):
know, was huge in helping me break backout of my shell that I put myself into.
The collaborative, group projectsthat a lot of the film classes
have helped me tremendously, bothprofessionally and, when we meet
as a committee, because we are allcollaborating towards the same goal.
And even when there's miscommunicationor, issues arise, we're all there
(31:55):
to work that out and continueforward and, put on the best events
that we can at the Film Society.
I think for me, like I said,I knew nothing about film.
So going to Grand Valley, first of all,I learned basic knowledge right there.
My freshman year, I stilldidn't really know much.
Sophomore year, I started to reallyfigure stuff out . The thing that
really impacted me and helped me a lotwas meeting like minded people and
(32:19):
just learning to be in that space.
Confidence was a part of it,like Nick said, and just honestly
being able to network andconceptualize projects with people.
I just think Grand Valley alongwith the education also gave me a
lot of opportunities that helpedme succeed early on in my career.
Meeting professors like Spencerand Suzanne and Joel, who I'm now
(32:39):
friends with and working with oncommittees is, such a special thing.
I just feel like my time therereally helped build me up as a
filmmaker and as a person, alongwith the technical knowledge.
So that is going to lead me into,a classic question, what advice
do you have for current students?
Come to Grand Rapids Film Society events.
(32:59):
I would say outside of that, findyour own communities where you are.
If you are out in Allendale or you aredowntown, a place like the Grand Rapids
Film Society is great and encourageyou to come, but also having a more
close knit group of people that canfunction on a similar level, but, more
interpersonally, just having friends,and, close collaborators that you
(33:22):
can bounce ideas off of, experimentwith, film and video techniques and
things like that outside of class.
I feel like when I was at GrandValley, I was just always trying to
find people who were making stuff.
And trying to volunteer onprojects that were being made for
classes that I wasn't even in.
And I think that is how Iwas able to find a community.
(33:44):
When I was at Grand Valley.
I think that is what set me up to havethe career that I have right now as
a freelancer, where I was just alwaystrying to find out, okay, who's shooting
what and where, how do I get involved?
The advice I would give isalways remain and be yourself.
Whatever you're interested in, whateveryou like, apply it to your art.
Don't let anyone else intimidateyou, if tons of kids are making a
(34:05):
certain type of film, don't feellike you have to make that film,
because everyone else is doing it.
Find your own voice, be who you wantto be, and celebrate who you are.
Take
So my one thing I'm choosing issomething that I just have felt
has come back around many times.
And as a producer and as a boss ofpeople at my job, is just to genuinely
care about people and try to be agood person every day and take care of
the people that are working with you.
(34:27):
You don't make a lotof money all the time.
A lot of times you just make stuff withyour friends and you help each other out
and it's, oh, this is a passion project.
Just genuinely care about thepeople make sure they're fed.
Make sure they feel appreciated on set.
I think those things are the thingsthat at the end of the day matter to me
the most and I want people to feel whenthey're on a set that I'm producing.
You will go much further in lifeif you just genuinely care about
(34:48):
people and do the right thing.
I think maybe I'll say something I thinkabout a lot, especially as someone who
is in the program still as an instructor.
The thing I think about and the thingI have told some students when this
comes up is, and this is hard to do.
This is one of those thingsthat's coming from an older person
who's been there trying to tella younger person who's in it.
Try to appreciate it while you're there,it's difficult because when you're in
it's the hardest thing to do, right?
(35:10):
But try to realize that whenyou're in film school you're in
an extremely unique environment.
You are surrounded by people whoare there trying to do the same,
or at least similar things as you.
Those people are possible collaborators,creative partners, artistic comrades.
You are also given access to resources.
I'm talking about cameras andcomputers, the actual stuff
that it takes to make films.
(35:31):
You're never going to find this again,really, when you finish school and
you go out into the world, you're notgoing to find what is essentially a
filmmaking collective or almost filmmakingkind of commune like environment.
Although, I will say, some of thestuff I think we're trying to do with
Film Society is trying to build thatoutside of a school environment and
trying to allow people who are inthe public, to access those things and
(35:53):
have that type of experience, but it'sjust something that is so unique and
not really available anywhere else.
And so I guess my advice with that in mindis like, just try to take advantage of it.
Do everything you can, try to use allthe equipment that you can try to meet
as many people and just do as much asyou can while you're in that environment.
Because, it's not going to be availablefor, as long as you might want it
to be, because once you graduateand get that degree, you're going
(36:14):
to have to figure out and adapt toa different type of environment.
So yeah, just take advantage of itfor all it's worth while you're in it.
Last thing I want to say to you is,while you're in school, find friends
that give a damn about you and careabout you because Spencer and Jackson,
I've known them since film schooland have been friends ever since,
have been there for me since day one.
I could not do Film Society and OpenProjection Night without them...
(36:35):
Meeting Breana has become ablessing, a great person, and
will be a lifelong friend.
So, surround yourself with people inschool that care about you, that will be
there for you, because they will carry youthrough this beautiful thing called life.
I want to thank everyone forlistening to this episode.
For people who are interested inlearning more about Film Society, in
terms of our events and our programming,or if you want to subscribe to our
(36:57):
weekly newsletter, which is calledBeam from the Booth that has all kinds
of great stuff, interviews, essays,features, different types of content
.If you'd like to hop on our community discord channel, follow us on Instagram,
all that stuff, all of those links andall that information is available in
the description for this episode whereyou can get connected to us, find out
more and hopefully become involved.
(37:18):
and you know, If you come in to oneof our events introduce yourself.
We would love to meet you.
We'd love to have you becomea part of this broader thing.
Thanks again everybody andwe'll see you at the movies.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
Subscribe to our podcast, to hear morefrom our alumni across the industry.
Check out Alumni Live onFacebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
(37:40):
For more conversations and networking.
Let us know what topics you wantto hear our alumni talk about the
Grand Valley State University FilmVideo Alumni Network is here for
you, and we're glad that you're here.
Thank you for listening.
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