Juniors Blake Duckers and Bria Woods wanted to prove that you do not have to be a film studies minor to appreciate quality cinema. With this goal in mind, the Trinity University Film Society was born.
“I noticed that we had a demand for film in some regards, but we just didn’t have the supply. We have the Bad Movie Club, but we wanted to have a good movie club,” Duckers said. “A lot of my friends at other universities like A&M and UT are in film societies, so I wanted to get that started here.”
Duckers and Woods acknowledged the work of the Bad Movie Club but were quick to point out how their organization would offer a different type of movie experience.
“We’re going to cater more to movies that have won Oscars, movies by award-winning directors and critically and commercially successful films,” Duckers said.
Woods, a communication major, added that the Film Society will have another important component.
“There is also going to be a filmmaking aspect of the organization. Between the two of us, we have made a number of films, and we are very interested in continuing to make them,” Woods said. “If we have people who are interested in the filmmaking process, we can involve them””doing everything from balancing budgets to making production schedules to acting and directing””and have our own in-house crew for people who are interested in the work.”
Although the organization is still waiting for approval, Duckers and Woods have already made plans for some of the organization’s first activities.
“We’re just going to start with a generalized icebreaker meeting to get to know one another,” Duckers said. “We’ll probably begin what will be our normal sort of events in October, with the first night’s theme being Quentin Tarantino. The idea of the organization is everybody would get to vote on a Tarantino film, so I’ll put up about five different Tarantino movies on a Google doc. Whichever movie wins the vote is the one we’ll watch.”
Woods hopes to use what she has learned in the classroom for themes such as Noir November.
“I took a film noir class last semester, so I want to take the reins on the month of November for that genre,” Woods said.
Duckers and Woods want to be able to show two movies a month, but Duckers explained that it all depends on what kind of budget the organization can secure.
“It’s going to””depending on the budget””be bimonthly. We have to buy the rights to show each movie legally in order to be supported by the university, and the rights are approximately $250 to $300 to show a movie to 40 people. You can see how it would get really expensive,” Duckers said. “I’ve talked with the company about getting a special deal, so we’ll see if the cost can be lowered in that regard. On top of that, you’ve still got to save up for snacks.”
Many students first learned about the new Film Society at the Student Involvement Fair during Welcome Week last month.
“I actually stopped by their table at the Student Involvement Fair, and it looked like it could be an exciting addition to Trinity,” said senior Ben Whitehead. “I would hope that it promotes a welcoming, open atmosphere where people who are beginners in the realm of film can come watch without feeling intimidated because they don’t know much about the actors or directors.”
For more information on the Film Society or to be added to the mailing list, contact Blake Duckers at [email protected] or Bria Woods at [email protected].
