Volume 5, Issue 1

Brett Holden and the Gish Film Theater

Eric Honneffer and Archival Work

Susi Busam and Film Preservation

Ben Urish and Culturology

Linda Dobb and Library Studies

Bibliography

Introduction

When introducing myself to a stranger, the same question is guaranteed to come up when I tell them I am majoring in Film Studies. That question: “Are you going to be the next Steven Spielberg?” I am not opposed to anyone wanting to be a director, but I do not want to use my degree in film studies to be solely based on what goes on in a director’s chair. I have wanted to prove people wrong, that they should not assume that simply because I care to study the entertainment business that I want to be thrown into the director’s chair.

My true desire, and the reason that I went into Film Studies, was to learn about film preservation and archival work. This unusual hobby started in high school when I began to study the early Hollywood players and took a liking to silent films. Eventually, I learned about the numerous films that have been loss due to deterioration. When looking for possible college majors, my first choice was to major in Film History, which led to numerous dead ends. If I could not study the silent film themselves, my second choice was to write about them. Therefore, I became an English major.

Two years later and truly unhappy in my major, I began to shop around for another educational field to invest both my time and my money. I found the Film Studies option at Bowling Green State University, and I was really impressed with the choices between Film Production or Film Criticism. I choose to go into Film Criticism because I did not wish to be behind the scenes in a production, something I assumed was the only choice for students in my major.

With graduation almost upon me, I am left wondering what non-production jobs one can get with a degree in Film Studies. Now that I am producing an issue of The Projector, I am taking this opportunity to research the careers that one can obtain with this major pertaining to my love of old films, instead of ones of the current times. To do this, I searched for members of the Bowling Green State University community who work in film preservation, restoration, criticism, and exhibition. I interviewed them about what career path they took so that they were able to work closely with the film community. The purpose of this project is to show fellow students, as well as non-film students, that there is a wider range of opportunities to make a living than the stereotypical role of film director.

Editor - Jeffrey Harris