As fall draws closer, freshmen must prepare for their initiation
into UCLA: cramped dorm rooms, competitive classmates, scheduling
conflicts and, of course, free on-campus film screenings.
Only miles away from Hollywood and the major film studios,
students are offered several alternatives to the historic but
expensive movie theaters of Westwood Village right here on campus.
Film showings vary from the Campus Events
Commission�s popular screenings in Ackerman Union
to the Melnitz Movies series and beyond.
The film division of Campus Events, a 40-year-old campus
organization involved in showcasing concerts and guest speakers in
addition to film screenings, plans both free sneaks of upcoming
films and $2 tickets for more current releases available to all
UCLA students, staff and faculty, screened during the academic
year.
Sneak previews are regularly shown one or two weeks before a
theatrical release, while films in the inexpensive $2 film series
tend to screen one week before their home video release, said
Campus Events film director and third-year biology student Colin
Iberti.
Both types of screenings have been in place since the early
�90s and often draw large crowds to their longtime
home, Ackerman Grand Ballroom. The sneak previews are free because
film studios purposely send their new movies to UCLA to gain
publicity before their general release.
�Studios want us to show it as a marketing
device,� Iberti said. �There is a
valuable demographic of students here, age 18 to 24 years old, to
blog or buzz about what they see.�
While free sneaks are determined primarily by which films are
sent to Campus Events, the organization does give preference to
bigger blockbuster films.
�We try to get the biggest audience
possible,� Iberti said. �(But) we
keep our minds open to all kinds of movies. One of our priorities
is to bring in (both) small-market and large-market
films.�
Two-dollar films, however, are selected by the Campus Events
staff because they do not rely on free copies sent by studios.
Instead, Campus Events rents the prints from private companies.
Campus Events screenings also traditionally hand out door
prizes, such as posters and T-shirts.
�It�s cool that they give
movie-specific stuff away beforehand,� said
fourth-year economics student Laura Lide after receiving gym
T-shirts and hair ties during last year�s
screening of �Stick It,� a
gymnastics-themed film.
According to Iberti, studios hand out free movie-related prizes
for all of their films, whether they�re being
shown.
�It is great publicity for studios even if they
aren�t showing their movie at
UCLA,� Iberti said.
Meanwhile, the James Bridges Theater in Melnitz Hall also hosts
free film screenings.
Melnitz Movies, hosted and programmed by the Graduate Student
Association, often screens smaller independent films before
theatrical release or older classic films.
And while Campus Events has in the past brought in such stars as
Mandy Moore (for �Saved�) and
Zach Braff (for �Garden State�)
to speak and answer questions, directors, writers and editors make
frequent appearances at Melnitz Movies screenings.
Sessions from this past year included discussions with
�Ask the Dust� director Robert
Towne and �Good Night, and Good
Luck.� editor Stephen Mirrione, and have in the
past also included �Amelie�
director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and �Lost in
Translation� director Sofia Coppola.
Also at Melnitz are screenings offered through the UCLA Film and
Television Archive, one of the largest such archives in the nation
� second only to the Library of Congress.
International or actor-themed series are regularly programmed and
also feature special guests. The Archive offers a counterpoint to
current films screened by Campus Events and Melnitz Movies.
�We focus on films you cannot see in commercial
theaters,� said Kelly Graml, who is in charge of
media relations for the Archive. �It could be a
retrospective on an actress like Greta Garbo or an international
film without a U.S. release date. We just want to give people on
campus and in L.A. an idea of the wealth in film and moving
images.�
The 220,000 films and television programs of the Archive, in
addition to millions of feet of newsreels, are accessible through
viewing stations, if requested, in Powell Library through the
Individual Access Archive Research and Study Center.
The Instructional Media Lab on the second floor of Powell also
provides access to over 8,000 videotapes, laser discs and DVDs
commonly used for UCLA courses.
With all of the screening opportunities on campus, the Office of
Residential Life also shows popular films on the Hill throughout
the year. The program encourages community discussion through films
like �Crash� and relief from
studying with films like �Finding
Nemo.�
Come September, Campus Events hopes to present a free sneak
during Bruin Bash to start off the school year. Though the film
list remains a secret, Iberti has high hopes for an exciting year
of movie entertainment.
�We�re maybe going to try
online ticketing but we�re not going to shake up
the core of the program. We think we have a really good thing going
on,� he said.
Whether across campus at Melnitz, on the Hill or in the
expansive Ackerman Grand Ballroom, it looks like another
blockbuster season for UCLA.
�It�s cheap,�
said Karen Paulson, a second-year biology student.
�The movies are pretty current, and
it�s fun to go with some
friends.�