Bigger might be better, but for those at Campus Events, free is
the best.
With the opportunity to venture down the crowded streets of
Westwood to the nearest overpriced movie theater more often than
not only available to those students who save their pennies, Campus
Events has stood as an alternative for a long time now.
From their wallet-friendly free sneak previews to their $2 movie
screenings, Campus Events offers a multitude of different movies to
students on campus throughout the school year. And while the
program has clearly been a success throughout its long existence,
one thing shrouded in secrecy has been the interworking of the
program.
Unofficially dubbed “word of mouth” screenings, film
studios often release their movies one to two weeks in advance to
many college campuses with hopes of generating enough hype for
their movie to become a success. According to Campus Events
Director Kenneth Heller, the types of movies the campus is able to
show varies a lot more than most would imagine.
“A film has to be marketed to varying audiences, because
sometimes the fact that it’s going to be a major release
doesn’t always mean that you don’t have to get people
excited about seeing your movie,” said Heller. “But
you’re not going to see “˜Harry Potter’ at one of
our screenings because the studios just don’t need to do as
many advanced screenings.”
While studios might not be as eager to make highly anticipated
films available for free, that doesn’t mean that Campus
Events is left with only bad movies.
“Ultimately we have to look at what’s
available,” said Megan Chan, the assistant commissioner of
Campus Events. “Sometimes it’s about what movies we
think are going to have the most student appeal, and sometimes
it’s what studios have to offer us.”
While colleges across the nation offer similar programs,
UCLA’s unique location often gives it a leg up on the
competition.
“One of the differences of our programs is that because of
our proximity to the film industry, we really have an enhanced
availability as far as our selection pool of films,” said
Heller. “However, it comes with a price ““ there’s
more scrutiny on the way we run our program because there’s
always a chance that a filmmaker or studio executive will come to a
screening so we always have to be sure they are done the right
way.”
With Los Angeles housing the film industry, Campus Events has
historically attempted to form tight relationships with film
studios in order to bring the best movies to campus.
“It’s a win-win situation; studios get to market to
a very influential group, and students get to go see a movie for
free,” said Donovan Daughtry, the former speakers director of
Campus Events.
But the members of the audience are not the only ones who
benefit from the movie screening process. For the students who are
part of Campus Events, organizing these screenings is a good way to
develop a relationship with a film studio that might someday lead
to a job.
“It’s an avenue to get your foot in the door,”
Daughtry said. “Very few people on staff are paid for what
they do, so the experience is more valuable than
anything.”
In addition to simply screening movies, Campus Events also has
coordinated question-and-answer sessions with some industry members
involved in the films they screen. From Mandy Moore
(“Saved!”) to Zack Braff (“Garden State”),
celebrity is something Campus Events is more than familiar
with.
“It comes in spurts, and lately we’ve had a good run
of a lot of really talented people,” said Jason Galton, the
Campus Events commissioner. “It mainly comes down to the type
of movie we happen to be screening and what talent it can bring to
our campus.”
In the past, booking people has been the result of hard work, as
well as researching what draws a certain celebrity to a project,
such as when Mr. T came to campus to speak a few years ago,
according to Daughtry.
“We found out there was more than just the “˜I pity
the fool’ façade, and that behind it was a gentle man
who was a cancer survivor and a lover of pets,” said
Daughtry. “We used that when we contacted him ““ to show
him we were really interested in who he was and what he had to say
to our campus.”
But booking celebrities can be more a result of coincidence and
a little persistence than of long-term planning. Campus Events knew
just a few days in advance that Moore would come to campus to
publicize “Saved!”.
But more than anything, Campus Events is about the students it
serves rather than the organizers who make the screenings
possible.
“There’s not a lot of social outlets at UCLA
sometimes, if you’re not into the fraternity scene or the
whole study thing” said Daughtry. “We give people a
chance to have fun, and a lot of people join in.”