How campus movies make the cut
by Scott King / senior writer
The October sneak preview of "K-PAX" in Grafton-Stovall
Theatre was crazy. The sneak preview drew an impressive crowd and
many may wonder, "Gee, how are movies chosen to play on campus?"
The University Program Board is responsible for bringing movies
to Grafton to entertain the student body.
"Distributors that work with college campuses give us a list
of movies each month that are on their second run — before
they hit video, but after they hit theaters," said junior Anthony
Marchegiano, UPB director of Cinematic Events. "Then we can
also get our hands on almost any other previously released film."
Marchegiano explained that UPB has relationships with several distributors
that can provide sneak previews for the JMU audience. "We contact
[distributors] when there are films we are interested in,"
Marchegiano said. "They are normally more than willing to [give
us a sneak preview] to help out with marketing."
UPB pays anywhere between $400 and $1,000 to gain the rights to
play a movie. "We are not out to make money. We are out to
pretty much break even as best we can as an organization,"
Marchegiano said. "We are just trying to meet what SGA sets
as our goals."
The UPB film committee is responsible for choosing the films brought
to campus. This semester, the film committee met each Monday; the
spring semester meeting day has not yet been decided. "Anyone
is invited [to the meetings]. Whoever wants to come and put in their
two cents to see what films we can do are more than welcome to come,"
Marchegiano said. He also said that UPB is always looking for more
volunteers to help out at movie screenings.
Volunteers collect tickets, sell popcorn and help out with crowd
control during sneak previews. For more information and to find
out when the committee meetings will be held next semester, go to
www.upb.org or call x8-6217.
|
