Thanks to a special invitation from a College alumnus and financial assistance from CMC, five CMCers will head to wine country for several days next week to learn exactly what it takes to host the Sonoma International Film Festivala multi-day venue representing more than 75 films from 22 countries.
At the invitation of Kevin McNeely '75, chairman of the board of directors of the Sonoma Valley Film Society, students Cameron Quevedo '10, Sadaf Ahmed '08, Alex Mitchell '11, Joshua Siegel '10, and David Landay '11 will spend April 1April 5 working in a number of different venues as part of their internships, depending on their individual interests, including:
Guest Services: dealing with filmmakers, jurors, hotels and host families, and meeting their needs throughout the Festival
Marketing: distribution of posters, postcards and programs; sale of T-shirts
Operations: special event organizing, set-up, execution and tear-down; food and beverage services
PR: dealing with TV, radio, newspaper and other media guests; fielding media requests and helping facilitate interviews
Sponsor concierge: dealing with VIP guests who represent various Festival sponsors
Venue management: dealing with theaters, audiences and moderators
After arriving at Oakland Airport, film festival operations and hospitality coordinators will provide local transportation and housing for the students during their visit. In addition, McNeely has arranged to meet them for lunch during the festival and also attend a screening with them. "The idea is that they will be able to learn as much as possible about the inner workings of an international film festival," he says.
Giving Back
Career Services staff members, led by Beth Ricca, and Andrea Morseburg, associate director of major gifts in the office of Development, have been working with McNeely to iron out the itinerary and identify students for the trip. McNeely says inviting students to attend films and panels as festival-goers is his way of paying back retired CMC professor of literature Mike Riley, who founded the College's film studies program.
"He was a breath of fresh air to me," McNeely said. "I was an economics major and was taking a full load of those kinds of courses, as well as political science courses. But when we entered Riley's class, we were enthralled."
For McNeely, that love of film born at CMC continued throughout his career culminating when he and a couple of colleagues started the Sonoma International Film Festival 12 years ago.
"It's come full circle for me discovering that CMC had an internship program," McNeely said. "I thought why not offer students who have an interest in film to attend the Festival where they can also participate in our first lifetime achievement award, which will be given to Bruce Willis."
The Office of the President as well as the Dean of Students Office is sponsoring student travel to and from the festival, says Ricca, associate director of Career Services and director of internship programs at CMC.
More than 75 films from 22 countries will be screened at the multi-day venue, including the world premiere of Story of Wine (South Korea), The Girl from France (France), Matar a Todos (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay), Ciao Bella (Sweden) and Mermaid (Russia).
The Answer Man, starring Jeff Daniels, will kick off the festival and The Necessities of Life (Canada) will close it.