I joined Film Alternatives in the fall of 1995, when I started at

SIUC as a freshman. I quickly jumped at the opportunity to be involved in the 1996 Big Muddy Film Festival as the Film Coordination Chairperson and stayed on to work on the 1997 Festival, in which I served as a member of the Prescreening Committee. In the fall of 1997, I accepted the position of Executive Director of Film Alternatives and helped prepare the group for the 1998 Festival, which was our 20th anniversary.

With twenty years under our belt, it is now my personal goal to help shape the Festival into its twenty-first year. Twenty-one is the number of rebirth and rebirth opens the door to improve the already great parts that make up the Festival. No matter how great something is, there is always room to build on it and it has always been a goal of Film Alternatives and the Big Muddy Film Festival to take the step forward.

As an added bonus, the people involved in both the Festival and Film Alternatives are some of the most dedicated and hardest working people I have ever met. They try, year after year, to do the best work that they can and I have never seen them fail. They are some of the best people I know.

If you’re interested in joining Film Alternatives and the Big Muddy Film Festival, please call 453-1482 or leave a message in our mailbox in the Cinema and Photography front office.