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Documentary Filmmaking
Project Description: This project will develop a documentary film on a subject of interest to changes in the Trenton metropolitan area.
Susan Ryan currently serves as the Chair for the TCNJ Department of Communications Studies. She received her Ph.D. from New York University in Cinema Studies. Her current teaching and research interests include documentary production, community media, Latin American film and video, and theories and criticism of film and television. In addition to teaching and writing, Dr. Ryan has also worked for more than a decade in film and television production producing programs that have aired on PBS, NBC, Turner Classic Movies, the Disney Channel, and the Lifetime cable channel. She recently completed work as a consulting producer on a documentary about the Teamsters for HBO. Her articles and papers have appeared in Cineaste, Persistence of Vision, Critical Arts, and Sightlines.
Mary Michalopoulos is a junior Communication Studies major under the TV/Film track, as well as a History major. She has worked on numerous school projects in various mediums such as film, video, and theater; and has taken on a number of roles, including, but not limited to: producer, director, screenwriter, editor, camera operator, audio technician, and talent. The projects she is most proud of would include, a documentary on New Orleans, entitled, “The Road to Recovery,” and a self-written and award winning one act, entitled, “Memories in the Clouds.” Currently, she serves as one of the co-chairs of the Post-Production department of Lions Television; TCNJ’s campus television station. Mary grew up in the very ethnically diverse town of Neptune, New Jersey. Over the past few decades, Neptune, and especially the once beloved town of Asbury Park, has seen a similar transition as that of Chambersburg. Being raised in such a diverse and often changing area, helps fuel her interests in the study, and gives her a unique understanding of the changes currently taking place in Chambersburg. She is confident the project will be one of great interest and merit, and is honored to be working with Dr. Susan Ryan on a project of this magnitude. Her long term goals for the future are unclear as she wonders which major will take priority when she graduates. Nevertheless, she hopes to combine her love for film and history, to make films that entertain and excite audiences, as well as documentaries that expose the unknown and mobilize the masses into action.
