Hunter Not Using Its Own Resources
Nestor Nadal
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Opinion
I caught wind of an incident awhile back, when two of my filmmaking friends were discussing a film crew they had spotted at Hunter. They seemed pretty upset, and I wondered why.
According to one of the film students, he was with a film professor when they ran into the crew in the hallways of the third floor of the West building. The professor raised some concern about it, so I tracked him down. He let me know that it was not an uncommon occurrence for outside film crews to be seen at Hunter. Just recently Philip Seymour Hoffman was seen in the hallways for his new film, Jack Goes Boating. The professor told me he suspected that the film crew was from the "Day for Night" art exhibit, possibly hired by the Art Department, and it was there to document the art exhibit that Hunter's buildings have become a part of.
This story, however, conflicts with that of the student, who was there with him when they spotted the film crew. When I questioned the student, he recalled that the film crew specifically stated that they were creating testimonials and advertisements for Hunter. I had never seen an advertisement for Hunter, so he cleared that up for me as well. They were filming for those short scenes you see on the various widescreen televisions placed all throughout the school, in such locations as the third floor bridge and the Oasis offices. This meant that the professor either could not remember what I was asking about or gave me the wrong story on purpose. I don't believe the latter, though.
It was then that I understood why they were upset originally: something as inconsequential as an in-house advertisement and announcement could have been made by Hunter students. Outside film crews did not have to be hired. Hunter has all of the film equipment and filmmakers that it needs, both professional (our professors) and amateur (our students, of course). I might understand their logic if the college wanted to publish these as commercials on television, like some other colleges have been known to do-and even then, it's a bit sketchy. But to hire a professional film crew to shoot something that is presumably never leaving the Hunter premises is kind of inexcusable. This is the equivalent to smacking our Film Department professors in the face. The professor that I spoke to went as far as to tell me that the Film Department is never notified of any filming taking place on premises, regardless of circumstance.
Of course, I'm not expecting all crews who want to film here to hire our students, even as interns, nor do I want them to be required to, but they could at least alert the department as a courtesy. As of now, I have not spoken to the office responsible for hiring the film crew, because frankly, I can't figure out who they are. There is an office adjacent to 714HW, but they are responsible for rentals and reservations only, like when church groups rent out our auditoriums. As far as I could find out, they aren't concerned with hiring. Logically, I assume that the "o.k." for this kind of thing must come from some sort of manager of publicity or human resources department. It's ironic that a department would not use its own human resources, especially in the face of an economic downturn.
According to one of the film students, he was with a film professor when they ran into the crew in the hallways of the third floor of the West building. The professor raised some concern about it, so I tracked him down. He let me know that it was not an uncommon occurrence for outside film crews to be seen at Hunter. Just recently Philip Seymour Hoffman was seen in the hallways for his new film, Jack Goes Boating. The professor told me he suspected that the film crew was from the "Day for Night" art exhibit, possibly hired by the Art Department, and it was there to document the art exhibit that Hunter's buildings have become a part of.
This story, however, conflicts with that of the student, who was there with him when they spotted the film crew. When I questioned the student, he recalled that the film crew specifically stated that they were creating testimonials and advertisements for Hunter. I had never seen an advertisement for Hunter, so he cleared that up for me as well. They were filming for those short scenes you see on the various widescreen televisions placed all throughout the school, in such locations as the third floor bridge and the Oasis offices. This meant that the professor either could not remember what I was asking about or gave me the wrong story on purpose. I don't believe the latter, though.
It was then that I understood why they were upset originally: something as inconsequential as an in-house advertisement and announcement could have been made by Hunter students. Outside film crews did not have to be hired. Hunter has all of the film equipment and filmmakers that it needs, both professional (our professors) and amateur (our students, of course). I might understand their logic if the college wanted to publish these as commercials on television, like some other colleges have been known to do-and even then, it's a bit sketchy. But to hire a professional film crew to shoot something that is presumably never leaving the Hunter premises is kind of inexcusable. This is the equivalent to smacking our Film Department professors in the face. The professor that I spoke to went as far as to tell me that the Film Department is never notified of any filming taking place on premises, regardless of circumstance.
Of course, I'm not expecting all crews who want to film here to hire our students, even as interns, nor do I want them to be required to, but they could at least alert the department as a courtesy. As of now, I have not spoken to the office responsible for hiring the film crew, because frankly, I can't figure out who they are. There is an office adjacent to 714HW, but they are responsible for rentals and reservations only, like when church groups rent out our auditoriums. As far as I could find out, they aren't concerned with hiring. Logically, I assume that the "o.k." for this kind of thing must come from some sort of manager of publicity or human resources department. It's ironic that a department would not use its own human resources, especially in the face of an economic downturn.
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