CMU students make trip to international film festival in Kentucky

Brownstown freshman Nicole Kress had no idea what she was getting herself into when she arrived in Louisville, Ky.

In four days, Kress and 29 other Central Michigan University students experienced almost every aspect of being involved in the filmmaking industry.

“We had no idea what we were getting into, but we still went,” Kress said.

The 30 Event Management minor students, along with Recreations, Parks and Leisure instructor Lori Tuma, traveled to Louisville on Oct. 1 to volunteer at its first International Festival of Film.

The festival is designed to showcase independent films and raise money for the education of future filmmakers in the Louisville area. The festival also held seminars, events and parties to educate and raise awareness about the future of film education in Kentucky.

Students were invited to volunteer via announcements in recreation classes and a Facebook group created by Tuma. Kress said an announcement was made in her class about the opportunity and, the next day, the trip was already full.

The students helped with the various jobs of the festival, including selling merchandise, starting films, checking tickets and even watching and rating the films.

“I literally had the chance to work in every aspect of this event, from being a film technician, to selling merchandise, and everything in between,” said Mason sophomore Brittney Bushard.

The event management students not only gained valuable experience volunteering at the film festival, but they were able to meet the festival’s founders, the filmmakers, actors and employers in the event management field.

“My favorite part was the networking,” said Ida sophomore Chelsea Huffman. “We got to network with event management people to help us further our careers.”

Both Huffman and Bushard said they enjoyed having fun while gaining the real-world experience most college students dream of.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Bushard said. “Not many students get an opportunity to have hands-on-experiences in an event of this magnitude. The students who went on this trip really have an advantage over our competition of future graduates.

“This sort of hands-on-experience is something that cannot be taught in a classroom.”