On September 20, students at the University of Georgia hosted the first reunion of the new student organization Out and Proud Filmmakers with the goal of supporting and inspiring the LGBTQ filmmaking community on campus.
President and Founder Danielle Kirby created the student organization after learning that there were no clubs or programs affiliated with LGBTQ+ at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication or involved in the entertainment media industry in UGA.
Kirby, a junior majoring in entertainment and media studies and anthropology, said they sincerely look forward to a bright, influential and secure future.
“As a queer person, you don’t always wear your identity on your skin,” Kirby said. “It’s harder to tell if someone accepts who you are. And so I want to create a safe space for that because growing up it can be hard to find your place.
Out and Proud Filmmakers’ mission is to “create a network of students to come together so that we can raise our voices as one and create change”, according to Kirby. The student organization hopes to influence the network as a whole to push for greater LGBTQ representation to enable safer spaces and better opportunities.
“We can focus on getting directors, people with ideas, to promote identity in the media because it’s an important element in the evolution of society…to show that it’s not is not an anomaly. It’s part of everyday life,” Kirby said. “So once we leave, we know we can go to work in places that are also safe places and not have to think, ‘Am I going to be at risk working here? Will I be safe? security and can I be me?
The group plans to host movie nights and seminars, hold pitch nights for members to share ideas, and attend the upcoming Pitch Fest. Pitch Fest is hosted each semester by the Entertainment Media Industries Club where student writers and directors can pitch their ideas and connect with potential cast and crew.
The organization’s meetings will be a safe space to talk about films and to discuss issues surrounding representation in the industry and to help filmmakers create their own short or feature films.
Members of the new student organization and attendees at the first meeting were excited to hear about the club’s goals as well as future possibilities.
Carrie Miller, an entertainment and media studies major and women’s studies minor and one of the club’s newest members, said they were very excited to meet and work with new people. .
Out and Proud Filmmakers will hold bi-weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m., and the club has many vacancies ranging from Vice President to Public Relations Manager, waiting to be filled by anyone with initiative and a passion for filmmaking. movie theater.
More information about the club can be found on the UGA Involvement Network website.
