Ellen Harrington '85 would like to thank the Academy for naming her Special Events and Exhibits Coordinator.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is best known for its annual Oscar awards.
"I will go to the Oscars, but luckily, I do not really have anything to do with it. It is a really big job," Harrington said.
In her new position, Harrington is responsible for designing displays of vintage prints of Academy Award winners and nominees. She also develops in-house exhibitions in the lobby and the fourth floor gallery of their headquarters which are open to the public.
"The current exhibition is of directors' drawings, from Martin Scorsese to Tim Burton. It is their production sketches--how they want the scene to look," Harrington said. "Then, we show stills and video of the actual film sequence. We show the progression from the director's imagination to the filming."
The creation of all-star retrospective tributes is also one of Harrington's responsibilities.
"This summer there will be a tribute to Marlene Dietrich which will include speeches from film critics and celebrities who knew her. I also hope to do a Gene Kelly tribute while he is still alive," Harrington said.
"Harrington's extensive knowledge of film history and her practical experience with both film programming and Hollywood production give her the ideal background for this job," said Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis. "We look forward to an exciting slate of interesting new events."
While at Dartmouth, Harrington was not extensively involved with the Film Department. She was a Ralph B. Wilkinson scholar and she studied Comparative Literature and Art History.
"I was so oriented in my education toward medieval and renaissance areas that once I got to graduate school at New York University, I plunged into modern film studies," Harrington said.
Her interest in film came in part from the quality programming of the Dartmouth Film Society.
"Some of my favorite movies, that I still love to watch and would program in my own screenings, I saw at Dartmouth," Harrington said. "People should get more involved with DFS. They are doing really innovative work."
While in graduate school, Harrington started working at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater. During that time, she attended many film parties where she met people from Punch Productions, Dustin Hoffman's production company, which she ultimately joined, she said.
"We researched movies Dustin was interested in as an actor and a director and formulated original projects too. I was involved with everything from casting to production," Harrington said. "I worked with a lot of well-known screenwriters and directors, providing feedback and helping to develop ideas and characters."
As a research coordinator for Punch Productions, much of Harrington's work involved researching potential script topics.
"Dustin is very research-oriented. For example, he wanted to do an environmental project. I had to research the field, looking for interesting topics and prototypes for people who have had real-life environmental adventures," Harrington said. "Once we got a story idea and had an outline of character development, we would call in a writer."
Harrington was involved with all production aspects of the films "Billy Bathgate," "Hook" and "Hero" and the Broadway production of "The Merchant of Venice."
In 1991, Harrington moved to Los Angeles where she landed a job as a story analyst with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
"CAA is the biggest agency in the world. Mike Oritz is SuperAgent, representing Kevin Costner, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty and just about any other big name you can think of. Any project made in Hollywood somehow goes through CAA," Harrington said.
"The agency finds scripts, sells them to studios and sells clients as talent packages. The great thing is that all hot scripts and future best-sellers go through the agency months and months before they ever go out to the public," Harrington continued.
Harrington expressed happiness to be out of the rat race of feature film productions.
"Film festival and programming work definitely has a different feeling than feature film work, which is more hostile. It is like a sharkpool where lots of stuff falls by the wayside," Harrington said. "It is very frustrating because really great ideas can get lost because of silly fights between directors and producers. I also get to use my education more in my new position."
Harrington advises people interested in getting involved in the film industry to be not only well educated in film history but, also, to get a really broad background.
"If you prove you can learn anything, you can work in any field you want. Do not major in something for practical reasons. Study what you love," Harrington said.
