Film Club originally started back in the spring of 2013 when social studies teacher Mr. Steve Parsons and a couple of Mead alumni mentioned watching and discussing movies together and had the idea to make a club to do just that.

This year, following the COVID-19 restrictions of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, film club is back with co sponsors Mr. Parsons and art teacher Ms. Jennifer Lammey.

On the topic of why he enjoys film, Parsons said, “I just love movies — they are important because they can help us understand the world, humanity, and a lot of different aspects of living… life.”

Since October, the club has met every Friday from 3-6 p.m. in D214.

Students may enjoy joining Film Club because, according to Parsons, “Everybody is there for the same reason, and it’s completely safe and welcoming; you don’t have to have any sort of skill. It’s another way to build community and [talk to] people.”

“My goal in general has always been to help students expand the way they think about movies and entertainment choices,” Mr. Parsons added. 

An addition to Film Club this year is a film making component. In previous years, students involved have been able to meet with their peers to watch movies, but this year Ms. Lammey was brought into the mix to teach the students a bit more about film production.

She said, “We will have to gauge the interest of students, but film making lessons would be fun.”

With this expansion, the club is looking forward to one week watching a movie and then the next, possibly making one. This will be a way to get more students involved because it offers a wider variety of film and its components.

Hannah Kearns (’23) heard about the club last year when she was in Parsons’ AP U.S. Government & Politics class and she said she “really likes movies and wanted to get more into watching them” (‘23).  Her favorite film is The Princess Bride.

Since the school play ended, the club is looking forward to meeting in the auditorium which will allow them to watch movies on a larger stage.

Club sponsors and students are looking forward to more students joining.

Mr. Parsons said, “We want to have some movie nights on Friday and Saturday nights where the movies are shown in the auditorium and we have concessions; it would be cool to have some more experiences like that that we can share with the student body.”

There is also a film fest in the spring. The festival was put on a pause for the last two years, but it will be restarting this upcoming year.