“When I first started coming to BU, I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter,” acclaimed director Jennifer Getzinger told a crowd of 250 students. “Then I took Ray Carney’s class, and we watched a lot John Cassevetes and that completely just blew my mind. I was just like, ‘Wow, there is a whole other way of storytelling.’”
Boston University students flocked to the College of Communication Friday night for a screening of a “Mad Man” episode and a meet and greet with the COM alumna.
As part of COM’s Cinematheque program, Getzinger showed “The Suitcase,” one of two “Mad Men” episodes that earned her nominations from the Director’s Guild of America.
Getzinger has worked on “Mad Men” since its pilot episode. While she started out as a script supervisor for the series, she went on to direct several episodes, including “The Gypsy and the Hobo” and “The Good News.”
Getzinger earned a degree in broadcasting and film in 1990. Before “Mad Men,” she worked as a script supervisor for movies such as “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Devil Wear Prada” and television shows such as “Strangers with Candy,” “Sex & the City” and “The Sopranos.”
The director also shared her experiences in the industry, particularly how she had to work her way up to a top position.
“It was very frustrating because it’s hard,” she said. “A lot of this industry is about perseverance, and it’s about working hard and keeping your eye on what you want to do.”
Getzinger told students to appreciate the work they take on as much as their ultimate goal, recounting her work as script supervisor for “Requiem for a Dream.”
“I think we all want to skip ahead and be the producer or the director or the writer or the cinematographer or whatever, and you’re skipping ahead of all these amazing things that you can learn and experience by being a part of a film in a different way,” she said.
COM sophomore Allie Kolb said Getzinger’s presentation reassured her that she can work her way up to her ultimate goals in the TV industry, despite the level of competition she may face.
“It’s a terrifying industry to go into,” Kolb said. “She gave me a lot of confidence that I can do something other than what I want to do for 10 or 15 years and eventually get to the point where I want to be, which is very inspiring.”
Eddie Orsi, a COM graduate student, said he doesn’t watch “Mad Men,” but wanted to hear from a professional director.
“It was just really cool to see someone talk about [television] from a professional standpoint and what it’s like to be in the business right now,” Orsi said. “It was kind of a current view into how TV really works.”
Kolb said she appreciated a Cinematheque focusing on the TV industry and particularly on “Mad Men.”
“It’s really interesting when [COM has] a Cinematheque for television, rather than film,” she said. “It’s a medium that often goes overlooked and is often seen as less of an art form than film, but I think especially with a show like ‘Mad Men’ it is really seen as an art form.”
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