What’s your occupation?
Nancy: I am a multimedia journalist at GV Wire, a daily online news site based in Fresno. My focus is reporting on education and religion.
What are some things you like to do in your free time?
Nancy: I love to travel, to explore the nooks and crannies of California and to dust off my passport and visit the many places around the world that I’ve dreamed about – or that I’ve first seen in movies. I’m into photography, so my trusty Nikon accompanies me on my travels.
I also love to sing with the Fresno Master Chorale and Coro Piccolo. I’m in the alto sections. We are blessed to have such a wide variety of wonderful music to sing and such a wonderful director to sing for! I’m also secretary of my church council, and I just joined a book club.
What’s one of your favorite all-time movies and why?
Nancy: I fell in love with “Stairway to Heaven” — titled “A Matter of Life and Death” in the UK release — a film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger released in 1946 and notable at that time for some amazing special effects. Partly in color and partly in black and white, it’s got romance, fantasy, politics, great production design and script, set against the backdrop of World War II.
David Niven stars as a doomed Royal Air Force pilot whose final conversation is with an American woman manning radio communications. He bails out of his burning plane and then washes up on shore after the heavenly conductor sent to get him misses him in the English Channel fog. He sees a woman on a bicycle, who is the startled radio operator. They fall in love, but he starts having episodes that his doctor attributes to a brain injury; however, in those episodes he sees the heavenly conductor who is trying to convince him to agree to go to heaven. The doctor arranges for surgery, and after the pilot is knocked out by anesthesia he sees himself in a celestial courtroom where he must argue for his life.
How and when did you get involved volunteering with Filmworks?
Nancy: I had been attending Filmworks shows occasionally over the years, when I wasn’t scheduled to work Friday nights at my old job at The Fresno Bee. Last summer I saw an email from Filmworks that said they were seeking volunteers for a variety of tasks, and I thought it would be fun to help out. And it has been!
What is your typical volunteer experience like with Filmworks?
Nancy: Most of my volunteer work so far has been to assist with writing for membership and fundraising letters and to do Q&As with members, sponsors, and volunteers for the Film Forum blog. It’s been fun to learn more about some of the people who have put a lot of time and effort, and their support, into the organization.
[Nancy is our Film Forum blog’s new editor and coordinator, starting this month!]What’s your favorite movie you’ve seen at the Tower Theatre, Filmworks or otherwise?
Nancy: It is awfully hard to narrow it down to one, but the movie that probably sticks out most in my mind was “Lucky,” starring Harry Dean Stanton. He was always one of my favorite character actors, and his performance might have been more memorable to me because he had passed away shortly before the film was shown here, and I knew I was watching his last performance – and what a way to end a career!
What types of movies would you like to see Filmworks show more of?
Nancy: The international films, fictional or documentary or whatever, are always intriguing to me because they are a window to different locales around the world. I think that goes to my love of travel.
What film are you most excited to see next in theaters?
Nancy: This is a little embarrassing to admit in a public forum, but … I’m really looking forward to the “Downton Abbey” movie. I really loved the series. I was in the Warnors Theatre when one of the seasons debuted there with ValleyPBS, and it was fun to see it on a big screen. I’m pretty much a sucker for period-piece movies with great writing and acting! I don’t care what language it’s in.
Why should people consider volunteering with Filmworks?
Nancy: If you like independent films, and you want to help out the organization that brings them to Fresno, consider volunteering with Filmworks. There are lots of different jobs that you can help out with, and you also might have some fresh, original ideas that you can offer that will help the organization continue to evolve. Plus, you get to meet and hang out with people who also are into independent films, and what could be better than that?
Filmworks thanks our May 2019 volunteers: Amara Bell, Teule Bell, Nené Casares, Natalee Flores, Judy Haber, Karen Hammer, Neal Howard, Julio Lopez, Richard Markley, Dotty Mora, Donna Mott, Steve Ohanesian, Luis Ojeda, Gene Richards, Lorraine Tomerlin.
Filmworks thanks our April 2019 volunteers: Teule Bell, Gloria Burrola, Nené Casares, John Dunning, Natalee Flores, Judy Haber, Rebecca Horwitz, Neal Howard, Julio Lopez, Richard Markley, Ann McGowan, Conde McGowan, Dotty Mora, Donna Mott, Steve Ohanesian, Luis Ojeda, Nancy Price, Lorraine Tomerlin.
Filmworks thanks our March 2019 volunteers: Sonny Botello, Gloria Burrola, John Dunning, Natalee Flores, Soledad Gonzalez Mora, Judy Haber, Rebecca Horwitz, Neal Howard, Julio Lopez, Monica Marks, Katie McQuone Botello, Steve Ohanesian, Luis Ojeda, Nancy Price, Lorraine Tomerlin.
To meet our past volunteers in the spotlight and to find out how you can volunteer with Filmworks, visit our volunteer page.