CLOSE-UP ON FILM STUDIES ALUMNI
We Catch Up with Sheffield Hallam Film Studies graduates to find out what they’ve been doing since finishing their degree at SHU
Joan Parsons takes time out to tell us what she’s been up to since graduating from Sheffield Hallam’s Film Studies degree. Sit back and grab a cuppa - her story is truly inspiring!
1. What’s your current role at work?
I am currently Head of Queen’s Film Theatre. QFT is Northern Ireland’s leading cultural cinema, in fact the only full-time cultural cinema in the country. With its two screens QFT provides a high quality, diverse programme of films for audiences and has been open for over 50 years, through thick and thin. QFT is also a department of Queen’s University Belfast and is at the heart of the Film and Drama Centre, which incorporates the cinema, a theatre and a film studio space. My role involves managing and leading the cinema, and all the activities it undertakes. I spend a lot of my day to day looking at performance monitoring, planning future activities, managing people and balancing targets (both financial and culture). I like to keep engaged with all industry developments and visit film festivals to maintain connections and look for programme potentials. Overall, in my job, no two days are the same and it is a creative and exciting environment to be in.
2. Tell us about your time studying Film Studies at Sheffield Hallam University?
I was a student during some of the last years of the Psalter Lane campus so I expect my experience will be significantly different to the students now. Despite the slightly aged facilities I really loved the campus and the kind of art-school vibe was great as I felt able to relax and spend time there from the very beginning. I adored the library and when I was most hard-up, I would often just come to watch films or spend time browsing the periodicals. My tutors were really great and I still love to catch up with them when I can.
Sheffield Hallam Film Studies graduate Joan Parsons standing proudly in front of QFT, which she now leads.
My favourite thing about studying was the impetus to watch all sorts of great films, almost entirely outside of my previous experience and many of which remain key moments in my film memory and have clearly impacted on my film taste. For instance, Another Way by Károly Makk, a film which at the time left me baffled and now frequently comes back to my mind, it planted a seed with me and this film, along with many others have really had an impact. The way I was taught to watch films is vital for my role now and roles I have held in the past, I can watch them critically and from a business perspective which I believe helps keep the balance between what I just love and what I think other people will love.
I certainly wasn’t the brightest spark in my class, the morning screenings were a real test of my endurance and more than once I may have nodded off, however after going to a seminar after a particularly sleepy screening of Hamlet and saying ‘was there a ghost?’ I was soon shamed into a morning caffeine hit to help from then on. My favourite memory was doing a presentation on Midnight Cowboy, with incorporated whistling and semi-naked Jon Voigt pictures… it was great!
I am infinitely grateful for Sheffield Hallam giving me the opportunity to study, I had a few shaky years before I went to uni and arrived with no A-Levels and a personal statement specifying that I wanted to run an arthouse cinema, and somehow they were convinced.
3. What was your career pathway to your current position?
My got my first cinema job when I was 17. I had recently dropped out of sixth form college, been a bit ill and had virtually no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My jobs until then had been very varied and I had loathed almost all of them. A new Cineworld cinema was opening in my town, after many years without one, and I was very excited to see if I could get a job there. After a painful ‘group’ interview I was successful, this was the moment my life changed course completely. I loved working there, and re-enrolled in college to do a completely different set of courses, focusing on more vocational subjects (media and communications). I worked throughout college, sometimes full-time alongside studying (well, a bit of studying) and had free access to films. I worked in all the different areas, box office, popping corn, bar service, cleaning and finally projection. I adored working in projection and really fell in love with the technology and the way that your work was so clearly connected to the experience of the audiences. In my college we had a great tutor, who really introduced us to a wealth of amazing films through an evening film class and these two years were a really great film education intro.
The now closed Psalter Lane Campus Sheffield Hallam University
After starting at Sheffield Hallam I briefly worked at the Sheffield Odeon, but as first year was a bit of an upheaval I couldn’t really commit to enough hours there. Luckily, I was able to get a job at Cineworld Sheffield, through a recommendation from the Braintree cinema and this was the next clear step for me, working in a really busy cinema and seeing a lot more of the administration involved.
After graduation and a short hiatus I applied for a dream job…. At Showroom Cinema. I had had to leave Sheffield and was determined to return so got a train up from Essex and had an interview for a Duty Manager post. My experience in cinemas was a real advantage and I was delighted to get the job. Mostly this was an operational role, managing the day to day of the cinema. Arguably, the Duty Manager role is the hardest in a cinema, as you need to be able to deal with any number of unexpected circumstances and challenges and I really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of it. However, I could not help but look for ways to get into more of the cinema administration and programming side. As a temporary part-time programming assistant role came up I took the initiative and gave it my all. Gradually this role evolved and pretty soon I was a programmer, directing a festival, hosting events and learning so so much. The Showroom showed great trust in me to allow me to develop the post and myself and I feel so lucky to have worked there in such a supportive and creative environment.
In my time at Showroom I was formed as a cinema professional, able to learn from colleagues in Sheffield and far beyond, was able to immerse myself in an industry that I care deeply about, forge incredible friendships and travel far and wide. After nearly 10 years I knew it was time to make a change and face a new challenge, so in Jan 2018 I was delighted to start my current role in Belfast. A new country, a new level of responsibility and full of new challenges!
4. What traits did you have that made you stand out from the rest?
This is quite a hard question really and you’d maybe be better asking my colleagues over the years. I would say that as both the cultural/creative side and the operational/business side bring me a lot of satisfaction I am able to take genuine delight from organised queuing systems and number crunching box office reports as well as watching films at festivals and hosting Q&As. I am a pretty determined person really, work hard at things that I find difficult and stay connected to the audiences by regularly helping out in the cinema and during events.
5. What advice would you give our current or recently graduated Film Studies students wanting a film-related job or job in the film exhibition sector?
Film Studies and Screenwriting students in the Showroom cinema where Joan got her first big career break.
I would say just go for it! There are so many more routes in now, through training schemes and volunteer programmes, but don’t rule out working in a cinema at front of house. Almost all my most favourite people in this business started out as ushers in cinemas…. When you are applying for a job, make sure to include all your experience, not just what you think the employer wants to see – yes your short film credits are vital but also your part-time retail job is relevant – relate your skills as broadly as you can and if you see a glimmer of an opportunity, grab it with both hands!
6. If you could give one piece of wisdom to yourself when you were studying at university, what would it be?
Get more sleep, easier said than done I know, but it will make a big difference. If you are better rested your brain will work quicker, your work will reflect it and you’ll be much less mardy. To be honest, this is advice I’d give myself at any point! Specifically for student Joan I’d suggest that she watch more films, read more fiction and generally spend less time watching daytime TV!