Jake Dodd was my film professor, and reconnecting with him felt like coming full circle. He's an independent filmmaker and Associate Professor of Cinema and Screen Studies at SUNY Oswego who still shoots on celluloid — memoir documentaries and fiction on 16mm and 8mm — and he literally wrote the book on it: 16mm and 8mm Filmmaking: An Essential Guide to Shooting on Celluloid.
We talked about the big, unfinished projects we both carry, what to do when the work stalls, and how he protects his own filmmaking while teaching full-time.
What we get into
- Why analog film still matters
- Balancing personal creative work with teaching
- Living with large, unfinished projects
- Moving through creative blocks
- Building a career that fits your values
- Community filmmaking in Oswego, and his class project at Fort Ontario
About Jake
Jake holds an MFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA from Ithaca College. His short films have screened at festivals including the Lahore International Children's Film Festival, Thomas Edison Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, and Athens International Film + Video Festival.