By Angelique McKowan
Photo by Maria Ho

When professor Bill Gentile came to Kent State University after leaving a job at Newsweek Magazine three years ago, no one in the JMC school had ever heard of a class where students learned to make their own documentaries.

" I was brought in to help revitalize visual components of the school," Gentile said. "When I introduced the idea of the documentary class, the administration was very, very supportive.  They purchased all the equipment, the cameras.  They found the money to get the cameras, even though they're very expensive."

Gentile taught the documentary class for three semesters.

" I'd like to think the students found the class challenging and gratifying.  I certainly did," Gentile said.  "Broadcast Documentary teaches students to tell stories, which is the essence of our craft. It teaches them how to effectively use cutting edge technology to address issues that are im portant to themselves and to society at large."

Gentile said many students took advantage of the opportunity to address issues of particular importance to themselves.

Two African-American students, for example, made a documentary on racism, while two other students, including one whose father is a Vietnam veteran, did their project on Vietnam Veterans.

" These are imaginative, courageous documentaries by students with the imagination and the courage to dig deep into themselves and do work that is central to their own identity,"Gentile said.  "And I am extraordinarily proud of them for having done so."

In spring 2003, Gentile taught his last semester of Broadcast Documentary at Kent State.

And this fall, Gentile has begun a new job as a professor at American University, where he will soon teach a documentary class very similar to the one he initiated at Kent State.

Current documentary professor Dave McCoy discusses class projects.

Professor Karl Idsvoog will take Gentile's place in teaching the Broadcast Documentary class in the spring, and he said he has high expectations for Kent State JMC students.

" Given the talent level of the students at Kent, I expect this will be broadcast quality," Idsvoog said.  "We're not producing documentaries for practice, we're producing them to put on TV for everyone to see."

Mark Robinson, who assisted Gentile when he taught the class, said he believes the quality of the documentaries will one day help JMC students find jobs in their desired fields.

"Students can show their documentaries to employers and say, 'I did this.  I had a part in this,'" Robinson said.  "It's something students are proud to show - that they produced something of quality and didn't just sit in a classroom with a book."

Documenting history, capturing life

See clips from past documentaries

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