POP!: Inside look at The Late Night Film Series
The Late Night Film Series 2015 schedule. These free movies will now be shown in Memorial Hall, rather than the Student Center.
September 27, 2013
By Amelia Orwick
This year, UK’s Late Night Film Series was forced to turn away more than 100 students for its showing of “Monsters University” because the 450-seat theater could not hold any more bodies.
More than 200 students had to be turned away from “The Great Gatsby”.
And most recently, 300 students had to leave an advanced screening of “Don Jon.”
“This is lining up to be a record year as far as attendees for the Late Night Film Series,” said Alex Wright, political science senior and LNFS film coordinator.
For six years, LNFS has worked to provide free flicks and popcorn to students every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night.
The organization has already seen a 20 percent increase in attendees from last semester to the current semester.
Wright said in the past two years, LNFS has been at its best, seeing exponential growth in attendance.
Wright attended his first film as a freshman when he came to Lexington from Pittsburgh, Pa., and did not know a single person at UK.
“It was a great icebreaking experience for me as a freshman,” he said. “It’s been incredible to be able to work with something that’s defined your experience at the university.”
The seven LNFS employees log about 20 hours a week working out of their office in the Student Center, hanging posters around campus, updating social media, writing show times on boards in classrooms and keeping the show food and movie lines organized.
The employees’ majors range from engineering to economics, but Wright said they all share a passion for film.
“We don’t always exactly agree, which leads to some interesting discussion and leads to a great diversity of film,” Wright said.
LNFS prides itself on showing big blockbusters, lesser-known documentaries and everything in between Wright said.
“You’ll find that the student coordinators in charge of the program have done another outstanding job programming a diverse slate of films with an extraordinary balance between Hollywood hits and more obscure fare,” said Rob Theakston, LNFS adviser.
The 10 p.m. showings on Thursdays are typically reserved for films that the employees think will draw a big crowd, Wright said.
It is also common for LNFS to collaborate with other departments on campus to show films that are relevant to a particular subject.
For example, LNFS will be showing “Bully,” a documentary about the effects of bullying on students, on Friday in cooperation with the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center.
Wright said obtaining the films is not as complicated as it might seem.
For advanced screenings, studios will look for places they think the movie will do well and put it up for offer.
As far as the rest of the movies go, Wright said, LNFS get distribution rights, receives a copy and then sends it back to the studio.
The film schedule is usually set a semester in advance.
To attract more people to events, LNFS has implemented a punch card system that rewards students with a free drink on their second and fourth visits, and a free T-shirt on their sixth visit.
Wright said the system has resulted in many regular movie-goers.
“We have a set of regulars, and we love them all,” he said. “It’s awesome seeing students with that much passion for film.”
However, the boom in attendance also has its downfalls.
“It’s never fun to tell people that they can’t see the movie they really wanted to see,” Wright said. “But at the same time, when we fill the theater with students who wanted to see the movie, we know we’re doing the job the best we can.”
New LNFS film coordinator Evan Whisman said the team set a goal to have 10,000 students view a late night film this semester.
He said they are already halfway to the goal.
“It’s really cool to be a part of that … I didn’t really have an idea of how big it was until I got here,” Whisman said.
Wright said he thinks LNFS is one, if not the best, student-run film series in the country.
He said compared to other similar groups, LNFS has “surpassed a lot of things they’ve done.”
“We’re bringing in more students and showing all of our movies for free, which a lot don’t do,” he said.
Looking to the future, LNFS has no plans to move into a bigger space as of yet.
Wright said the organization would like to accommodate more viewers, but Worsham Theatre is the best place to host it on campus.
“We could move to another location, but it wouldn’t be a quality film-going experience.
And to show anything sub par, we couldn’t deal with that,” he said.
To Wright, looking out over a packed theater is what makes his work worth it.
“When you get up on stage to look out … standing there, seeing everyone go nuts,” he said. “Everyone appreciates what we’re doing, and it’s an amazing feeling.
This is the most gratifying job I’ve ever had.”
For the schedule of movies, visit uky.edu/studentcenter/lnfs. For more information on LNFS, to suggest films or to inquire about employment, visit facebook.com/latenight.filmseries.
