Cast Commentary

Get to know the “cast” here at the Jacob Burns Film Center: the employees, volunteers, and interns who make it possible to bring over 400 films a year to the community.

Featuring Aaron Mace, Senior Faculty/Program and Curriculum, Developer/Camp Director

What about your job do you find most satisfying?
My favorite thing that I get to do is to work in early childhood education classes in schools and here at the Lab. The students’ enthusiasm, unbridled imaginations, and willingness to try new things create a great environment for creating things together.

What about working at the JBFC might people find surprising?
I find that people are surprised to learn the extent of our education programming, or even that we do it at all! We work with people in school and after school, during the summer and on weekends, starting in PreK and continuing to all ages of adults. Additionally that about 3/4 of our students come from underserved communities and get to participate in our programs completely free of charge.

Talk about an important or influential experience in your life that sparked your interest in film and education. 
I started working here at the Burns as an intern back in 2004. At the time I was completing my degree in Video Production. As an intern I spent a lot of time participating in the 3rd grade program See Hear Feel Film. I hadn’t really worked with kids before and learned that I loved it. Here I’m able to combine my love of film and teaching kids. This program also introduced me to an idea that I hadn’t encountered anywhere else before, the idea that visual literacy (reading and writing of images) in today’s world is as important a skill as traditional literacies.

What’s currently decorating your work space?
Pictures of my family and little nick-knacks that have been given to me over the years. There is a poster from Japan that a principal made for me when visiting his school, board games made in my classes, a tiny leather shoe from Turkey, a Mexican flag keychain, a cowboy hat pen from Austin, anaglyph photos (red and blue 3D images) made at our summer camp, and more!

What’s the first movie you ever saw in a theater?
I have no idea. I remember my dad taking us to the movies when I was a little kid. We would go all the time. When I turned 10, I used to ride my bike to the 2nd run theater near my dad’s house. My little brother and I would get to see all of last summer’s movies for $1 per show.

If you could have a one-on-one dinner with anybody in the world—living or dead—who would it be?
I would like to have dinner with Bruce Campbell. I met him once and got to hang out with him for a few hours and he was a really great person. I think it would be nice to have some more time to talk with him, especially now that he has had a lot more time to look back at his career.