The Hampshire College Alumni Reel Returns to In-Person Showings This Fall

Following a virtual Reel during Hampshire’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the College plans to return to its tradition of in-person showings this fall. In anticipation of the 2023 Alumni Reel, we talked with organizer Dan Epstein about its history, evolution, and future.

What is the Alumni Reel?

The program itself is a blend of all the commercial and personal projects Hampshire alums have chosen to submit to represent themselves and what they do. This year we’re asking people for about two minutes of their work. In the last Reel, in 2021, some 80 alums in the film and entertainment industry submitted their best recent work from all sides of the camera. Submissions came from directors, actors, performers, editors, directors of photography, and writers, to name just a few. From serious documentaries to comedic pieces, the Reel barely scratches the surface of the volume of work by our alums in media. This year is shaping up to be a similar mix. 

Over the years, the Reel has evolved as the Hampshire alum community has grown with the types of projects reflecting different interests, and technological and societal changes.  Not always do the bigger and better productions stick with me; sometimes it’s the personal message or smaller idea in a work that captures one's fancy. The contrast in the submissions is huge and useful. Seeing the post-Hampshire mind of our contributors at work does make me think there’s something characteristic about the people who have attended the College. 

How have you been involved with the Reel over the years? 

I was around at the very beginning of the Hampshire Reel. Bill Kern 75F, Tara Tandlich 80F, and many other alums had just finished working on Reunion Weekend — a documentary about Hampshire’s 20th-anniversary gathering — and we wanted to show the video to an audience. Thinking the movie was a bit short in length to show all by itself, we decided to invite alums to send us some of their work so we could assemble it into another part of a larger screening. This made sense, as almost everyone who worked in the field had to create their own reel to show people what they did. Of course, this was in the days when large videocassettes and tape machines were required to play back and edit video. There were no websites or YouTube-style venues to display your work. Also, there were very few personal edit rooms, but Bill and a few others we knew had them. We also added a short film that Roger Sherman 73S had finished recently, so we had a nice three-part program. Somehow, we rented, or borrowed, a space at Young Filmmakers in New York City, figured out a way to invite people, brought in more folding chairs for the audience, and pulled in a respectable crowd. It was a fun party, basically. There didn’t seem to be anything quite like it in the Hampshire alum universe. 

The Reel became a great basis for alums to connect and made sense to be updated over time. After a few years, the Alumni & Family Relations Office took over organizing the screenings and so on, as it was looking for ways to keep the alum community connected with the school and other alums. I was happy to just send in a submission and help the school keep the event going as needed. After the 2019 “troubles,” I was asked what was going on with the Reel and volunteered to continue it, with the school’s help. 

Are you excited to have the Alumni Reel in person again?

Those first few years, in the mid-’90s, it was amazing how big the screenings became in New York. It was akin to a class reunion, seeing old friends and making new ones. Meeting people in person was a big part of the draw. Now, after the pandemic, I think going back to in-person events will be important to our sense of community. 

It’s clear that seeing the broad range of work submitted to the Reel gives insight into the Hampshire film/video/media communities' choices and interests. It has never been easier to show your work as the submission process has gotten easier and easier over time. Uploading digital files is not a difficult process when compared to sending in physical tapes. 

To submit your project for the coming Alumni Reel, please fill out the form on this site. Please make your submission by 7/23/23. When you’ve completed it, the Office of Alumni & Family Relations will contact you with instructions to upload a file we can access.

Dan Epstein studied literature and communications at Hampshire, and for his Div III, he made a 45-minute narrative video called One Another. Now based in New York, Epstein has worked on award-winning productions for broadcast, cable, and industrial companies and continues to work in video and audio production.