By Shelby Peck | Staff Writer
Friday marks the last day of Women’s History Month 2023, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” A substantial medium through which the stories of many women are shared is through the screen, and at Baylor, that responsibility is held by only one female faculty — Jessica Bean.
“I never thought I’d be an actor, much less, you know, writer, director of film … in high school I wanted to be a biochemical engineer,” Bean, film lecturer and equipment room manager, said.
Bean began her education with a degree in theater, but when she was given the opportunity to direct a scene from “True West,” a play by Sam Shepard depicting American idealism, she realized her passion for directing.
“When I directed it, I got a lot of really positive feedback, and everyone said it looked like a film,” Bean said. “When people said that, I was like well, ‘I’ve always loved film. Maybe I’ll take a couple of classes,’ and I ended up staying longer than that.”
She said she continued her time at Baylor by double majoring in theater and film, completing all the required film courses in one year. After earning her master’s in film and digital media at Baylor, she was hired by the department as an equipment room manager in June 2022. By the spring 2023 semester, she began lecturing.
“I can say my now coworkers I had as professors, which is just a unique thing to kind of move your relationship over. They are some of the coolest people I’ve ever met and worked with,” Bean said. “I don’t think there is anybody in the film department that is like each other … their interests are different. Their area of study is different.”
One of her first projects was digitizing the film equipment inventory, which was outdated and primarily on paper. Bean created a checkout system specific to each student explaining rules and permissions through an online software.
“No doubt she is greatly needed in the department in terms of the support that we need, but what makes her even better is that she has a master’s degree and she can teach as well, and so we can actually put her in as an adjunct,” Dan Beard, productions supervisor and film lecturer, said.
Beard works alongside Bean to teach film practicum classes and ensure students are receiving the detailed guidance required to be successful in film. Together, they supervise students working on their projects and answer the many questions that arise.
“She is a wonderful teacher, a very good educator,” Beard said. “We’re lucky to have her in terms of what she can do for the department logistically as well as what she can do for the students from an educational standpoint.”
Bean said she appreciates the respect given to her insight as a woman, but she also is grateful she is not treated differently in the department, especially in regards to moving heavy film equipment.
“These are voices that we want more of and we encourage, and it’s something that we take very, very seriously,” Beard said. “We’re happy to have Jessica on board and from a departmental standpoint, that’s something we really want to strive — to put more women’s voices forward and encourage them as filmmakers and storytellers.”
While she is currently the only female faculty in the film department, Bean said she is hopeful for the futures of all her students — especially the women — and the impact they will have on the film industry.
Although Bean has interacted with many female film professionals at other universities, she said it is rare to find film faculty who also have a faith, something unique to Baylor.
“There’s more and more women I adore every year. I can’t wait for the next five and ten years, when these women go off to get their doctorates and everything, and they are of faith,” Bean said. “We’re teaching the next generation, and they don’t have to be separate.”
Bean said modern film has become more accessible and so “democratized” that anyone can pick up a camera or phone and create a film almost instantly. Even though women are still largely underrepresented in the film industry — with only three women ever having won the Academy Award for best director — Alice Guy-Blaché, a woman, is credited with beginning the genre of narrative film with her picture “The Cabbage Fairy.”
“She was just playing around and the men were like, ‘Oh, this is serious; we’re doing our documentary work,'” Bean said. “She’s credited as the first, as pioneering narrative film.”
Women are also lesser-known innovators in the horror genre, a particular favorite of Bean’s. Often, horror films — especially those created by women — are viewed as regressive, but Bean acknowledged women’s substantial role in the genre’s draw and specialty.
“I think women in general understand fear really well because I think a lot of our lives are led by what we should and shouldn’t do,” Bean said.
As a piece of advice to future filmmakers, Bean said she believes those interested in the directing, writing, creative and storytelling side of film should always make the movie they want to see, not one they think others would respect or would sell well.
“Make the movie you want to see always because your voice is more important than anyone else’s,” Bean said. “We have all of these films that exist. We can go back to them; we can remake them. Make the movie you want to see.”
A career in film is not always easy, something Bean said she has experienced firsthand. She said she encourages anyone studying the creative or technical aspects of film to “holistically” take care of themselves by staying healthy and learning to push yourself by not saying no just because a new project may be unfamiliar.
“You’re going to hear things that may be discouraging from society at large or maybe your peers or maybe your parents,” Bean said. “If you do hear that, know that that’s normal and keep pushing. You’re going to break through. You have something important to say and you have a specific set of skills. There’s a reason why you’re here. There’s a reason why you feel a call to what you’re doing.”
