The classrooms in Greylock Hall, typically quiet during Winter Study, were bustling with excitement last weekend as students carted around professional camera equipment and boom microphones. The course “A Filmmaker’s Workshop” has brought Hollywood to Williamstown.
This was the culmination of four weeks in which the 14 enrolled students produced short films for the course, working in pairs. When students felt intimidated by the seemingly daunting task of producing short films in a narrow time frame, they could turn to their experienced course instructor: seasoned actress Jessica Hecht.
Hecht’s television career spans several renowned series, including recurring roles in Friends and Breaking Bad. She was nominated for two Tony Awards for her performances in A View from the Bridge and Summer, 1976.
But Williamstown, where she lives part-time, has a special place in her heart. Hecht has performed in the Williamstown Theatre Festival several times over the last 25 years, and, as a result, she has grown familiar with the Town and College communities. “I really feel it as a cultural Mecca,” she told the Record.
“I know this college offers so many different avenues to educate yourself, but to me, Williamstown is just a creative hub,” she said. “No matter how many geniuses are working on some sort of deeply difficult scientific theory, I think of it as a totally creative place.”
One way Hecht engages with this creativity in Williamstown is through her Winter Study course, which she has taught several times in recent years. “[Williams students are] so hardworking, and I think one aspect of their time here should be about artistic productivity,” she said.
Hecht believes that Winter Study is a unique opportunity for filmmaking education, partially because of the lack of a film department at the College beyond its interdisciplinary Film and Media Studies coordinate and contract major. “I like the education that Williams students get in terms of critical thinking and a lot of them are real cinephiles, and I find that thrilling,” Hecht said. “But the actual making of a film or acting of a play or writing of a play, or any of that, as part of your curriculum — I think is of great value as a companion piece to the critical study of art that [students] get.”
Emma Hennessy ’26, a student in the class, expressed similar feelings. “I’m really interested in filmmaking, and [the College has] a shortage of classes that are based around it,” she said. “And this one [involves] so many people who actually work in the industry.”
Hecht typically co-teaches the course with her husband, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning director Adam Bernstein. His directing experience (with credits including Fargo, 30 Rock, and over 70 music videos) combined with her acting prowess give students a broad overview of the production process.
The pair first taught the course for students studying abroad in Italy in 2007 — at the height of the excitement for Breaking Bad, in which Bernstein directed and Hecht appeared. Through the course, they hoped to teach students about all aspects of the filmmaking process, from screenwriting to editing, which the course continues to do today.
One of the challenges of producing a short film in just four weeks is that students have only one week to film their projects — and many have to shoot around the work schedules of Hecht’s friends, many of whom are professional actors visiting to star in the films. “It’s very limiting,” Hennessy said. “But it makes it kind of nice, because you’re forcing yourself to be really intense about your schedule.”
“If the course was extended into a semester, I think it would be wonderful,” Hecht said. “But there’s something about the guerilla nature of doing it in a month.”
The students work entirely with resources available at Sawyer Library, which Hecht says is one exciting part of teaching at the College, since the library staff are passionate about helping students create new projects. Though students might not be aware of the materials available to them, this course helps introduce aspiring filmmakers to new technology
Despite Hecht and Bernstein’s impressive filmographies, when they’re in the classroom, Hecht said, they’re often treated like filmmaking equals. “When I teach with him, and he shows scenes from Breaking Bad or The Sinner, some things that we’ve done together, it’s fun — but in some ways, it’s no different than showing a short film that we’ve just made in class,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, cool. That’s the way that works.’”
“There’s a sort of refinement among Williams students about looking at people that have achieved something in their profession — respecting it, but not trying to engage in it with any inappropriate interest,” Hecht said.
As a result of this comforting class environment, Hecht has developed a strong relationship with her students. “When I tell people about the class, I find it weird saying, ‘Oh, my professor,’ because they’re more like your mentor,” said Cameron Smith ’25, a student in the class. “They really care.”
While Bernstein is not co-teaching this year’s iteration of the course, Hecht has invited several other experienced guests to teach specific aspects of the filmmaking process — including filmmaker Jethro Waters, actress and director Jodie Markell, and Williamstown locals like filmmaker Dave Simonds, director Stacy Cochran ’81, and actor Kevin O’Rourke ’78.
“We tried to create a course that brought our friends in so that people could get a very specific entrée into every aspect of filmmaking, and also so that they can make as many contacts as possible if they decide to go into one of these areas,” Hecht said.
But Hecht and Simonds said that the course also brings students together. “We wanted to capitalize on a film community that could be stronger at Williams,” she said. “I want students to recognize each other’s aspirations in film.”
“Filmmaking is a collaborative art form, and they’re really good at it, acknowledging other people’s creative instincts,” Simonds added.
Overall, Hennessy and Smith said they appreciate the opportunity to take on a fun project. “With this kind of work, the assignments aren’t actually assignments,” Hennessy said. “It’s like being given a space and the guidance to do a passion project over Winter Study.”
“Everybody is genuinely passionate about it,” Smith said. “[Hecht] is helping us really do it.”
As the students finalize their films and prepare to showcase them in Paresky Auditorium on Feb. 18, Hecht hopes that they will learn about themselves through the experience. “What’s beautiful is when, through the films, people reveal something about themselves that they don’t usually get to reveal,” Hecht said.
