Carney Judge, '17
By: Colby Alvino, '19
Photo Credit: Getty Images/AMPAS
Carney Judge, ’17, had the opportunity to shadow alum Roger Mancusi, ’12, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) this winter break through the Office of Alumni and Career Services' Spider Shadowing program. The program allows students to experience different career paths by shadowing Spider alumni or friends of the University of Richmond.
Mancusi decided to offer a shadowing experience due to vast number of helping hands he had along the way during the early stages of his career. “If I can pass that on, great. If I can pass it along to a Richmond student, even better,” he said. “I love that there is a large and growing group of Richmond alums here in New York, and I would like to show students that a degree and a career in the arts is something that is worth pursuing during and after their time at Richmond.”
AMPAS is the world’s leading movie-related organization. It consists of over 7,000 accomplished men and women working in cinema. AMPAS acknowledges excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences and joins the world together through entertainment. “I am the Coordinator of New York Programs and Membership,” Mancusi said. “Working with the Director of New York Programs and Membership, I help curate, program, and produce all of the Academy's public and private events on the east coast. This includes weekly membership screenings, screenings of classic films, filmmaker conversations, and on-campus education outreach events.”
Judge’s day began with meeting Mancusi at the office, and he immediately got to work. The two worked on a series of scheduling projects that he needs to complete monthly. “I realized that scheduling can aid in teaching you time management, which is important for someone as they first graduate college. Having scheduling experience is going to help you in almost any entry-level role, especially in the film industry, so it's great that I was able to learn that going into my second semester of senior year and I can practice those skills for my other jobs,” Judge said.
“Most of the things Roger had me working on were research for upcoming movie releases, which was quite interesting for me,” said Judge. Near the end of the workday, Mancusi took Judge to an official Academy membership screening of Ben Affleck's new film Live by Night. There was also a Q&A segment afterwards with members of the cast. “I helped set up and got to view the screening, before getting to listen to comments from the actors, including, Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Chris Messina and Chris Cooper,” Judge said, “having a private screening of a movie that isn't in theaters yet is already exciting, but getting to meet and listen to the stars of the film was really something special.”
Judge has always had an interest in the film industry and would love to work at a movie-related organization post-graduation. His experience with Spider Shadowing has given him great insight into what it is like to work in the industry. “You really get out of it what you put into it, and any students who are struggling with their career search should become more engaged in the Spider Shadowing program,” he said.