Arts@work profile — alice McShane

Alice McShane is the Program Manager at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival.

She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Cinema and Cultural Studies and studied a Master of Arts and Cultural Management. Alice followed her love of cinema and has found a fulfilling career in the arts!

Read more about Alice’s career journey below.

What did you study and what inspired you to pursue this path?

I studied a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Cultural Studies with Honours at the University of Melbourne. I always really enjoyed media in high school and after studying cinema at Uni I quickly realised I definitely do love this. I took that into an Honour’s year in Cinema Studies. After that I went away and worked for a couple of years then came back and did my Master of Arts and Cultural Management. It was through my Master’s I learnt what programming was and what sort of pathways there were to get into it. The whole time the through line for me was, ‘I really love movies, how do I turn that into a career?’. If you really love something then there is no point denying it, I was doing the best in those subjects, so I realised that this is clearly where my passions lie.

What is your current occupation?

I am the Program Manager of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. I believe that cinema helps us understand ourselves and what we respond to. It is constantly dismissed as nonsense, but it is critically important- it is literally our lives.

What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?

When I am watching really good movies that is really exciting to me. I also find relationship building really enjoyable as well. A huge part of programming is just relationships. Its great developing trust with people, whether that be filmmakers, distributors, or sales agents, that you can go back to year after year and have them be happy to share what’s coming up. That’s really rewarding for me because it lets me know that we’re doing the right thing in terms of doing right by these films and maximising their impact. The other aspect I really love is the way the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is quite collaborative in terms of the programming process. We know what everyone else is saying, we meet up and talk about the films we’ve watched, and those conversations are really invigorating, really necessary and crucial as well. It’s important to have as broad a sweep of opinions as possible. When I am watching hundreds of films, it’s really fantastic when people agree and say, ‘yes this film is great’ or disagree and say, ‘no, this film isn’t great’, or elevate something that I need to see. The collaborative aspect feels like attending a cinema studies tutorial at Uni almost, it really gets your synapsis firing in a way that I definitely missed being out of Uni. I feel very fortunate to be in a position where I am constantly getting creatively and intellectually challenged.

Thinking back, what was a highlight of your tertiary study?

I had a very small group of friends and we actually became quite close with a few of our lecturers and tutors and having that kind of really close personal relationship was incredibly impactful and powerful. I think that it really gave us an opportunity to flesh out ideas with people that were just so much smarter and so much more seasoned than we were. To be able to sit with them really opened my mind to the fact that cinema studies isn’t unimportant. Understanding the long history of storytelling, and the way humans have told stories about ourselves is crucial. The highlight of my tertiary studies was the relationship I had with lecturers and tutors for not only legitimating the career path that I wanted to follow, but also allowing me to pursue what inspired me and to think broadly and think creatively in a way that a Bachelor of Arts encourages. Staffing can truly not be undervalued; it really is everything.

Were there any co-curricular activities you found particularly valuable?

I was involved in the Melbourne Uni Shakespeare Company, I thought I was going to be a theatre kid. That was formative in terms of letting me know that I wasn’t going to be a theatre kid, so that was helpful. The most important, not necessarily extra-curricular activity, but the most important thing that was aligned with the Uni that came out of one particular course was the opportunity to do this subject called Human Rights on Screen, as part of my Master’s, which was actually a bit of a feeder course into the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival.

How do you think your humanities education has shaped you personally and professionally?

I am extraordinarily grateful for my humanities degree in giving me the tools to be very interested in asking questions, pursuing knowledge, and pursuing learning. I think that is critical in protecting our democracy as well, there are a lot of ways in which governments and our government relies on us being too tired, too busy, and too uninterested to question what is being fed to us. I think viewing everything with a critical lens and understanding that everything that is being put to us, even in a documentary format or news format, comes with subjectivities. Personally, the humanities gave me an understanding of myself, what I love, and gave me more compassion for others. The way that humanities directs you to the love of learning, pursuit of what you are passionate about and critical thought is so vital.

Professionally, the skills you learn in a humanities degree really are transferrable. Things like the ability to conduct research is incredibly valuable, strong proofreading skills are incredibly valuable, and strong writing skills will never go astray anywhere. The ability to communicate yourself and communicate the things you are passionate about, that skill is incredibly important. Professionally, it meant that I have had to approach my career in a much more roundabout way, which means there is no linear progressions whatsoever. But I believe if you are drawn to a humanities type field of study, then you are probably not interested in a linear career anyway. It is reconciling the fact that society is probably going to tell you that you should go one way but personally you know you need to go another. That is probably going to be a tension all throughout your life, comparing yourself to others, not knowing if you’re on the right path, not feeling like you’re progressing as quickly as you should be, but the flip side is to get a job that might allow you to enjoy your weekends and annual leave, but that doesn’t enrich or nourish you day to day. My humanities degree allowed me to pursue a field that I was very passionate about.

What career advice would you give to current students or recent graduates?

Be very kind to yourself. Don’t think that you’re a failure if you come out of a Bachelor of Arts with no career idea, that is very normal and very understandable. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to reach out to people and say, ‘hey what did you do to get into your position because I really want to get there one day’. Be infinitely curious. When you are told the world is your oyster it can be terrifying, so listen to your gut and think about organisations you might like to work for to really narrow that field down for yourself. Also remember that any time you pick one avenue it doesn’t mean that all other doors close behind you as well. If you’re coming out of your Bachelor of Arts and you’re not the most well-connected person in the world, be patient and be kind to yourself, volunteer a lot, and really invest in your peers.

If you’re at a Master’s level, I would suggest picking your internship very wisely. Strongly consider where you might like to intern and what kind job prospects that internship is going to afford you, this is incredibly crucial. I only did one year of my Master’s because I got an internship at Palace Cinemas then got a job there almost straight away. During my first year of my Master’s I worked at ACMI, I volunteered at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, I was working as a runner in a TV show, and I was working for Palace Cinemas. I had my hands in every pie, and that really allowed me to try all the pies and realise that film festivals were truly what made my heart sing. I ended up getting a job at Palace Cinemas working in film festivals there for a few years and then went over to the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival.

Finally, what book have you recently read that truly captured your attention?