From 2009 to 2012, Cinema Studies colleague Geoff Pingree and I worked with the President's office, the Friends of Apollo Theater, the architects Westlake Reed Leskosky to develop, plan, renovate and reopen the 1913 Historic Apollo Theater as a part of Oberlin College and the Cinema Studies program. On September 20-22, 2012 we organized was a three day reopening Gala which brought back alumni, artists and friends to celebrate. The Cinema Studies Center for Media Production and Education was opened to the students in 2013. The project was made possible through historic preservation tax credits and from Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman, Jim Burrows and Jonathan Demme. Now this building is the home of both the Apollo Outreach Initiative and Cinema Studies production.
