Film Prof Dery's Animation Appears in New York Times Online

Last semester, the Film Studies Dept. added Assistant Professor of Film Jo Dery to its faculty to offer its students a more serious opportunity to study film animation. In December, one of her animated films appeared in the New York Times “Modern Love” column, complimenting Eliza Hecht’s amusing story “The Houseboy Wanted to Serve Me. I Tried to Oblige.” about her relationship with “Houseboy,” a man she met on OkCupid with a dominatrix fetish.

“I was asked to make this film by the producer, Nick Van Der Kolk, whom I first met in Chicago a few years ago,” Prof. Dery explained. “The NYT approved the commission. Nick chose the column, interviewed the author, edited the narration, and sent me the audio file to work with. I had about a month to make the animation. The “Modern Love” animation series began about a year ago—adapting the popular column into short films. I believe there is a new film released each month.”