Carey Cameron ’24 Plans Future in Media and Entertainment

The senior English major and creative writing minor has held multiple arts and culture roles in the D.C. region.

By Chloe Kim

Ever since she was young, Carey Cameron ’24 loved movies and theater. When she learned of the Greenbelt Cinema last year during a tour of its film collection as part of her class, CINE 419E: “Digital Storytelling with Archives,” she was impressed by its nearly 90-year history and eclectic film collection and archive.

As someone who hopes to work in film and television, Cameron was excited to learn about an internship opportunity at the Greenbelt Cinema, an important community-based cultural and social hub in Prince George’s County. Built between 1937–38 and renovated from 2014 to 2015, it hosts exhibitions and archival objects to educate visitors about film history in addition to screening movies.

Since January, the English major and creative writing minor has had a mix of creative and administrative duties at the cinema. One of her major projects has been to compile and edit archival footage to create videos on the history of the Greenbelt Cinema, which will be publicly displayed. Cameron is also programming a summer film series lineup and assists with tasks such as tracking memberships.

“I love the people I work with and I’ve been learning so much about how a cinema runs while getting to be creative,” Cameron said.

Cameron, who is from Severna Park, Maryland, entered the University of Maryland as an English major. After switching briefly to communications to broaden her skillset, a pivotal course, CMLT 275: "World Literature by Women," drew her back to English.

“I loved the books we read, and the conversations we were having. It made me fall back in love with the major,” Cameron said.

As a creative writing minor, Cameron cultivated a love of writing her own stories, initially sparked by a playwriting course she took with English Lecturer Liam Daley.

“I had never written a play before in my life, but it was so fun and so amazing that I ended up making my minor creative writing and doing a lot more script writing classes,” Cameron said.

She then joined the Jiménez-Porter Writers' House, a living-learning program in the College of Arts and Humanities focused on creative writing. She found mentorship and encouragement from Director Ross Angelella, senior lecturer in English, and integrated writing as a crucial creative practice for herself.

To further diversify and sharpen her writing skills, Cameron also wrote for the diversions desk at The Diamondback, where she covered the arts and culture beat. She’s also held a number of other roles in the arts both on campus and off, including as a student curator for NextNOW Fest at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and a programming intern for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

“The number of artists that come through the Kennedy Center is amazing. There are so many places in D.C. where new work is being put on and you can get involved in the entertainment industry. It’s a really great gateway,” Cameron said.

After graduating in May, she hopes to move to New York City or Los Angeles to work for an agency or film production company. She said she feels ready, thanks to her experiences at UMD. 

“The opportunities I’ve had in terms of being prepared to go into the world of entertainment is amazing. I've made so many connections within the entertainment industry that I know a lot of other schools would not have given me,” Cameron said.