By Gavin Church

Sean Lynch is a cinema instructor at OCCC.

Lynch ‘s philosophy is that no matter where you come from, your background, your story, “make sure you love films, make sure that you want to do it.”

If you get into it, it is a hard and difficult industry to break into.
In the long run, Lynch suggests not wasting one’s time and that students find what they love, whatever that may be.

“If you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life,” Lynch told the Pioneer.

The Digital Cinema Production (DCP) program gives a step into the industry in making films.

There are many different areas of film you can be a part of, camera operator, set dressing, props, etcetera.

Whatever your goal is, DCP can lead you into making films out of OCCC.

“I kind of had a weird way of getting into film,” Lynch said.

Lynch grew up in Oregon. He initailly was going to be an engineer, but he didn’t do well and instead went to the Air Force for six years.

Through the Air Force he moved to Oklahoma where he met his wife and worked for TSA at the airport.

“I hated the job –– it is the most hated, the most out of all the jobs,” he said.
Lynch was rethinking what his love was.

When he was in high school he pursued writing and “loved the idea of telling a narrative”.

Lynch got back around to films, he found OCCC had a film program that taught students how to make movies and became a student.

He started in the art department, doing props and set dressing.

“Then I moved over to produce my own films,” he said.

Lynch has written and produced a lot of his own features, and now he writes his own scripts. He has now made 25 films.

He teaches two classes the majority of the time – CEN1 and production design.

In moving forward, OCCC wanted to make all classes 8 weeks long.
DCP instead sought to maintain 16-week classes.

“We didn’t like it, we hated it, we fought it, and we won the majority of the battles. That’s because we fought for the students, we thought that was the best for students,” Lynch said.

DCP built a package defending the 16-week schedule.

Lynch said for the most part, OCCC’s administration listened, and now in the DCP they have their classes back to 16-week classes.

Lynch said his favorite part of the job is “working with students, teaching.”
“I love to teach the next generation of students. Helping to build the next Spielberg,” he said.

Lynch said he loves to see when students figure it out after the whole semester and finally seeing the “light bulb” coming on their heads. By carrying out filmmaking techniques in a practical students will retain the information for a very long time.