Film Professor Celebrates 40-Year Run on NYU-SCPS Marquee

Professor Richard Brown Forty years ago, NYU film school alumnus Richard Brown launched Movies101@NYU to teach film aficionados about the ins and outs of filmmaking through in-depth conversations with leading actors, directors, and other movie business insiders. Called “New York’s premiere film course” by the New York Times, Brown’s class has attracted thousands of students—many repeat attendees—who are drawn by his engaging lectures on film technique and history and the chance to see pre-release screenings of popular films. Among the myriad stars to participate in the course are Alan Alda, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kevin Kline, Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Renée Zellweger, and Robert De Niro.

During a memorable appearance in the 1970s, guest Orson Welles said to the students, “You are very lucky, you know. This remarkable young pedagogue has figured out how to take the mystery out of the movie process...but leave the magic in.”

In addition to teaching, Brown is a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, PBS, and A&E, and has written and directed numerous award-winning television shows for the A&E Network, Lifetime, AMC, and PBS. His critically acclaimed series, Reflections on the Silver Screen, commissioned by the Library of Congress and produced by Brown’s wife, Zora Brown, featured 50 in-depth conversations with such screen legends as Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn.

This fall, Brown takes a second stage, teaching an NYU-SCPS special course series—both in person and online— through the New York Times Knowledge Network.