NO STRANGER TO FILM
Doctor Strange was a megahit at the movies in 2016, pulling in more than $659 million at the worldwide box office and enticing a massive fan base of thrilled Marvel Comics enthusiasts — thanks to the hard work by executive producer and Ohio State alumnus Charles Newirth (BA, photography and cinema, 1977). In addition to Doctor Strange, Newirth’s bio is jam-packed with films he’s spent the last several decades overseeing — Iron Man 3, Forrest Gump, Galaxy Quest, Black Hawk Down, Across the Universe, Hugo, Peter Pan, Patch Adams, Bugsy, America’s Sweethearts, Robocop and many more.
Though Ohio State retired Newirth’s photography and cinema major in the ’90s, Newirth couldn’t be more pleased with the addition of the new moving-image production major in 2017. “This is something Ohio State has to do. With all of the advances in technology and communication, we are able to tell new and old stories in ways we couldn’t even imagine before. It’s 2017, and I think that it is crucial to have this new major as an option at a school as big and highly respected as Ohio State,” he said.
Newirth, who has consulted with the college as it shapes the new major, said he would be happy to support it via guest lectures and visits with Hollywood film experts. “For young people, particularly those living in Ohio, rather than in New York or L.A., it’s important for them to know their voice can be heard and have a platform to express it. This major will absolutely help them do that,” Newirth said. “They just need to roll up their sleeves and get to work and find their voice to tell their story, whether through experimental, documentary or narrative visual storytelling — it’s all good.”