"The Paper"

Aaron Matthews, a Venezuelan born, brooklyn raised, documentary maker comes off as a cool older friend. Dressed in jeans and a sweater, he took questions from an audience of a few old journalists and SUNY Albany students who were there for writing related classes. His film "The Paper" focused on what happened to a Penn State student run newspaper, the Daily Collegian, from 2004 to 2005. It showed the declining trend of newspaper consumption and how, even though alot of people read newspapers, their sale is down.

After the Q and A, I went up to Matthews to introduce myself. I asked how did he feel talking to a room of college students, he said I "feel like a dinosouar." Another student spoke to him before me about getting his contact information for an interview about his movie. He made a joke that had him and I laughing but not the student he was talking to. He said, what about me as a human, making it seem as if everyone who approached him treated him like he was from a different plane and was only there for questions and to be examined.

I started by asking for his autograph, he was stunned and joked that the paper would now have less value with his signature on it. He is a warm guy. I can see why he does documentaries where there is little money to be made. Somehow I made it out of the theatre with his card, a big smile on my face and a matching one on his. When I do contact him, I will get the scoop on his next film and have alot more to ask him.