Marcia Rock

Profile Updated: October 12, 2017
Marcia Rock
Residing In NY, NY USA
Spouse/Partner Peter Williams
Homepage marciarock.com
Occupation Professor/Documentary filmmaker
Yes! Attending Reunion
Comments

It is hard to believe it is 50 years since I graduated from Shaker. I remember walking to school through the rustling of leaves and crunching of snow. I remember the three hour finals and excitement of working on Macbeth my senior year. I also remember wanting to leave the suburbs for New York City. Although I treasure my time in Cleveland, particularly the integrated experience of Ludlow elementary school, I was made for the City.

Unexpectedly, I connected with a Shaker classmate. I never knew Patty Stotter well during high school, but recognized her at a party for the documentary Unchained Memories for which she composed the score. I approached her and we started to reminisce a bit and something clicked. Since then we have not only become friends, but creative partners, co-producing a documentary on women veterans and a short about women veterans. Our shared experience at Shaker gave us a wonderful foundation for our collaboration and plenty of laughter. So you never know what a connection will generate and produce. And to top it off, Patty and I were invited to the Shaker Hall of Fame this year as a pair! We're delighted. Great way to celebrate 50 years.

And just one more note about a Shaker connection: one of the seminal moments in my career was working with Shaker graduate, Marlene Sanders on our book, Waiting for Primetime: The Women of Television News. A pioneer for women in broadcast journalism, she was the first woman to anchor a newscast and the first woman vice president at a network. She was an inspiration to me and many other women. She advocated all her life for diversity in the newsroom and for the rights of women. She treasured her education at Shaker, particularly because her parents couldn’t afford to send her to college for more than a year. I made a short video about her for her memorial: https://vimeo.com/137989511

As for me, I’ve led a dual career as NYU journalism professor and documentary filmmaker. My documentaries cover international dilemmas, women’s issues as well as personal perspectives. I recently completed three films on veteran issues, two with Patricia Lee Stotter. Soldiers Period is a humorous short debunking myths about PMS. Take a look:https://vimeo.com/177832931. SERVICE: When Women Come Marching Home about women transitioning from active duty to civilian life that won a NY Emmy. servicethefilm.com. Warriors Return focuses on Navajo veterans. From the plight of salt harvesters in Ghana to the changing role of women in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, I’ve covered Irish American and Northern Irish history producing Daughters of the Troubles: Belfast Stories (1997) that won many awards. McSorley’s New York, tells the story of the NY Irish through the patrons of the bar and won a NY Emmy.

I decided to stretch myself in a new direction at age 50 and produced the personal documentary, Dancing with My Father, that explores how adult love is shaped by what a child learns at home. It also includes an in-depth history of the Jews of Cleveland. Surrender Tango is a documentary on how tango can be a metaphor for relationships. Early work includes, Village Writers: the Bohemian Legacy (1990), Reynolds Price: a Writer's Inheritance (1989). My first major documentary was also connected to Cleveland. I followed the Singing Angels to China in 1982 and won a Cleveland Emmy for, The Singing Angels in China (1983).

Teaching has always been a constant in my professional life and a source of inspiration. I am now the Director of News and Documentary at the NYU Carter Journalism Institute.

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Marcia Rock has a birthday today.
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Oct 19, 2023 at 4:33 AM
Marcia Rock has a birthday today.
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Aug 21, 2018 at 4:21 PM

Happy birthday

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Jul 18, 2018 at 9:50 AM
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Nov 03, 2017 at 2:58 PM

Posted on: Oct 19, 2017 at 4:33 AM

Marcia Rock posted a message.
Oct 12, 2017 at 3:03 PM

Another honor--close friend and mentor Marlene Sanders was inducted into the same Shaker Hall of Fame class as Patty and I. I was able to introduce her to the current Shaker students and shared a piece of this memorial with them and I'm thrilled to share it with all of you.

Video of Marlene Sanders life and career. Special thanks to NYWIFT archive project for their interview from 2006 and to the documentary She's Beautiful When She's Angry for the interview from 2012.

Produced and Edited by Marcia Rock

Open by Adrian Mihai

Music by Patricia Lee Stotter

Post production mixing, Michael Shade
Marcia Rock posted a message. New comment added.
Oct 12, 2017 at 4:42 PM

Posted on: Oct 12, 2017 at 2:15 PM

Patty Stotter and I were just inducted into the Shaker Hall of Fame thanks to Kenn Rothman who was impressed by the documentary we produced together, "SERVICE." We had a wonderful and very moving experience meeting other accomplished inductees from '63 to '08, and the vibrant Superintendent. We spoke to a class assembly and we were interviewed afterwards by students. I can't stop thinking about one question I was asked by the bright African American conducting the interview. He wanted to know if we had experienced the "bubble." He was referring to the diversity at the school and the conscious effort to create a race blind space of equality and support. The students are thinking about how they will face the world outside. On a lighter note, I made Patty sing a Sesame St song she wrote that all the students knew and gave her a warm applause for work.

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Oct 02, 2017 at 9:35 AM

Posted on: Oct 01, 2017 at 4:56 PM

Can't believe we were both at Wisconsin and didn't see each other. I have a cousin who moved from Oakland to Port Townsend so know both well. Glad you're still vibrant. Remember the Lipton chicken soup and peanut butter sandwiches?

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Sep 03, 2017 at 12:54 PM

Posted on: Aug 30, 2017 at 3:20 PM

Congrats to my fellow Shaker Hall of Fame inductee. Isn't it a great way to celebrate our class that we will be inducted as a team for our collaboration on our doc SERVICE.

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Aug 30, 2017 at 3:16 PM
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Aug 03, 2017 at 4:15 PM