UW-Milwaukee: Former Vimeo CEO to honor mother, Patricia Mellencamp, film pioneer at UWM

CONTACT: Maureen Ryan, 414-229-3781, ryanme@uwm.edu

MILWAUKEE – Dae Mellencamp, former president and CEO of the pioneering online video platform Vimeo, will visit UWM on Oct. 25 to honor her mother, UWM Distinguished Professor Emerita of Art History Patricia Mellencamp, and to speak about Vimeo’s history and development in relation to its creators, film and media.

UWM’s Center for 21st Century Studies invites the public to welcome the Mellencamps for a celebration of Patricia’s work and film collection on Oct. 25 at 3:30 p.m. Patricia Mellencamp worked at what was then the UWM Center for 20th Century Studies from 1970-72 and enjoyed a three-decade tenure teaching film studies at the university. She is recognized as a foundational scholar in film theory and history, feminist theory and television studies. During the event, she will discuss the early days of teaching film studies and the challenges and opportunities facing filmmakers who used 16-millimeter film.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Mellencamps are both leaders in the film and video field. Dae Mellencamp joined Vimeo as the site’s general manager in 2009 and eventually became president and CEO of the video-sharing service, a role she filled until 2012. During her tenure, Dae Mellencamp helped to innovate the field of video distribution and technology and is among the most well-known women working in the tech and media industries. She regularly cites her mother as a defining influence in her career.

Patricia Mellencamp has amassed a valuable collection of 16 mm prints of films by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and others. The prints are now a part of the UWM Film Studies Moving Image Archive, which will be dedicated during the celebration in Curtin Hall, Room 175.

Mellencamp’s collection is in the process of being catalogued and preserved by the Moving Image Society, a group of UWM undergraduate and graduate students tasked with preserving the UWM Film Studies archives and sharing the collection through community outreach and programming.
The celebration includes a screening of a short film from the archive by students from the Moving Image Society.

A reception follows the dedication and celebration.

For more information, please visit uwm.edu/c21/event/patricia-mellencamp-founding-collection.