Major: Drama

Born in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Current residence: Bloomfield, New Jersey

Occupation: Film producer and author

What I’ve been up to since Kenyon: I first worked in documentary films and then migrated into producing narrative feature films. Now I’ve found a way to do both at Goldcrest Films.

Motto: Like Charles Schulz, I try not to go to sleep wrestling with questions I don’t have the answers to. I usually work out whatever’s bothering me on a long walk the next day.

Proudest accomplishment: In November, I published “Flying In: My Adventures In Filmmaking,” a book about the often absurd challenges I had producing movies in the ’90s and ’00s with some of the indie pioneers.

How my closest Kenyon friends would describe me: ”She’s the one laughing louder than anyone else, but it’s never at someone else’s expense.”

Favorite Kenyon memory: There was an otherworldly feeling on campus whenever it snowed; it somehow suspended the stress of that overdue English paper. We’d play Talking Heads cassettes on the paddle tennis courts and sled down the Hill on the plastic lunch trays from Gund.

Most surprising thing about life post-Kenyon: During the final semester, I only knew that I had to move to New York City. The rest, I’d figure out once I got here. I didn’t know then that my career could take me to Asia, Europe and Central America, and so many other unexpected places.

Best advice anyone has ever given me: Even someone with a great amount of experience will create better work if they truly listen. On my first job in a film editing room, the studio executives came in to screen a rough cut. They handed us a long list of notes, all of which I thought were completely wrong. But the lead editor looked at the notes, and then explained to me that all of their comments had some merit, and that each note was an indication of where the existing cut was flawed. We got back into the edit and massaged those areas, and the film was better for it.

Film that changed my life: When they screened “Metropolis” for my high school, I was awestruck. I wanted to get a look behind the screen to see how the film was made. And while Kenyon didn’t yet have a film department, the theater helped me get a grasp on storytelling and collaboration. All of it added up to a life in film.

Anything else? I come from a long line of teachers, so I enjoy guest lecturing at schools, passing on stories from the set and sharing some trade secrets.

Online: gretchenmcgowan.com