Gretchen Robinson joined the University of Iowa staff in 2007 as an assistant professor in film and video production. She is responsible for the design and teaching of several undergraduate, graduate, and professional-degree courses, including the Introduction to Filmmaking course offered at U of I. In fall 2009, Robinson was appointed to her current position as director of University Cinematheque. Gretchen has been a faculty member in the Department of Theatre since 2010, where she teaches acting for film and TV
Gretchen Robinson graduated from Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts with a minor in English literature. After graduation, she moved to Chicago where she spent five years acting on stage before completing her master’s degree from Northwestern University. Her thesis was on the role of theatre in the script and development of the movie, “The Hours”, and she also completed a master’s thesis in instruction at DePaul University.
Gretchen Robinson has since written and produced a children’s television series as well as directed documentary features. She is currently focused on filmmaking at U of I, for which she received a grant from the National Endowment For The Arts in 2012.
Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation is the corporation that manages public parks, historic sites, and recreational facilities on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The city pays the corporation a fee based on the number of people who visit its facilities.
Since 2007 Gretchen has been involved with both the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation and independent artists’ group, Speakeasy Creative Collective. She was part of a collaboration between these organizations to produce a video about Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s tenure as New York City’s senator from 1977 to 1993.
Gretchen is currently working on her first feature-length documentary film, “The Great Depression”.
Gretchen Robinson’s films have screened at a number of festivals, including the Nantucket Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, and the Urbanworld Film Festival.
She is a board member of The New York Historical Society (TNYHS) and a member of DePaul University’s Fine Arts Department Advisory Board. She received an NEA grant in 2012 in support of her first feature-length documentary creative proposal entitled “The Great Depression”, which she wrote and will direct.