Film Forum

Volunteer Spotlight: Gloria Burrola and John Dunning

Gloria Burrola and John Dunning

John and Gloria (pictured here in Prague) enjoy traveling, art and of course, great films!

1. Introduce yourselves. Are you from Fresno? Where are you from originally?
We live in the Tower District. Gloria is originally from Texas and moved to Fresno from Seattle, a UW and CSUF graduate. John is a native Californian–Los Angeles and a UCLA graduate.

2. What are your occupations?
We are retirees. Gloria was a school psychologist and John was an engineer.

3. What are some of your favorite hobbies/things to do outside of work?
In addition to loving great film, we enjoy traveling, art, theatre, opera, and concerts. John has a family background in film as his father was an Oscar-winning film editor and his sister, Barbara, is also a retired feature editor.

4. How and when did you first hear about Fresno Filmworks?
Gloria remembers seeing a Filmworks presentation at the Fresno Art Museum in its early days. She volunteered sometime around 2005 and soon afterwards joined the Filmworks board where she served as the volunteer coordinator until she resigned last summer. Currently she serves on the Filmworks advisory board.

5. What’s your favorite film you’ve seen at Filmworks?
John’s favorite film at Filmworks is Kumiko the Treasure Hunter and Gloria liked Waste Land and The Great Beauty.

6. What other types of films do you enjoy?
We both love the films of Fellini, Wertmuller, Kurosawa, Truffaut and other great filmmakers. John also enjoys the films of Mel Brooks and Harold Ramis.

7. Why did you start volunteering?
We really enjoy the physical setting of the Tower Theatre, the friendly community of film goers, and we love greeting guests at the door. We understand the importance of volunteers to the success of Fresno Filmworks and its mission of providing independent films to the community.

8. What’s the best part of volunteering?
To us, the best part of volunteering is seeing old friends and meeting new ones who share the love of film.

9. What would you say to others who may be interested in FIlmworks? Why should they come out/get involved?
If you volunteer, in addition to experiencing great films in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, you will make new friends and at the same time help Fresno Filmworks continue with its mission of providing independent film to the community.

Filmworks thanks our September 2017 volunteers:
Gloria Burrola, Jol DeVitro, John Dunning, Judy Haber, Linda Hernandez, Neal Howard, Richard Markley, Monica Marks, Peter McDonald, Conde McGowan, Roque Rodriguez.

Filmworks thanks our October 2017 volunteers:
Cleo Bauer, Raymart Catacutan, Jol Devitro, Judy Haber, Rebeca Horwitz, Ann McGowan, Conde McGowan, Stan Morita, Dominic Papagni, Gene Richards, Roque Rodriguez, Lorraine Tomerlin.

To meet our past volunteers in the spotlight and to find out how you can volunteer with Filmworks, visit our volunteer page.
