Profile: Suzanne Iacobucci
Fun fact: Emerson owns one of the largest fleets of Bolex cameras in the world. And Suzanne Iacobucci is in charge of them. As film operations manager in the Equipment Distribution Center (EDC), she oversees the rental of a variety of photo, film, and video cameras that students use for Visual and Media Arts, Journalism, and other School of Communication class projects.
The EDC has close to 300 cameras of all shapes and sizes. The photo camera fleet includes the 51.4 megapixel Fujifilm GFX50R, as well as Canon 6Ds, Nikon FM10s, and Mamiyas. The film camera fleet includes Arriflex SR1s and Aaton XTR Prods, and the video camera fleet features the Canon C100 and Sony FS5 and A7SII. The EDC also rents out tripods, lenses, lights, audio recorders, microphones, and grip gear and sells film.
Iacobucci clarified that the Equipment Distribution Center supports classes only, while the Media Services Center distributes equipment to community members outside of what is needed for classwork. Before the start of every semester, faculty meet and divvy up the pool of EDC equipment, deciding that a certain number of classes will use the Canon C100s, for example. Iacobucci then puts the proper equipment in each class’s pool.
Her daily duties include answering questions about gear and helping students make reservations for equipment. Equipment can be checked out for 24 hours to 48 hours at a time. Students are charged late fees if they don’t return the equipment on time, and Iacobucci creates and sends invoices for late fees as well as broken and lost equipment.
She also trains and manages student workers at the EDC. The EDC is one of the biggest student employers on campus, employing approximately 70 students every semester. Students take reservations, perform quality control, and supervise other students.
This September, Iacobucci will celebrate her 18-year anniversary at Emerson. She said that her favorite thing about working here is interacting with students every day. She enjoys the opportunity to learn from and with the students. If they have questions that she can’t answer, she is able to learn along with them as they find the answers.
She also finds the job exciting because technology changes so quickly, especially digital technology. Digital cameras used to be replaced every five years, and now they are replaced every three to four years. She said it’s also a fun challenge to keep the equipment in good shape, as hundreds of hands use the equipment—which is really only meant to be handled by a single user.
Before Emerson, Iacobucci worked at Cramer, a production company in Norwood, MA. She worked in the dub room, dubbing VHS tapes. Later, she managed two soundstages and all of the equipment at the company.
Iacobucci is a Somerset, MA, native and graduated from Fitchburg State College with a degree in communications. She currently lives in Stoughton, MA, with her husband, Brian, and two cats, Lenny and Carl. One of her favorite hobbies is attending rock concerts; she traveled all over the country to see Duran Duran during a recent reunion tour. She also enjoys watching soccer. Liverpool FC is her favorite team, and she is eagerly anticipating her first visit to Anfield Stadium in March, where she will see retired player Fernando Torres play in a charity match.
Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)