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L OF<br />
MA<br />
ISION<br />
SCHOOL OF<br />
C<strong>IN</strong>EMA<br />
TELEVISION<br />
Stark at 25<br />
We’ve Only Just Begun!<br />
By Meredith Goodwin<br />
SUMMER 2005<br />
Ray Stark and Art Murphy won’t be there when the Peter Stark Producing Program holds its 25th<br />
anniversary reunion celebration on October 1. But their spirits will be present when 25 years <strong>of</strong><br />
successful Stark Program graduates come together to celebrate what is inarguably the premier<br />
producing program in the academic and film world.<br />
Producer Andrew Licht ’81 (The Cable Guy, Waterworld), one <strong>of</strong> the first class <strong>of</strong> Stark graduates, has been<br />
tapped to produce the festivities under the guidance <strong>of</strong> Lawrence Thurman, who has directed the program<br />
since 1991. (Details will be coming soon, so stay tuned to http://www.cntvalumni.net)<br />
As entertainment insiders have long known, “Starkies” are entrenched throughout the industry on both the<br />
creative and business sides. Some, like Polly Cohen (Senior Vice President, Warner Bros.), Robert Greenblatt<br />
(President <strong>of</strong> Entertainment, Showtime), Peter Kang (Vice President, 20th Century Fox), and James Whitaker<br />
(President <strong>of</strong> Production, Imagine), are executives at major companies. Some, like Evan Katz (24) and John<br />
Making the Grade<br />
Drew Casper Receives Major Teaching Award<br />
By Meredith Goodwin<br />
The <strong>School</strong>’s Academy Award winners aren’t<br />
the only ones who’ve been basking in the<br />
celebrity spotlight recently. Rapturous<br />
applause greeted legendary critical studies pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Drew Casper in March as he received the Associates<br />
Award for Excellence in Teaching during the <strong>USC</strong><br />
Academic Honors Convocation.<br />
Before, during, and after the elegant ceremony, Casper<br />
was surrounded by legions <strong>of</strong> admiring friends and<br />
fans, including <strong>USC</strong> President Steven B. Sample, the<br />
evening’s emcee. “What a love-fest for Drew!” one<br />
awed spectator was heard to utter.<br />
Casper is the first cinema-television faculty member<br />
to receive this prestigious award, which is the highest<br />
accolade the <strong>USC</strong> faculty bestows on its members for<br />
outstanding teaching. Casper was presented with a<br />
beribboned medal, a formal citation hand inscribed<br />
on vellum, and a check for $5,000.<br />
In selecting Casper from a highly competitive field <strong>of</strong><br />
nominees, the award committee cited the “extent <strong>of</strong><br />
(continued on page 4)<br />
Declaration <strong>of</strong> Independence<br />
By John Zollinger, M.F.A ’02<br />
Addressing a sea <strong>of</strong> eager faces packing the<br />
Shrine Auditorium for this year’s commencement<br />
ceremony, veteran independent<br />
filmmaker Saul Zaentz gave the class <strong>of</strong> ’05 a<br />
bittersweet send-<strong>of</strong>f, lauding them for finishing their<br />
studies, but cautioning them about potential pitfalls<br />
on the path ahead.<br />
“Upon your graduation, many <strong>of</strong> you are saying ‘free<br />
at last, free at last.’ Not so. Not so,” mused the avuncular<br />
producer, wagging his index finger at the crowd.<br />
“You alone will keep yourselves responsible for all you<br />
must do to be even partially free as a human and as<br />
a pr<strong>of</strong>essional.”<br />
(continued on page 11)<br />
Above: Ray Stark surrounded by an early group <strong>of</strong> “Starkies” circa 1989<br />
Below: Jay Roach at the 2005 commencement ceremony<br />
Wells (ER, The West Wing), are writer-producers in television.<br />
Some, like Neal Moritz (XXX, The Fast and the<br />
Furious) and Stacey Sher (Erin Brockovich, Pulp Fiction), are<br />
producing feature films. And others, like Emmy-winning<br />
sound editor Thierry Couturier (The X-Files), have gone on<br />
to great success in what some might consider non-traditional<br />
Starkie fields.<br />
(continued on page 2)<br />
What’s Inside<br />
3 Scribe Support<br />
Writing students beat the odds with help from<br />
Operation Win<br />
6 In the Right Mood<br />
Animation Chair Kathy Smith receives prestigious<br />
<strong>USC</strong> honor for Indefinable Moods<br />
7 Going Global<br />
Looking at the world through cinema with Assistant<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Priya Jaikumar<br />
12 Lost and Found<br />
Alumnus Javier Grillo-Marxuach on getting Lost<br />
and finding success<br />
14 The Look <strong>of</strong> Love<br />
Audiences are falling in love with the passionate<br />
seniors <strong>of</strong> Backseat Bingo<br />
15 Picture This<br />
Close encounters with Tom Hanks, Michael Moore,<br />
Bruce Rosenblum, and John Wells
In Print and Online<br />
2| 2 | in motion summer fall 2004 2005<br />
Cultivating Pasadena: From Roses<br />
to Redevelopment<br />
Interactive DVD-ROM<br />
Marsha Kinder, Executive Producer<br />
Rosemary Comella, Creative Director<br />
The Danube Exodus: Rippling<br />
Currents <strong>of</strong> the River<br />
Traveling Installation<br />
Marsha Kinder, Executive Producer<br />
Drug Wars: The Political Economy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Narcotics<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Minnesota Press, 2004<br />
By Curtis Marez<br />
The Game Localization Handbook<br />
Charles River Media, 2004<br />
By Heather Maxwell Chandler<br />
How to Build a Great Screenplay<br />
St. Martin’s Press, 2004<br />
By David Howard<br />
The Movie Business Book<br />
(Third Edition)<br />
Simon and Schuster, 2004<br />
Jason E. Squire, Editor<br />
Three Winters in the Sun: Einstein<br />
in California<br />
Interactive DVD-ROM<br />
Marsha Kinder, Writer and Producer<br />
Kristy Kang, Creative Director<br />
Vectors: Journal <strong>of</strong> Culture and<br />
Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular<br />
www.annenberg.edu/vectors<br />
Tara McPherson, Editor<br />
Cultivating Pasadena: From Roses to Redevelopment<br />
The Danube Exodus: Rippling Currents <strong>of</strong> the River<br />
Stark at 25<br />
(continued from page 1)<br />
Indeed, The New York Times ran a major story about the enormous success <strong>of</strong> just one graduating<br />
class (1994). Alumni have received every major industry accolade, including the Best Picture<br />
Oscar (producer Edward Saxon, for Silence <strong>of</strong> the Lambs, in 1991). And some don’t even wait to<br />
graduate before scoring their first success.<br />
Art Murphy<br />
“My friend’s cell phone went <strong>of</strong>f in the middle <strong>of</strong> class during our first year in the program,”<br />
recalled John August ’94. “She answers it and tells everybody, ‘Al Gough and Miles Millar just<br />
sold their script for $1 million!’”<br />
“It’s very difficult after selling a script to come back to class!” admitted Millar. But they did, and<br />
the duo continues to make show-business history: Gough and Millar (both ’94) wrote the original<br />
story for Spider Man 2 — the third-highest-grossing movie worldwide in 2004 — and created the<br />
hit television series Smallville.<br />
Two legendary men, working behind the scenes as all good producers do, provided the vision<br />
and leadership that launched the Peter Stark Producing Program. It was the brainchild <strong>of</strong> celebrated<br />
film critic and reporter Art Murphy, whose <strong>USC</strong> graduate course on the economics <strong>of</strong><br />
the motion picture business was so popular during the mid-1970s that he was urged to create an<br />
entirely new program — the first <strong>of</strong> its kind in the nation — to train film and television producers<br />
and executives about the business side <strong>of</strong> their business.<br />
Lawrence Thurman<br />
Several studios provided seed money for the fledgling program, but it really took <strong>of</strong>f in 1979<br />
when Murphy received a phone call from one <strong>of</strong> the biggest producers in town — the late and<br />
great Ray Stark. He and his wife, Fran, made the then-extraordinary gift <strong>of</strong> $1 million, and a<br />
grateful Murphy named the program in honor <strong>of</strong> the Starks’ late son, Peter.<br />
The Starks subsequently endowed the Fran and Ray Stark Chair for the Study <strong>of</strong> American Film,<br />
which is held by the program’s current director, Lawrence Turman. Turman has an extensive body<br />
<strong>of</strong> work as a motion picture and television producer (he produced The Graduate) and serves on<br />
the board <strong>of</strong> the producer’s branch <strong>of</strong> the Academy <strong>of</strong> Motion Picture <strong>Arts</strong> and Sciences.
“The Stark Program not only has played an important role<br />
in the development <strong>of</strong> the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-<br />
Television, but its unique — and sometimes daring —<br />
approach to teaching the art <strong>of</strong> producing has grown into a<br />
new educational paradigm,” said Dean Elizabeth Daley.<br />
“The worlds <strong>of</strong> academia and entertainment are indebted to<br />
Ray Stark for making this program a reality.”<br />
Early Stark Program graduates recall Murphy as a no-nonsense<br />
former Navy lieutenant who ran the program with an<br />
iron fist. “He started screaming at us like we were midshipmen,<br />
and I thought this was the biggest mistake I’d ever<br />
made in my life,” recalled John Wells ’82. “But it ended up<br />
being a terrific experience for me because we really learned<br />
from people, and met people, and did things that I never<br />
thought I’d have an opportunity to do.”<br />
What makes the Peter Stark Producing Program so exceptional<br />
is that it is the first — and most admired — standalone<br />
producing program in the world. Other university producing<br />
programs have tried to model themselves on the Stark<br />
Program, but none have been as successful as the original. In<br />
addition, as is the case with most <strong>of</strong> the <strong>School</strong>’s faculty, virtually<br />
all Stark Program pr<strong>of</strong>essors are working pr<strong>of</strong>essionals.<br />
“We had amazing pr<strong>of</strong>essors and guest speakers,” recalled<br />
Stacey Sher ’85, “because Art felt it was important for us to<br />
interact with people who were doing the jobs, who understood<br />
the reality <strong>of</strong> the film business, who understood how<br />
hard it was to get something made well — get it written,<br />
budgeted, and marketed well. We were constantly exposed<br />
to people at the top <strong>of</strong> their game.”<br />
Murphy’s famous tough-love approach has continued<br />
through the years as well. Today, Stark students march<br />
lock-step to a program designed by Turman. Peter Kang ’96<br />
describes his experiences in the program under Turman’s<br />
direction as “like having gone through boot camp.”<br />
“We do work them to death,” admitted Kathy Fogg, associate<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the Stark Program. “I always tell students,<br />
‘If you can imagine yourself doing anything else with your<br />
life, do it!’”<br />
It’s an intense experience, to be sure. “The Stark Program<br />
was like they were casting The Real World and put 25 extroverts<br />
together in a room to see who would survive,” said<br />
August. “I was completely terrified <strong>of</strong> most <strong>of</strong> them at first.”<br />
It’s ideal training for the real world. In the words <strong>of</strong> Damon<br />
Lee ’94, “Every day is like a 100-yard dash. And I start ten<br />
yards ahead, because <strong>of</strong> the Stark Program.” That’s a common<br />
sentiment, judging by the praise heaped upon the<br />
program by generations <strong>of</strong> Stark graduates.<br />
Their enthusiasm is returned by Turman, who noted, “My<br />
friends and show biz pals continually congratulate me on<br />
‘giving back.’ They don’t understand or appreciate how<br />
much I’m (actually) ‘getting.’”<br />
BOARD OF COUNCILORS TELEVISION ADVISORY COUNCIL<br />
Frank Biondi, Jr.<br />
John Calley<br />
Barry Diller<br />
Lee Gabler<br />
David Geffen<br />
Brian Grazer<br />
Brad Grey<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg<br />
Alan Levine<br />
George Lucas<br />
Don Mattrick<br />
William M. Mechanic<br />
Barry Meyer<br />
Sidney Poitier<br />
Frank Price<br />
Barney Rosenzweig<br />
Scott Sassa<br />
Steven Spielberg<br />
John Wells<br />
Jim Wiatt<br />
Paul Junger Witt<br />
David L. Wolper<br />
Robert Zemeckis<br />
Laura Ziskin<br />
Operation Win Scores Big<br />
By Elizabeth Randall. M.F.A. ’05<br />
The debut <strong>of</strong> the new Operation Win program was a screenwriting-contest coup for writing division<br />
alumni, whose work made a huge impression on organizers <strong>of</strong> the Austin Film Festival and the Walt<br />
Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellowship Program.<br />
The prestigious Disney/ABC program named four <strong>USC</strong> alumni to its illustrious ranks. Jonathan Howard, M.F.A. ’04<br />
represents Operation Win as one <strong>of</strong> 11 Disney/ABC television fellows, while Whitney Anderson, M.F.A. ’04; John<br />
Carr, M.F.A. ’04; and Damian Saul-Romay, M.F.A. ’04 fill three <strong>of</strong> the program’s four available film spots.<br />
New Disney/ABC fellows Damian Saul-Romay, Whitney Anderson, John Carr,<br />
and Jonathan Howard<br />
Peter Benedek<br />
Alan Berger<br />
Stuart Bloomberg<br />
Jon Feltheimer<br />
Lee Gabler<br />
Ted Harbert<br />
Sam Haskell<br />
Tony Jonas<br />
Kerry McCluggage<br />
Leslie Moonves<br />
“The showing <strong>of</strong> our writers in the<br />
Disney/ABC Fellowship Program<br />
has been nothing short <strong>of</strong> phenomenal,”<br />
said Howard A. Rodman,<br />
chair <strong>of</strong> the Division <strong>of</strong> Writing for<br />
Screen and Television.<br />
Operation Win claimed another<br />
notable triumph when Tim<br />
Croteau, M.F.A. ’04; and David<br />
Stassen, M.F.A. ’04 placed as finalists<br />
in the celebrated Austin Film<br />
Festival with their script<br />
Lumberjack Jones.<br />
Operation Win <strong>of</strong>fers administrative<br />
and financial support to thesis<br />
students who submit their work to<br />
contests and fellowship programs.<br />
Created to promote the exceptional<br />
work <strong>of</strong> writing division students,<br />
Operation Win has already fulfilled<br />
the promise <strong>of</strong> its name.<br />
“The lectures, screenings, and round table events are wonderfully informative, but the real reason to fly all the way to<br />
Austin is the networking,” said Croteau about his film-festival experience. “In the four days I was there, I spoke with<br />
several Academy Award–winning writers about their craft.”<br />
Likewise, the <strong>School</strong>’s Disney/ABC fellows enjoy great networking benefits. “We are meeting with pr<strong>of</strong>essionals from<br />
Disney and all over the industry almost every day,” said Saul-Romay.<br />
“Everyone at Disney, from assistants to high-level executives, has made it clear that their door is open to us, and that’s<br />
really exciting,” noted Anderson, whose script, Psychic 101, tells the story <strong>of</strong> four Ivy League students who are desperate<br />
to raise $100,000 after a class psychology experiment goes awry.<br />
Carr emphasized that fellows are paired with executives best suited to developing their scripts. “It’s a wonderful<br />
opportunity to grow and sustain strong relationships with the people best positioned to help us in our careers.” His<br />
fellowship-winning script, The Great Blondin, tells the (mostly) true story <strong>of</strong> a world-famous 19th century tightrope<br />
walker whose bravery inspires a timid manager to overcome his fear <strong>of</strong> life and win the heart <strong>of</strong> the woman he loves.<br />
“My pr<strong>of</strong>essors encouraged me to run wild with my particular style and voice,” said Carr. “And this is exactly what<br />
the powers at Disney enjoyed about my submission.”<br />
Saul-Romay was taken by surprise when his submission, 24 Hours Ago, a dark tale about a doctor who has the worst<br />
day <strong>of</strong> his life, earned him a Disney/ABC fellowship. “I didn’t think I had a chance. Fortunately, Operation Win and<br />
the folks at Disney proved me wrong.”<br />
Looking ahead, Rodman sees a bright future for Operation Win. “We look forward to building upon these successes<br />
and developing the strongest and most robust structures possible, so that our students’ work can find its best footing<br />
in the outside world.”<br />
Rod Perth<br />
Frank Price<br />
Peter Roth<br />
Scott Sassa<br />
Herb Scannell<br />
Scott Stone<br />
Toper Taylor<br />
John Wells<br />
Paul Junger Witt<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 3
Shows on the Air<br />
Beneath a bright blue canopy <strong>of</strong> cloudless sky,<br />
8 Simple<br />
more<br />
Rules<br />
than<br />
About<br />
10,000 members<br />
One Thing<br />
<strong>of</strong> the<br />
Michael<br />
Class <strong>of</strong><br />
Bostick,<br />
Executive Producer 2004 — along with some 40,000 beaming parents,<br />
friends, and family members — celebrated the<br />
24 Evan Katz, Co-Executive Producer<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Southern California’s 121st Commencement<br />
Alias on Friday, Meighan May 14. Offield, Associate Producer<br />
Arrested The <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> Development <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television’s Brian Grazer mid-afternoon and Ron Howard,<br />
Executive<br />
satellite commencement<br />
Producers; Lisa Parsons,<br />
ceremony<br />
Staff<br />
was<br />
Writer<br />
held at the Shrine<br />
Auditorium, its longtime home. Said Sonny Calderon, who<br />
Boston received his Legal M.F.A. Bob from Breech, the Division Consulting <strong>of</strong> Writing Producer for Screen<br />
and Television that day, “Having it [graduation] at the<br />
Shrine — which is gorgeous — somehow feels like you’re<br />
CSI:<br />
being initiated<br />
Miami<br />
into<br />
Steven<br />
the<br />
Maeda,<br />
Hollywood<br />
Writer-Producer<br />
community (even<br />
7-time Desperate Academy Housewives Award winner Gary Charles Rydstrom Pratt told Jr., Consulting graduates Producer<br />
to embrace the unexpected: “Knowing what’s going to happen<br />
next<br />
E.R.<br />
is boring<br />
John Wells,<br />
in the<br />
Executive<br />
movies, and<br />
Producer<br />
it’s boring in life.”<br />
The Ellen DeGeneres Show Derek Westervelt,<br />
though we’re not — yet).”<br />
Coordinating Producer<br />
The festivities began on a high note, with a special screen-<br />
Fear Factor Matt Kunitz, Executive Producer<br />
ing <strong>of</strong> the <strong>School</strong>’s new 75th anniversary documentary,<br />
The Honoring George the Past/Creating Lopez Showthe Robert Future. Borden, Written and Executive directed Producer<br />
by Tiller Russell (‘01) and produced by Jill Aske (‘01), the<br />
Grey’s<br />
documentary<br />
Anatomy<br />
deftly traces<br />
Shonda<br />
the evolution<br />
Rhimes, Executive<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>School</strong><br />
Producer<br />
over<br />
House<br />
75 years through<br />
Bryan Singer,<br />
the use<br />
Executive<br />
<strong>of</strong> a witty<br />
Producer<br />
musical score and the<br />
skillful blending <strong>of</strong> rare archival footage and recent photo-<br />
Las graphs Vegas and interviews. Michael Berns, Co-Executive Producer<br />
life Dean as Elizabeth we know Daley it reminded Stu Bloomberg graduates and that Gabe they Sachs, are<br />
Executive linked to Producers this illustrious lineage, which dates back to the<br />
dawn <strong>of</strong> the “talkie” era when Douglas Fairbanks Sr., the<br />
Lost Academy Javier <strong>of</strong> Motion Grillo-Marxuach, Picture <strong>Arts</strong> Supervising and Sciences’ Producer first<br />
president, urged <strong>USC</strong> to add film studies to its curriculum.<br />
Medium Ronald L. Schwary, Executive Producer<br />
From that pivotal moment, there was no looking back for<br />
“<br />
Monk Randy Zisk, Executive Producer-Director<br />
THE<br />
WEST W<strong>IN</strong>G<br />
The O.C. Doug Liman and Josh Schwartz, Executive Producers<br />
Smallville Greg Beeman, Al Gough and Miles Millar,<br />
Executive Producers; Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, Producers;<br />
Todd Slavkin, Producer<br />
Third Watch John Wells, Executive Producer<br />
Veronica Mars Dan Etheridge, Co-Producer<br />
The West Wing John Wells, Executive Producer<br />
4 | in motion fall summer 2004 2005<br />
Making the Grade<br />
(continued from page 1)<br />
recognition and support given to [Casper] by both faculty and students who unanimously<br />
highlighted his ‘transformative’ and ‘life-changing’ impact on his students…His many letters<br />
<strong>of</strong> support repeatedly note his passion for knowledge and his love <strong>of</strong> learning; his deep<br />
commitment to teaching and his devotion to the life <strong>of</strong> the mind; his consistent focus on<br />
student learning…”<br />
“Drew Casper is one <strong>of</strong> our best-known and best-loved pr<strong>of</strong>essors,” said Dean Elizabeth Daley.<br />
“He has gained national renown for his ability to animate large undergraduate classes, and<br />
he is widely considered to be a pioneer in creating the model for introductory film classes.<br />
Students clearly thrive under his tutelage.”<br />
Many generations <strong>of</strong> cinema-television students have packed into the Eileen Norris Theatre<br />
Complex’s Frank Sinatra Hall each week to watch Casper perform his teaching magic. “Drew<br />
had powers no one else had — powers to enthrall, entertain, open vistas for students,”<br />
Drew Casper<br />
recalled Carrie Kirshman, a critical studies student in the mid-1980s. “He was just a powerful<br />
force. He taught me about film, whereas other people taught me about theories that you<br />
apply to film. I took every course he <strong>of</strong>fered while I was at <strong>USC</strong>.”<br />
“Drew is a legendary teacher,” noted Tara McPherson, chair <strong>of</strong> the Division <strong>of</strong> Critical<br />
Studies. “He has an extraordinary ability to make course materials come alive for students<br />
and to engage each <strong>of</strong> them on a personal and individual level. They consistently hail his<br />
courses as life changing. We’re very lucky to have him on our faculty.”<br />
Stalking through his large lecture classes, Casper calls to mind someone touched by the gods,<br />
climbing over rows <strong>of</strong> seats to confront a student with a piercing question, sparring with a<br />
student unwise enough to arrive late for class, or suddenly launching into song and dance to<br />
clarify an obscure point.<br />
“You never want to miss a class,” said Jeremy Berg, M.A. ’05, who has been Casper’s student,<br />
teaching assistant, and course reader. “You just have to be there, to see who he’ll pull up on<br />
stage this time to dance the Hoochi Koochi with him.”<br />
Jonathon Komack-Martin, B.A. ’88, agreed: “He’s so damn amusing! His classes are like<br />
theater. I actually take my dates to Norris Theatre to see Drew perform!”<br />
But there’s far more than just fun and games in a Casper course. “He went deeper into<br />
the subject matter than any other pr<strong>of</strong>essor I had,” said Peter Ventrella, M.A. ’94. “His<br />
knowledge was so vast it was inspiring. He’ll do anything to convey the flame <strong>of</strong> his passion<br />
for films, and he takes it as a personal <strong>of</strong>fense if you’re not as excited about the subject<br />
matter as he is.”<br />
Everyone who has seen Casper teach cites his exceptional passion. Christopher Cooling,<br />
M.A. ’99 and a critical studies Ph.D. candidate, mused on the link between Casper’s love <strong>of</strong><br />
the subject matter <strong>of</strong> cinema and his love for the calling <strong>of</strong> teaching. “What most impresses<br />
me about Drew Casper,” he said, “is that these are one and the same passion — watching<br />
movies would be unthinkable without knowing that he will be able to discuss them with his<br />
students in lecture, and his joy for teaching is itself a direct extension <strong>of</strong> his joy for this most<br />
vibrant <strong>of</strong> art forms.”<br />
Casper, who has held the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Chair for the Study <strong>of</strong> American Film<br />
since it was established in 1998, was first hailed for his teaching three decades ago. Delta Kappa<br />
Alpha bestowed its award for teaching excellence on Casper when he was a new critical studies<br />
instructor in the early 1970s, shortly after he earned his Ph.D. in Communication <strong>Arts</strong> at <strong>USC</strong>.<br />
In 1991, the <strong>USC</strong> chapter <strong>of</strong> the Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society “tapped” him<br />
for excellence in teaching. Last year, President Sample acknowledged Casper’s teaching prowess
y inviting him to speak at <strong>USC</strong>’s Board <strong>of</strong> Trustees conference<br />
(Casper’s presentation, “Fate <strong>of</strong> the Art: Teaching Film,”<br />
was reportedly the highlight <strong>of</strong> the trustees’ weekend).<br />
When asked what makes him such an extraordinary educator,<br />
Casper replied simply that “the Lord gave me this<br />
talent.” He is quick to give credit to his grammar school<br />
teachers as well. “The Sisters <strong>of</strong> St. Casimir were my first<br />
teaching models,” he said. “They showed me how to do it.<br />
To this day, I am indebted to my first-grade teacher, Sister<br />
Gemma, and also to my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Helen<br />
Eremick.” He has taken care to remain close to both <strong>of</strong><br />
these cherished mentors who, now in their 80s, continue to<br />
visit Casper during the Christmas holidays.<br />
Casper went on to study with the Jesuits and was ordained<br />
a Jesuit priest. This education helped to crystallize his view<br />
<strong>of</strong> teaching as a form <strong>of</strong> ministry. “Talking passionately<br />
about films in class becomes a vehicle we use to reach out to<br />
each other in terms <strong>of</strong> emotions and where we are in our<br />
lives,” he said. “It’s like going to mass in the nourishment <strong>of</strong><br />
spirit it provides. I know I’m not traveling alone when I<br />
teach film — it’s a time when people come together, when<br />
mind meets mind, and heart meets heart as well.”<br />
This love for his subject — and for his students — may be<br />
why even the most disengaged students find themselves<br />
responding to Casper’s enthusiasm. Lisa Majewski, B.A.<br />
’96 and M.A. ’98, was a teaching assistant and course<br />
reader for Casper. “At the start <strong>of</strong> a class, you’d <strong>of</strong>ten see<br />
students slumped down in their seats,” she said. “But after<br />
they experienced the energy and passion <strong>of</strong> a Drew Casper<br />
class, they’d be sitting straight up in their seats and waving<br />
their hands to be called on.”<br />
Komack-Martin agreed, “To many students, college is<br />
about seeing how little work you can do, and how many<br />
times you can miss class,” he said. “But it’s just impossible<br />
to be in a Drew Casper class and not stay focused on the<br />
subject. He always manages to inspire the uninspired.”<br />
“To call him a teacher seems too reductive <strong>of</strong> a title,” said<br />
Robert Buerkle, M.A. ’03. “He needs a term much larger<br />
than that. He needs a term that encompasses the passion,<br />
the theater, the emotion, and the love contained in each <strong>of</strong><br />
his classes. But for lack <strong>of</strong> such a term, I’ll stick to my personal<br />
favorite: the Drew Casper experience.”<br />
Buerkle explained, “As his teaching assistant, I’ve been<br />
witness to Drew Casper behind the scenes, watched him<br />
prepare for the opening curtain (metaphorically speaking),<br />
and seen him getting psyched up just as intently as the<br />
most theatrical <strong>of</strong> performers. And that preparation comes<br />
across in the two-hour sermons that follow, as he maintains<br />
his animated and energetic demeanor throughout,<br />
sharply fluctuating between frenetic highs and solemn<br />
lows, and always keeping the students unsure <strong>of</strong> what to<br />
expect next.”<br />
Without a doubt, intensity permeates Casper, whether<br />
he’s in or out <strong>of</strong> the classroom. “There’s simply no separation<br />
<strong>of</strong> work and leisure for the man,” said Cooling.<br />
“His commitment to his work fuels his play, and his love<br />
<strong>of</strong> that play energizes his work. This, more than anything,<br />
is what I think his students most fundamentally<br />
respond to in the experience <strong>of</strong> his classes, whether they<br />
realize it consciously or not. They’re being instructed not<br />
only in terms <strong>of</strong> a curriculum, but also in how to live<br />
their lives as fully and as richly as possible.”<br />
It’s a lesson that many generations have taken to heart.<br />
“Over the years, I’ve interacted with thousands and thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> students,” Casper said, “seeing them energized,<br />
inspired, and involved because they have learned to look<br />
at what they see in a new way. This is the heart <strong>of</strong> what I<br />
do, what keeps me delighted with my work, what keeps<br />
me preparing for the next class, and the next. It is my<br />
belief that teaching validates my being.”<br />
It does indeed, Drew, it truly does.<br />
Congratulations<br />
to our friends and alumni on their successes this past awards season.<br />
Academy Awards<br />
Caleb Deschanel, Cinematographer<br />
The Passion <strong>of</strong> the Christ<br />
Achievement in Cinematography<br />
Taylor Hackford, Director and Producer<br />
Ray<br />
Achievement in Directing<br />
Best Motion Picture<br />
Tom Johnson, Re-recording Mixer<br />
The Polar Express<br />
Achievement in Sound Mixing<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Producer<br />
Shark Tale<br />
Best Animated Feature Film<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Producer<br />
Shrek 2<br />
Best Animated Feature Film<br />
ACE Eddies<br />
Terilyn Shropshire<br />
Redemption<br />
Mini-Series or Motion Picture for TV<br />
William Stich<br />
The Sopranos<br />
One-Hour TV Series<br />
ADG<br />
Henry Bumstead<br />
Million Dollar Baby<br />
Production Design/Contemporary Film<br />
ASC<br />
Caleb Deschanel<br />
The Passion <strong>of</strong> the Christ<br />
Feature Film<br />
Robbie Greenberg*<br />
Iron Jawed Angels<br />
TV Movie/Miniseries/Pilot for Basic or Pay TV<br />
Nathan Hope*<br />
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation<br />
Episodic TV Series<br />
Leonard Maltin*<br />
ASC Lifetime Achievement Award<br />
Richard Moore*<br />
ASC President’s Award<br />
DGA<br />
Taylor Hackford<br />
Ray<br />
Feature Film<br />
Jeremy Kagan<br />
Crown Heights<br />
Children’s Program<br />
Golden Globes<br />
Brian Grazer, Producer<br />
24<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
Brian Grazer, Producer<br />
Arrested Development<br />
Best TV Series–Musical or Comedy<br />
Robert Greenblatt, Producer<br />
American Family<br />
Best Mini-Series or<br />
Motion Picture Made for TV<br />
Brad Grey, Producer<br />
The Sopranos<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Producer<br />
Lost<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
Taylor Hackford, Director<br />
Ray<br />
Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy<br />
Ron Howard, Producer<br />
24<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
Ron Howard, Producer<br />
Arrested Development<br />
Best TV Series–Musical or Comedy<br />
Evan Katz, Producer<br />
24<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
Charles Pratt, Jr., Producer*<br />
Desperate Housewives<br />
Best TV Series–Musical or Comedy<br />
Walter Salles, Director<br />
The Motorcycle Diaries<br />
Best Foreign Language Film<br />
Matthew Weiner, Producer<br />
The Sopranos<br />
Best TV Series–Drama<br />
MPSE Golden Reels<br />
Richard Anderson<br />
Shark Tale<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
David Bondelevitch<br />
A Separate Peace<br />
Music Editing in Long-Form Television<br />
Tom Johnson<br />
The Polar Express<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg<br />
Shark Tale<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg<br />
Shrek 2<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
George Lucas*<br />
Inaugural MPSE Filmmaker’s Award<br />
Chuck Michael<br />
Team America World Police<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
Gary Rydstrom*<br />
MPSE Career Achievement Award<br />
Robert Zemeckis<br />
The Polar Express<br />
Sound Editing in an Animated Film<br />
NAACP Image Awards<br />
David Geffen, Producer<br />
American Idol III<br />
Outstanding Variety Series or Special<br />
Taylor Hackford, Director*<br />
Genius: A Night for Ray Charles<br />
Outstanding Variety Series or Special<br />
Taylor Hackford, Director*<br />
Ray<br />
Outstanding Motion Picture<br />
Jeremy Kagan, Director<br />
Crown Heights<br />
Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, or<br />
Dramatic Special<br />
Terilyn Shropshire, Editor<br />
Redemption<br />
Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, or<br />
Dramatic Special<br />
John Wells, Producer<br />
ER<br />
Outstanding Drama Series<br />
PGA<br />
Laura Ziskin*<br />
David O. Selznick Achievement Award<br />
John Wells*<br />
David Susskind Achievement Award<br />
Jeffrey Katzenberg*<br />
Milestone Award<br />
Matthew Weiner*<br />
The Sopranos<br />
Norman Felton Producer <strong>of</strong> the Year Award<br />
VES<br />
Robert Zemeckis*<br />
Lifetime Achievement Award<br />
WGA<br />
Bryan Fuller<br />
“Pilot”<br />
Wonderfalls<br />
Episodic Comedy<br />
John Furia Jr. *<br />
Honorary Service Award<br />
John McLaughlin<br />
Penn & Teller Bullshit!<br />
Comedy/Variety Series<br />
Casandra Morgan*<br />
Guiding Light<br />
Daytime Serial<br />
Star Price<br />
Penn & Teller Bullshit!<br />
Comedy/Variety Series<br />
For more information, visit<br />
www.CNTValumni.net<br />
Congratulations to anyone we may have<br />
missed. If we overlooked you, please<br />
contact us at alumni@cinema.usc.edu.<br />
*Award Recipient<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 5
Recent Releases<br />
Are We There Yet?<br />
David Weiss, Writer<br />
Blade Trinity<br />
David Goyer, Writer-Director<br />
Boogeyman<br />
Juliet Snowden, Eric Kripke, Writers<br />
Cellular<br />
John Ottman, Composer<br />
Eric Sears, Editor<br />
Elektra<br />
Kevin Feige, Executive Producer<br />
Gary Foster, Producer<br />
Friday Night Lights<br />
Brian Grazer, Producer<br />
James Whitaker, Executive Producer<br />
Hitch<br />
Andy Tennant, Director<br />
The Hunting <strong>of</strong> the President<br />
Dana Stoltzner, Executive Producer<br />
I Am David<br />
Paul Feig, Writer-Director<br />
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou<br />
Gray Marshall, Visual Effects Supervisor<br />
Robert Yeoman, Director <strong>of</strong> Photography<br />
Los Angeles Plays Itself<br />
Thom Anderson, Director<br />
Million Dollar Baby<br />
Henry Bumstead, Production Designer<br />
The Polar Express<br />
Robert Zemeckis, Producer-Director<br />
Ray<br />
Taylor Hackford, Producer-Director<br />
Sahara<br />
Breck Eisner, Director<br />
Josh Oppenheimer and Tom Donnelly, Writers<br />
Seed <strong>of</strong> Chucky<br />
David Kirschner, Producer<br />
Son <strong>of</strong> the Mask<br />
Debra Neil-Fisher, Editor<br />
Lawrence Guterman, Director<br />
Taxi<br />
6| in motion summer 2005<br />
Tim Story, Director<br />
The Magic <strong>of</strong> Movie Editing<br />
John Bailey, Director <strong>of</strong> Photography<br />
Mark Jonathan Harris, Writer<br />
The Wedding Date<br />
Dana Fox, Writer<br />
Celebrating<br />
the Indefinable<br />
by Jacqueline Angiuli<br />
An inspiring and innovative artistic tour de force, Indefinable Moods was created<br />
by Kathy Smith, chair and associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> the Division <strong>of</strong> Animation and<br />
Digital <strong>Arts</strong>, to “explore symbols and landscapes in nature and link these<br />
to the psychological hopes, fears, and desires that exist in every culture.”<br />
This remarkable multidimensional animated work has screened at — and been honored<br />
by — film festivals and art exhibitions throughout the world, including the 2002 USA Film<br />
Festival (Best Animated Short), the 2002 Convergence Art Festival (Best Animated Film),<br />
and the 2001 Rhode Island Film Festival (first-place prize in the Experimental Category).<br />
And Indefinable Moods was accorded yet another prestigious commendation when Smith was<br />
presented with a Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award at <strong>USC</strong>’s 24th Annual Academic<br />
Honors Convocation in March 2005.<br />
Camden dream sequence — Indefinable Moods, created by Kathy Smith<br />
The touchstone for academic and research excellence at <strong>USC</strong>, the Academic Honors<br />
Convocation brings together members <strong>of</strong> the university community in a celebration <strong>of</strong> students<br />
and pr<strong>of</strong>essors whose outstanding achievements have brought distinction to <strong>USC</strong> and<br />
contributed to the advancement <strong>of</strong> knowledge. Said <strong>USC</strong> President Steven B. Sample <strong>of</strong> the<br />
evening’s honorees: “They are active contributors to what is taught, thought, and practiced<br />
in their fields <strong>of</strong> study, and their creativity, their discoveries, and their dedication to academic<br />
and research excellence enhances <strong>USC</strong>’s stature as one <strong>of</strong> the most influential and productive<br />
universities in the world.”<br />
Tornado sequence — Indefinable Moods, created by Kathy Smith<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Edward Finegan presented the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Awards,<br />
which specifically recognize faculty for “scholarly, scientific, or creative works which can<br />
make a contribution <strong>of</strong> the highest order to their respective disciplines.” Phi Kappa Phi was<br />
impressed not only by the wit and beauty <strong>of</strong> Indefinable Moods, but also by its “complex and<br />
haunting combination <strong>of</strong> digitized oil paintings and music.” Smith was one <strong>of</strong> only four<br />
<strong>USC</strong> faculty members selected to receive the Phi Kappa Phi honor this year.
Faculty Focus<br />
Priya Jaikumar<br />
by Jacqueline Angiuli<br />
Priya Jaikumar was working in advertising and<br />
broadcast journalism in India when her growing<br />
interest in the social frameworks <strong>of</strong> media<br />
led her to Northwestern <strong>University</strong>’s Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Radio/Television/Film. She completed her Ph.D. in Film<br />
Studies in 1999. From 1999 to 2002,<br />
Priya worked as an assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> film in the English Department at<br />
Syracuse <strong>University</strong>, teaching courses<br />
and seminars on film history, film<br />
theory, cinema and the nation state,<br />
and identity in cinema. She received<br />
her department’s undergraduate<br />
teaching award in 2002. A recognized<br />
expert in the areas <strong>of</strong> British cinema,<br />
Indian cinema, film aesthetics, film policy, theories <strong>of</strong> postcolonialism,<br />
globalization, and transnational state and cultural<br />
formations, Priya now is in her third year teaching<br />
graduate seminars and undergraduate courses in the<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> Critical Studies at the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-<br />
Television. She has published critical essays in a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
publications, including Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly,<br />
The Moving Image, Screen, and World Literature Today, and<br />
in anthologies like Hollywood Abroad. She is currently<br />
working on issues <strong>of</strong> regional identity and cultural labor in<br />
Indian cinema. Her book Cinema at the End <strong>of</strong> Empire:<br />
Curtis Marez<br />
By John Zollinger<br />
Over the past 30 years the United States has<br />
undergone perhaps one <strong>of</strong> the most pr<strong>of</strong>ound<br />
periods <strong>of</strong> social evolution in its history. The<br />
roles <strong>of</strong> “majority” and “minority” are in total flux, and<br />
with that change comes a total rethinking <strong>of</strong> what it<br />
means to be an “American.” Cinema — both the art form<br />
and the <strong>School</strong> — are in a unique position to influence<br />
that change, says Associate Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Curtis Marez, who<br />
has gone from a childhood in California’s vast Central<br />
Valley to being a leading voice in Chicano and Latino<br />
studies. The Berkeley-trained Ph.D. arrived at <strong>USC</strong> in<br />
2003. His first book, Drug Wars: Race, Rebellion and<br />
Modernity, which deals with how media portray the drug<br />
trade and how that in turn influences public policy, came<br />
out in 2004. He’s currently at work on a second project,<br />
tentatively titled Virtual Chicanos.<br />
Two years ago you made a major career jump,<br />
leaving UC Santa Cruz for the Southland.<br />
How has that worked out?<br />
Marez: It’s been wonderful and a little surprising. When<br />
I was at Berkeley the T-shirts at the football games would<br />
Thank You!<br />
Britain and India, 1927–1947 will be published by Duke<br />
<strong>University</strong> Press in 2006.<br />
Can you tell us a little about the undergraduate<br />
Honors Seminar course (“Thinking Globally”)<br />
that you taught last spring?<br />
I wanted to think about globalization, but not in the traditional<br />
top-down way <strong>of</strong> corporations looking for markets.<br />
That’s part <strong>of</strong> it, in terms <strong>of</strong> Hollywood looking for other<br />
markets and the transnational nature <strong>of</strong> the film industry<br />
today. But I also wanted to look at other cinemas’ responses<br />
to global events, to the things that make the world global<br />
today. One <strong>of</strong> them is capitalism. But there are other kinds<br />
<strong>of</strong> global exchange. The question <strong>of</strong> how the interlinked<br />
experiences <strong>of</strong> the civil rights movement in the U.S. and<br />
decolonization movements around the world affected films,<br />
for instance. These are connections that make us think <strong>of</strong><br />
the world as a place in which an event in any one place has<br />
consequences for another location, or inspires other movements,<br />
and I think when you see films from different countries<br />
you are opened up to that network <strong>of</strong> imagination.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the things I do in all my classes is to use a kind <strong>of</strong><br />
triangulated method that brings in historical and theoretical<br />
approaches, as well as the formal elements <strong>of</strong> filmmaking.<br />
Film is such a specific form, so you have to be able to<br />
appreciate sound and images and editing, and put that<br />
say “<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Spoiled Children,” so my image <strong>of</strong> <strong>USC</strong><br />
was different than it turned out to be. I was pleasantly surprised.<br />
I knew about the quality <strong>of</strong> the institution, but I<br />
was surprised by the diversity <strong>of</strong> students from all sorts <strong>of</strong><br />
different backgrounds. Pr<strong>of</strong>essionally, it’s also been a<br />
unique opportunity. As a critical studies academic, I was<br />
used to just talking to other academics about things on<br />
that track. But here at <strong>USC</strong>, it’s particularly exciting to be<br />
able to talk to new colleagues in other divisions <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Cinema <strong>School</strong>.<br />
You teach with those colleagues on occasion.<br />
What comes from such collaboration?<br />
Marez: We bring different, but complementary things to<br />
the class. Last year I taught with Doe Mayer from production.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the things that I appreciated is that she had a<br />
real hands-on understanding <strong>of</strong> film and media making.<br />
She raised questions about the relationship between ethics<br />
and film and media form that were coming from a very<br />
different perspective than mine as a critic. I’d make these<br />
“big-picture” observations, but Doe would <strong>of</strong>ten look at<br />
them from a more basic perspective. She would remind us<br />
that real people make movies.<br />
On behalf <strong>of</strong> the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television, I would like to thank the many alumni and friends who responded to<br />
last year’s annual appeal. Your contributions to the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television’s 75th Anniversary Fund. Your generous<br />
support is deeply appreciated and will help secure the future <strong>of</strong> the country’s first — and most celebrated — educational<br />
program for film, television, and new media. With your continued involvement and enthusiasm, there can be no<br />
doubt that our next 75 years will be just as amazing as our first 75.<br />
together with thinking about ideology and social, cultural,<br />
and economic issues, and connect it all to the particular<br />
historical context <strong>of</strong> the film.<br />
Why did you decide to leave the journalism<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ession to study film?<br />
Print media has a long history in India. So what I trained<br />
in initially was journalism and advertising because I was<br />
always interested in media but, at that point in India,<br />
there was no kind <strong>of</strong> theoretical course — it was more<br />
practice-oriented. I was fascinated by my field, but in<br />
addition to wanting to cover the stories I was covering,<br />
I also wanted to write about what social frameworks<br />
allowed these kinds <strong>of</strong> stories to be told. I wanted more <strong>of</strong><br />
a challenge — to think about the politics, the ideology<br />
behind it. And so, while I was working for television,<br />
I also applied to graduate school at the same time.<br />
After I earned my Ph.D., I went to Syracuse to work in an<br />
English department that was teaching film. I think the<br />
plus <strong>of</strong> it was that I had to make cinema relevant to<br />
another discipline, so it kept me honest in a way — I was<br />
talking about why it’s important to study this medium.<br />
But, on the other hand, I really wanted to be in a film<br />
program with the infrastructure and support to teach cinema,<br />
and to have a common vocabulary <strong>of</strong> analysis, which<br />
is why the job at <strong>USC</strong> is exactly what I was looking for.<br />
To read the complete interview with Priya Jaikumar,<br />
please log on to http://www-cntv.usc.edu/facultynews<br />
Why do you feel it’s<br />
important to investigate<br />
Latino studies in the<br />
Cinema <strong>School</strong>?<br />
Marez: I don’t think we can<br />
assume anymore that film and<br />
media simply reflect the world<br />
around us. They shape the world<br />
around us. One <strong>of</strong> the things that<br />
I argued in Drug Wars was that the media doesn’t just<br />
reflect or represent important policy issues like the war on<br />
drugs, but actually shapes the war on drugs. What I meant<br />
by that is while most people in the U.S. don’t have any<br />
direct experience with drug traffic or drug enforcement,<br />
they can <strong>of</strong>ten recall scenarios, images, scenes from films<br />
and television shows. The media really help bring a lot <strong>of</strong><br />
the issues to people’s imaginative horizons and provides<br />
them with the resources they use to make sense out <strong>of</strong><br />
their political realities.<br />
To read the complete interview with Curtis Marez,<br />
please log on to http://www-cntv.usc.edu/facultynews<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 7
Alumni Quick Takes<br />
1950–1969<br />
Harvey Dener<strong>of</strong>f ’65, will be the new chair <strong>of</strong> illus-<br />
tration at the Savannah College <strong>of</strong> Art and Design<br />
David Foster ’53, has signed a deal to turn the life <strong>of</strong><br />
Olympic downhill skier Picabo Street into a feature film<br />
Taylor Hackford ’68, will produce the series E-Ring<br />
for NBC George Lucas ’66, received a Lifetime<br />
Achievement Award from the American Film Institute<br />
and the inaugural Filmmaker’s Award from the Motion<br />
Picture Sound Editors Walter Murch ’67, will be<br />
the editor on Universal Pictures’ Jarhead<br />
Miles Hood Swarthout ’73<br />
1970–1979<br />
Stu Bloomberg ’77, is executive producer <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ABC series life as we know it Andy Friendly ’73,<br />
has been named president <strong>of</strong> the Hollywood Radio and<br />
TV Society Brian Grazer ’74, will produce an unti-<br />
tled romantic comedy for Imagine Entertainment and will<br />
produce the feature Vivaldi Robbie Greenberg, ASC,<br />
received an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in the<br />
cable movie competition for Iron Jawed Angels (HBO)<br />
J. Mitchell Johnson ’75<br />
J. Mitchell Johnson ’75, received the Santa Fe Film<br />
Festival’s Best Southwest Film award for World without<br />
Waves, which he wrote and directed Paul Maibaum ’75,<br />
8 | in motion summer 2005<br />
was director <strong>of</strong> photography on the A&E movie The<br />
Brooke Ellison Story and is the director <strong>of</strong> photography<br />
on the NBC mid-season series Crazy for You Kerry<br />
McCluggage ’76, will produce an hour-long TV<br />
drama based on the book Misdemeanor Man Charles<br />
Pratt ’78, is one <strong>of</strong> the producers <strong>of</strong> the ABC series<br />
Desperate Housewives Scott Stone ’78, will serve as an<br />
executive producer for the show Extreme Justice Miles<br />
Hood Swarthout ’73, won the Spur Award for his<br />
new novel The Sergeant’s Lady Robert Zemeckis ’73,<br />
is developing the latest draft <strong>of</strong> Jonathan Franzen’s book<br />
The Corrections with an eye toward directing the film, and<br />
will produce the feature The Reaping for Warner Bros.<br />
Heather Chandler ’85<br />
1980–1989<br />
Gregg Araki ’85, wrote and directed the feature<br />
Mysterious Skin Todd Black ’82, will produce the fea-<br />
ture Chad Schmidt for Escape Artists Trey Callaway<br />
’89, is executive producer <strong>of</strong> a half-hour anthology skein<br />
for Fox TV Studios Heather Chandler ’85, pro-<br />
duced the Xbox version <strong>of</strong> Ghost Recon 2 and authored<br />
The Game Localization Handbook Karen Croner ’87,<br />
is writing the features Tulia, Daughter <strong>of</strong> the Queen <strong>of</strong><br />
Sheba, and Dexterity, and producing her script The Tribes<br />
<strong>of</strong> Palos Verdes Tim Doyle ’87, is an executive produc-<br />
er on the ABC series Jake in Progress Bob Ducsay ’86<br />
and Stephen Sommers ’93, will produce the fea-<br />
tures Argonauts (Ducsay also will edit) for DreamWorks<br />
and Airborn for Universal Studios Paul Feig ’84, will<br />
write and direct the feature Star Girl Gordon Gray<br />
’86, will produce Invincible for Disney-based Mayhem<br />
Pictures David Goyer ’88, will produce the feature<br />
Fall, will direct the English-language remake <strong>of</strong> The<br />
Invisible for Spyglass Entertainment and DreamWorks,<br />
and will produce and direct the feature adaptation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
story <strong>of</strong> the DC Comics hero The Flash Lee Haxall<br />
’81, won an Emmy for editing the pilot episode <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Fox series Arrested Development Lynn Hendee ’81,<br />
Wayne Powers ’93<br />
will produce The Tutor for Phoenix Pictures Michael<br />
Lehmann ’85, will direct the comedy Mary Warner<br />
for Arclight Films Neal Moritz ’85, will produce<br />
the horror feature Prom Night for Original Films and,<br />
along with Ori Marmur ’93, will produce the spy<br />
thriller The Executioner’s Game for Columbia Pictures<br />
Bob Osher ’81, is an executive producer on the<br />
Bravo series Project Greenlight John Ottman ’88,<br />
composed the music for the Sony Pictures Classics fea-<br />
ture Imaginary Heroes Wayne Powers ’83 and<br />
Donna Powers ’84, are writing the script for the<br />
sequel to Paramount Pictures’ The Italian Job<br />
Michael Rymer ’85, directed the USA series<br />
Battlestar Galactica Gabe Sachs ’84, will write the<br />
script for the remake <strong>of</strong> the 1984 college comedy<br />
Revenge <strong>of</strong> the Nerds and is co-creator/executive producer<br />
<strong>of</strong> the ABC series life as we know it Peter Segal ’84,<br />
will direct the comedy Dealbreaker for Paramount<br />
Stacey Sher ’85, will produce a feature based on the<br />
upcoming book No True Glory: The Battle for Fallujah<br />
Bryan Singer ’89, is executive producer <strong>of</strong> the Fox<br />
series House, will executive produce the feature The<br />
Triangle for SCI FI Channel, and will develop and direct<br />
a feature based on the article U Want Me 2 Kill Him<br />
Suzanne Todd ’86 and Jennifer Todd ’87, will<br />
produce All You Need Is Love for Revolution Studios<br />
1990–1999<br />
Jon Bokenkamp ’95, will adapt the short story<br />
Night and Day You Are the One for Bobker/Kruger<br />
Films Brumby Boylston ’95, recently launched<br />
National Television, a design group that produces ani-
mation for a variety <strong>of</strong> media Michael Caldwell<br />
’90, produced the feature Hard Candy for Vulcan<br />
Productions Steven Cantor ’95, is producing the<br />
HBO series Family Bonds Ronnie Christensen ’94,<br />
wrote the script for the horror feature Smoke Polly<br />
Cohen ’95, brought the script for License to Wed to<br />
Warner Bros. Productions and will supervise production <strong>of</strong><br />
a film based on the article U Want Me 2 Kill Him<br />
Matthew Ehlers ’92, has been commissioned by Made<br />
Up North Productions to write the screenplay for Jump<br />
Jon Bokenkamp ’95<br />
Trevor Engelson ’98, and Nick Osbourne ’97,<br />
will produce the romantic comedy License to Wed Gary<br />
Fleder ’93, is a director on the ABC series Blind Justice<br />
Russell Friend ’95, is co-executive producer <strong>of</strong> the<br />
NBC series LAX Samantha Goodman ’92 and<br />
Andrew Stern ’92, wrote the script for the<br />
Paramount feature Dealbreaker Luke Greenfield ’94,<br />
has signed separate film and TV pacts with Regency<br />
Enterprises and 20th Century Fox TV Gerald<br />
Haynes ’97, wrote and directed the short film<br />
Josh Greenberg ’00<br />
Hysteria, which was accepted into the 2005 Pan African<br />
Film Festival Patrick Hogan ’98, wrote and direct-<br />
ed the indie feature Pope Dreams Nathan Hope ’95,<br />
received an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in the<br />
episodic series competition for the segment “Down the<br />
Lisa Parsons ’01<br />
Drain” from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) Rian<br />
Johnson ’96, wrote and directed the feature Brick<br />
Damon Lee ’94, is anchoring his Deacon<br />
Entertainment at Focus Features by inking a first look<br />
pact Garrett Lerner ’95, was co-executive producer<br />
<strong>of</strong> the NBC series LAX Steve Loh, ’98, is producing<br />
the indie feature Pope Dreams Ori Marmur ’93 and<br />
Neal Moritz ’85 will produce the spy thriller The<br />
Executioner’s Game for Columbia Pictures Don<br />
Murphy ’98, will produce the feature Sleepless Knights<br />
for DreamWorks Jack Orman ’93, will write the<br />
script for the feature The Code Nick Pustay ’95, has<br />
been hired by Fortress Entertainment to adapt Elizabeth<br />
Swado’s Dreamtective Ben Queen ’96, is writing the<br />
script for the Warner Bros. feature Slanted and<br />
Enchanted Herbert Ratner ’96, wrote the script for<br />
the feature Mr. Lucky Mark Gibson ’94 and Philip<br />
Halprin ’93, will write the script for a comedy feature<br />
that is being developed for Snoop Dogg Jason<br />
Shuman ’96, will produce the features The Burrowers<br />
and Mr. Lucky John Singleton ’90, directed the<br />
revenge tale Four Brothers and also produced the urban<br />
pic Hustle & Flow, which was acquired by Paramount<br />
Motion Picture Group for $16 million in a multi-pic deal<br />
Stephen Sommers ’93, and Bob Ducsay ’86,<br />
will produce the features Argonauts for DreamWorks and<br />
Airborn for Universal Studios James Vanderbilt ’99,<br />
has signed a deal to adapt former counterterrorism czar<br />
Richard A. Clarke’s book Against All Enemies: Inside<br />
America’s War on Terror Clay Walker ’94, produced<br />
the Plan B Productions documentary The Cole Nobody<br />
Knows, based on Freddy Cole’s life and music<br />
2000–Present<br />
Whitney Anderson ’04, John Carr ’04,<br />
Jonathan Howard ’04, and Damian Saul-<br />
Romay ’04, were awarded Disney/ABC writing<br />
fellowships Aaron Coleman ’02, penned the lyrics<br />
for Imelda, a new stage musical about the former first<br />
lady <strong>of</strong> the Philippines Greg DeCuir ’01, wrote the<br />
script for the feature Big Time Freaks Josh<br />
Greenberg ’00, will write the script for the new<br />
adventure comedy Delaware McCloud Ben Haber ’00,<br />
will co-produce All You Need Is Love Chad<br />
Michael ’03, wrote and directed the new feature<br />
The Writer Jennifer Nieves ’02, has joined Penn<br />
Station Entertainment as director <strong>of</strong> development<br />
Aaron Coleman ’02<br />
Lisa Parsons ’01, has been hired as a staff writer for<br />
the Fox series Arrested Development Ian Richter ’02,<br />
is a producer on the Cartoon Network series Hot Wheels<br />
AcceleRacers Brad Webber ’02, won the Step Up<br />
Film Festival’s grand prize for best drama short for his<br />
film Still Life<br />
Current Students<br />
Mike Brinker, Vincent Diamante, Todd<br />
Furmanski, Erik Nelson, and Glenn Song<br />
created Dyadin, a two-player adventure game that was<br />
selected as a winner at the 2005 Independent Games<br />
Festival Student Showcase, the country’s most prestigious<br />
game competition for students Hazel Meeks has been<br />
selected for the New York International Independent<br />
Film and Video Festival 2005 for her short film<br />
Sometimes, Seriously, Never<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 9
3<br />
Great Moments<br />
1. Sidney Poitier and Leonard Maltin at the 466 screening <strong>of</strong><br />
the 1967 schoolroom drama To Sir, With Love<br />
2. Oscar-winning producers Arnold and Anne Kopelson with<br />
the staff <strong>of</strong> CU@<strong>USC</strong> (the live, nightly interview program<br />
on Trojan Vision Television): Andrew Sevanian, Elizabeth<br />
Newman, Lisha Yakub, and Michael Hoy (left to right)<br />
3. Students Jill Siegel and Joe Frankel flank writer-actor Eugene<br />
Levy (Best in Show), who participated in the Zaki Gordon<br />
Speaker Series, hosted by the Division <strong>of</strong> Writing for Film<br />
and Television<br />
8<br />
10 | in motion summer 2005<br />
6<br />
2<br />
4<br />
4. Alumna Stacey Sher, M.F.A. ’85, and<br />
Michael Shamberg discuss the role <strong>of</strong> a<br />
producer with Leonard Maltin<br />
5. Jason Squire (left), instructor <strong>of</strong> Cinema<br />
Practice, with writer-director Alexander<br />
Payne (Sideways), who talked about the rigors<br />
and structure <strong>of</strong> movie making during<br />
a session <strong>of</strong> CTPR 386 (Art and Industry<br />
<strong>of</strong> Theatrical Film)<br />
6. Jay Roach talks with audience members after a screening<br />
<strong>of</strong> Meet the Fockers, the finale <strong>of</strong> the 75th Anniversary<br />
Screening Series<br />
7. Writer-producer-director-animator Bill Plympton<br />
(Hair High) with Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Christine Panushka<br />
8. Rebecca Kearney, vice president <strong>of</strong> marketing at<br />
United Artists, with a 466 student after the screening<br />
<strong>of</strong> the documentary The Yes Men<br />
9. Legendary animator Ray Harryhausen with one <strong>of</strong><br />
his original puppets from the film Jason and the<br />
Argonauts (1963)<br />
9<br />
7<br />
5<br />
1
Declaration <strong>of</strong><br />
Independence<br />
(continued from page 1)<br />
Drawing on nearly 60 years <strong>of</strong> music and film experience,<br />
including being the driving force behind Academy<br />
Award winners like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,<br />
Amadeus, and The English Patient, Zaentz peppered<br />
students, faculty, and family members with quotes and<br />
observations he has culled throughout his lifetime.<br />
Introduced by Frank Price, a <strong>USC</strong> trustee and chair <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>School</strong>’s Board <strong>of</strong> Councilors, as “an independent,<br />
hands-on visionary with a rare knack for bringing com-<br />
Independent filmmaker Saul Zaentz gives a bettersweeet send-<strong>of</strong>f to the class <strong>of</strong> ’05<br />
plex, epic stories to the big screen,” Zaentz pulled no<br />
punches when it came to describing the industry many<br />
in the room will soon be entering.<br />
“The most damning trait <strong>of</strong> all the studios is they are<br />
like flies. Flies eat honey or excrement with equal<br />
appetite and the studios make their pictures the same<br />
way,” said Zaentz to a roar <strong>of</strong> laughter. “The more layers<br />
<strong>of</strong> so-called decision makers, the more you may be<br />
assured that disaster will not be left to chance.”<br />
Zaentz began his career in the Bay Area as a record distributor<br />
and later became owner <strong>of</strong> Fantasy Records, the<br />
first company to record Dave Brubeck, Lenny Bruce,<br />
and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Success in the record<br />
trade funded his interest in films and enabled him to<br />
start the Saul Zaentz Film Center in Berkeley. In addition<br />
to the Oscars his films have racked up, he was the<br />
recipient in 1996 <strong>of</strong> the Academy <strong>of</strong> Motion Picture <strong>Arts</strong><br />
and Sciences’ prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial<br />
Award “For Consistently High Quality <strong>of</strong> Motion<br />
Picture Production.”<br />
As members <strong>of</strong> the graduating class transition from<br />
school to a trade known for chasing the latest craze,<br />
Zaentz encouraged them to remain true to their own<br />
voice. “Whatever you believe in has a much better<br />
chance <strong>of</strong> happening than something you think is what<br />
they want. Never — and I use a strong word — never go<br />
in with something that’s what you think the audience<br />
wants to hear or see.”<br />
For Michael Brinker, who was part <strong>of</strong> the first group to<br />
graduate from the Division <strong>of</strong> Interactive Media (see<br />
First Class!, at right), the film-school experience was all<br />
about finding that voice.<br />
“I’ve finally come to a point in my academic career, as<br />
well as my life, where I’ve found the thing I want to do,<br />
which revolves around game design and game production,”<br />
Brinker said. “It’s been a wild ride and I’m<br />
confident I’ve found that one love,” he continued.<br />
This year’s commencement exercises held special meaning<br />
not only for newly minted graduates like Brinker,<br />
but also for veteran cinema-television hands Jay Roach<br />
and Robert Zemeckis.<br />
Roach, who earned his M.F.A. in 1986, received the<br />
Mary Pickford Outstanding Alumnus Award, which<br />
is bestowed upon alumni who have made an indelible<br />
impact on the entertainment industry. Past honorees<br />
include William Fraker, Conrad L. Hall, Alan Ladd Jr.,<br />
Michelle Manning, Walter Murch, Gary Rydstrom,<br />
Stacey Sher, David L. Wolper, Robert Zemeckis, and<br />
Laura Ziskin.<br />
“The other honorees overcame tremendous obstacles<br />
to create fantastic epic films that changed the world,”<br />
said Roach, director <strong>of</strong> comic hits such as the Austin<br />
Powers series and Meet the Parents. “I spent six days<br />
and hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> dollars flushing a dog<br />
down a toilet,” he added, referencing his blockbuster<br />
Meet the Fockers.<br />
Earlier in the day, the university conferred an honorary<br />
doctorate upon Zemeckis, director <strong>of</strong> The Polar Express,<br />
Forrest Gump, and the Back to the Future series. The<br />
degree was given in recognition <strong>of</strong> his innovative use <strong>of</strong><br />
technology to take storytelling to dazzling new heights,<br />
his contributions to the education <strong>of</strong> the next generation<br />
<strong>of</strong> filmmakers, and his loyalty to <strong>USC</strong>. Zemeckis spearheaded<br />
the multi-million dollar drive that resulted in the<br />
construction <strong>of</strong> the digital arts center that bears his name.<br />
The class <strong>of</strong> 2005 — 435 members strong — received a<br />
total <strong>of</strong> 271 undergraduate degrees, 158 master’s degrees,<br />
and 6 doctorate degrees.<br />
First Class!<br />
Graduating Interactive M.F.A.s<br />
Mark Cinema Milestone<br />
By John Zollinger, M.F.A. ’02<br />
The <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television made<br />
history once again this spring when six students<br />
from the Division <strong>of</strong> Interactive Media<br />
ascended the proscenium at the Shrine Auditorium to<br />
receive the first degrees in Interactive Media ever<br />
conferred by <strong>USC</strong>.<br />
As the newly minted M.F.A.s collected their diplomas,<br />
the ceremony underscored the tremendous growth <strong>of</strong><br />
the discipline, which over the past eight years has<br />
evolved from a handful <strong>of</strong> classes to a full-fledged<br />
division with an endowed faculty chair, state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art<br />
labs, and a reputation as one <strong>of</strong> the nation’s preeminent<br />
interactive programs.<br />
“This is a tremendous moment for the students and for<br />
the division,” said division Chair Scott Fisher. “The students<br />
worked incredibly hard over the past three years<br />
to turn their visions into reality. And in doing so, they<br />
played a vital role in developing the program itself.”<br />
Michael Brinker, William Carter, Todd Furmanski, Kurt<br />
MacDonald, Tripp Millican and Stephanie Weinstein, the<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> Interactive Media’s first graduating class, toasts<br />
a historic moment.<br />
From Virtual to Reality<br />
In the 1990s, the confluence <strong>of</strong> increased computing<br />
power, greater connectivity, and ample capital for investment<br />
transformed interactive media — games, museum<br />
installations, immersive training environments, and<br />
mobile applications — from a set <strong>of</strong> niche interests into<br />
an economic powerhouse.<br />
Early on, leaders <strong>of</strong> the <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television<br />
recognized this trend and the demand it would create for<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essionally trained personnel. Although they were<br />
venturing into uncharted academic territory, faculty and<br />
students pressed ahead, applying the time-tested philosophy<br />
that underpins the <strong>School</strong>’s five other divisions.<br />
“The goal <strong>of</strong> this <strong>School</strong> is not to turn out students who<br />
are merely specialists in a particular technology,” said<br />
Dean Elizabeth Daley. “Rather, by exposing students to<br />
all facets <strong>of</strong> the discipline, our intention is to nurture<br />
thinkers and creators who have a solid understanding <strong>of</strong><br />
their field and a critical perspective on how it fits into<br />
the larger realm <strong>of</strong> society and culture.”<br />
That foundation has served the Division <strong>of</strong> Interactive<br />
Media well during a time <strong>of</strong> exponential progress.<br />
What began in 1997 as a single track in the production<br />
(continued on page 13)<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 11
Illustrious Alumnus<br />
by Justin Wilson, M.F.A. ’98<br />
JAVIER GRILLO-MARXUACH<br />
After earning his master’s degree from the Division <strong>of</strong><br />
Writing for Screen and Television in 1993, Javier Grillo-<br />
Marxuach worked as a writer-producer on a number <strong>of</strong> TV<br />
dramas. With stints on such shows as Boomtown, The<br />
Pretender, and Charmed, he has demonstrated a great deal<br />
<strong>of</strong> versatility, as well as the ability to let his own voice shine<br />
within the parameters <strong>of</strong> network series television. Grillo-<br />
Marxuach may not be a household name yet, but the<br />
success <strong>of</strong> this year’s smash hit Lost has given him some<br />
well-deserved recognition. (Just don’t ask him to reveal<br />
any <strong>of</strong> the island’s secrets.)<br />
Why is television so appealing now for writers<br />
like yourself?<br />
I think it’s very easy to feel that features are the sexier arena.<br />
The pr<strong>of</strong>ile is very high and it’s a very glamorous world.<br />
Television is a place where individual writers can really<br />
establish a voice and create a larger body <strong>of</strong> work faster.<br />
You develop your skills a lot faster because you’re writing<br />
in a much more consistent pattern, and it’s a much more<br />
writer-friendly world than features.<br />
The limitation that you have as a television writer is that,<br />
unless you create your own series, you are working in someone<br />
else’s universe. I don’t think one is better or worse, but<br />
I know a lot <strong>of</strong> writers who have written a dozen features<br />
that haven’t gotten produced. The one thing about television<br />
is that the great majority <strong>of</strong> what I have written has<br />
been produced. I get to see it on its feet, and a month later<br />
I’m writing another thing. And you’re constantly moving<br />
and constantly pushing at the limitations. That’s why I find<br />
it more attractive.<br />
You started out as an executive. Can you talk<br />
about that transition from network executive<br />
to network writer?<br />
I had a master’s degree from <strong>USC</strong> in screenwriting, so my<br />
focus was not to become an executive. But you know when<br />
the graduate screenwriting program ends and you graduate,<br />
they send out a letter <strong>of</strong> the synopses to all the agencies?<br />
Alumnus Javier Grillo-Marxuach is a writer and supervising producer on the smash TV show Lost<br />
12 | in motion summer 2005<br />
The script list?<br />
Yes, the script list. I had written a $120-million action<br />
movie for a 50-year-old Puerto Rican actor. Who I guess at<br />
the time would have been Raul Julia. Then he died…so,<br />
that didn’t exactly set the world on fire...I was working at<br />
Kinko’s and trying to figure out what I was going to do<br />
with my life, what I was going to write next, and becoming<br />
very frustrated. And I got the opportunity to interview for<br />
this [executive] job with NBC, through <strong>USC</strong> actually…It<br />
began as something that I thought, “Wow, this will be a<br />
good way to know a piece <strong>of</strong> the business and have a position<br />
inside.” And after I took that job, I felt like it was the<br />
place to be for a writer. I really enjoyed talking to TV writers,<br />
and working on the development <strong>of</strong> pilots and things<br />
like that. That job was kind <strong>of</strong> like my second master’s<br />
degree. It was very specifically a master’s degree in television,<br />
and how the TV industry works.<br />
I was involved in … a show called Seaquest. The executive<br />
producer took a liking to me, or maybe he just didn’t want<br />
to get notes from me anymore — I’m not sure which one it<br />
was — and he <strong>of</strong>fered me a job. The hardest part was getting<br />
the job at the network, which was a three-month<br />
interview process.<br />
Going back to <strong>USC</strong>, were there any particular<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essors or classes that really had an impact<br />
on you?<br />
Absolutely. I was fortunate to be there when Frank Daniel<br />
was teaching — I’m sure he continues to be a legend in the<br />
department. David Howard, who was head <strong>of</strong> the department<br />
and my thesis advisor, was tremendously supportive,<br />
not just <strong>of</strong> my work, but <strong>of</strong> the idiosyncratic pockets <strong>of</strong> my<br />
vision. He had a real passion for [writing] and was just a<br />
great teacher <strong>of</strong> the theory <strong>of</strong> screenwriting.<br />
When you go into the screenwriting program and you take<br />
Nina Foch’s class, that’s also going to make an impression.<br />
She’s an extremely powerful person who has a very definite<br />
point <strong>of</strong> view, and the things you learn from her you’re<br />
going to continue to use throughout your career.<br />
Without slipping into hyperbole, I use the things I learned<br />
from <strong>USC</strong> on a day-to-day basis. They’re the tools <strong>of</strong> story<br />
analysis and story creation that formed the foundation for<br />
what I do.<br />
So now you’re on a show, you’re working, and<br />
you have to execute someone else’s vision <strong>of</strong> the<br />
show. How are you able to manage that while<br />
you’re finding your voice and demonstrating<br />
something distinct about your writing?<br />
If you can’t check your ego at the door, you probably don’t<br />
belong in television. Which seems contrary to popular<br />
opinion, because a lot <strong>of</strong> people believe that all writers are<br />
egomaniacal. But when you are a paid writer or writer/<br />
producer on someone else’s television show, you are going<br />
to try to fulfill their vision. You have to find within yourself<br />
the way to manifest your own creativity while fulfilling<br />
their vision. That’s a creative challenge that not everybody<br />
may want to take.<br />
For me, it’s a very fulfilling thing to go in and write a script<br />
that is in the voice <strong>of</strong> Damon [Lindel<strong>of</strong>, co-creator and<br />
producer <strong>of</strong> Lost ] or J.J. [Abrams, co-creator and producer<br />
<strong>of</strong> Lost ] that still has my own personal stamp on it. That’s<br />
when you are truly successful as a television producer,<br />
because that’s what we do. If that’s something that you can’t<br />
reconcile with, then you’re probably better <strong>of</strong>f writing features<br />
or doing something that will allow you to have more<br />
<strong>of</strong> that idiosyncratic voice.<br />
I think that what happens in a TV show is, if you come in<br />
slowly through the margins, your voice starts to seep into<br />
the creative process. A show begins by being someone else’s<br />
show, but if you’re able to successfully contribute to that<br />
show it becomes, not your show by any means, but a staff<br />
show. The mark <strong>of</strong> a well-run, well-designed show is that it<br />
accommodates a lot <strong>of</strong> different viewpoints within the<br />
greater structure. And the creativity really falls into the category<br />
<strong>of</strong>…writing a haiku: I need to have this many lines, I<br />
need to have this many paragraphs. Can I do that and still<br />
give it my own personal identity?
When you first started Lost, did you have a<br />
feeling the show would be as big as a hit as<br />
it is now?<br />
I try not to think about it in those terms. I thought we were<br />
working on a noble endeavor and one that was very experimental<br />
because it was filmed very quickly. I was brought in<br />
before the pilot script was finished as part <strong>of</strong> a four-writer<br />
think-tank, to come up with ideas for what the series should<br />
become, based on the pilot. And out <strong>of</strong> that think-tank a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> stuff came up: character back stories, ideas for development<br />
<strong>of</strong> the show, what’s on the island. Never in a million<br />
years would I have guessed that it would be the hit that it is.<br />
Partially because I just thought, “Let’s make it good and see<br />
if it sticks.”<br />
On Lost, is there a “bible” that you refer to so<br />
that each <strong>of</strong> the writers knows where the show<br />
is going?<br />
At the very early stages <strong>of</strong> the show, we sat down and brainstormed<br />
for two months while the pilot was being filmed.<br />
J.J. and Damon knew certain things that they wanted. We<br />
knew what the island was — very clearly — and we knew<br />
what the monsters were. Within the rubric <strong>of</strong> that, we knew<br />
that certain things have to happen —that they’re going to<br />
build a raft, that the pregnant girl has to give birth. Once<br />
you have certain things in the macro [plan] <strong>of</strong> the show, you<br />
start putting up signposts that you can follow. That’s how<br />
Lost is being created.<br />
J.J. and Damon created a vision, and from that we move to<br />
what is going to happen over the season. Then you sort <strong>of</strong><br />
work your way out from the big picture to that smaller picture,<br />
and the more signposts you throw up at each level, the<br />
more you know where you are going. It gets interesting: You<br />
draw yourself a map, follow it and you give yourself enough<br />
gray area so that if an actor’s really good and you want to<br />
write an expanded part for him, you can do that. If something<br />
happens — if someone has a great inspiration as one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the writers, you say, “Wow, let’s use that” and then you<br />
modify where you’re going on the journey to that. You can<br />
take a detour if you’re driving cross-country and you know<br />
you have to stop here, here and here. That frees you up to<br />
say, “You know what? The world’s biggest ball <strong>of</strong> twine is<br />
over here. Let’s get <strong>of</strong>f on this exit and go see the world’s<br />
biggest ball <strong>of</strong> twine and then let’s drive back to Denver,<br />
which is where we have to be by episode 12.” You can’t go<br />
into a show like this and make it up as you go along. But if<br />
you have the vision, then you have the freedom to play with<br />
it more and still know where you need to get to.<br />
Aren’t there are a lot <strong>of</strong> questions from fans<br />
about where Lost is going?<br />
Yeah, there are. You try to answer one, and then maybe for<br />
one you answer you throw out a couple more. Some <strong>of</strong> them<br />
are questions that we can’t answer. Telling you what the<br />
island is, is like having David and Maddie [from the ’80s TV<br />
show Moonlighting] hook up. The moment you know what<br />
the island is, the show will lose a lot <strong>of</strong> its interest because all<br />
<strong>of</strong> a sudden you go, “Oh, well, that’s what it is, now we<br />
know.” But within that, there are all sorts <strong>of</strong> secrets and mysteries<br />
and things that we can plant and then pay <strong>of</strong>f.<br />
To read the complete interview with Javier Grillo-<br />
Marxuach, please log on to www.cntvalumni.net.<br />
First Class!<br />
(continued from page 11)<br />
division with adjunct faculty ballooned in 2002 into an independent division, <strong>of</strong>fering an intensive<br />
three-year course <strong>of</strong> study in which M.F.A. students gain exposure to the full spectrum <strong>of</strong> interactive experiences,<br />
from mobile media to immersive media to game design. In addition, an undergraduate degree<br />
program in Interactive Entertainment has just been approved by the university’s curriculum committee for<br />
the division to begin in Fall <strong>of</strong> 2005. (The division also <strong>of</strong>fers an undergraduate minor in Video Game<br />
Design and Management, presented in conjunction with the Viterbi <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Engineering.)<br />
In 2002, Fisher assumed the division chair, bringing<br />
with him an extensive background as a media artist<br />
and interaction designer whose experience stretches<br />
from government to industry to academia. Since his<br />
arrival, the faculty has grown even further to include<br />
eight pr<strong>of</strong>essors and eight adjunct pr<strong>of</strong>essors, as well<br />
as two staff members.<br />
“The M.F.A. brought the caliber up,” said Chris Swain, who started as a part-time instructor in 1999<br />
and became a full-time assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor in 2004. “We had real faculty, real organization, and students<br />
who actively sought us out,” he added.<br />
This climate <strong>of</strong> experimentation was aided immensely by the broad swath <strong>of</strong> expertise Carter and his<br />
classmates brought to the program, said Visiting Associate Research Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Perry Hoberman. “We<br />
have people with backgrounds in computer science, cinema, theater, arts, music,” Hoberman noted.<br />
“They’re from all over the place and with the kinds <strong>of</strong> projects they are doing, they have to draw on the<br />
types <strong>of</strong> experience they and their colleagues have in many disciplines.”<br />
Critical Mass<br />
The division received a major boost in 2004 when Electronic <strong>Arts</strong> (EA), the world’s leading interactive<br />
entertainment s<strong>of</strong>tware company, made a multimillion dollar investment in the future <strong>of</strong> interactive<br />
media education at the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television.<br />
The donation supports the development <strong>of</strong> the division’s gaming track, <strong>of</strong>ficially named the Electronic<br />
<strong>Arts</strong> Interactive Entertainment Program, as well as the Electronic <strong>Arts</strong> Endowed Faculty Chair, which<br />
is a rotating position held for one to two years by leading figures in interactive entertainment. Bing<br />
Gordon, EA co-founder, chief creative <strong>of</strong>ficer, and executive vice president, assumed the first seat<br />
earlier this year.<br />
Advances in programs, faculty, and funding were matched over the past three years by an equally robust<br />
physical expansion. The Interactive Media Lab and the Immersive Media Lab are both situated in the<br />
cinema-television complex; the Mobile Media Lab is in the Annenberg Center; and the Electronic <strong>Arts</strong><br />
Game Innovation Lab and the Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML) are housed in the Robert Zemeckis Center<br />
for Digital <strong>Arts</strong>.<br />
With its cutting-edge technology, the EA Game Innovation Lab serves as a research space and think tank<br />
where new concepts in game design, play, and usability are developed, prototyped and play-tested. The lab<br />
features an array <strong>of</strong> equipment, from PCs sporting high-end graphics cards, to a usability room set up<br />
with one-way mirrors and video cameras that let researchers and developers monitor how players interact<br />
with games.<br />
The adjoining ZML classroom features seamless, wrap-around video projection screens on three <strong>of</strong> the<br />
room’s walls, creating a space for second- and third-year students to develop and display their work. This<br />
spring, the room hosted the inaugural session <strong>of</strong> the “Pass Through” exhibition. The event, which will be<br />
held each year before commencement, showcases the graduating class’s thesis projects, which this year<br />
included mobile media and games, as well as experiential and immersive installations.<br />
The Next Level<br />
For the new graduates, the future looks promising. “It’s a burgeoning industry and it’s only going to get<br />
more interesting,” said Carter, who had four job interviews in the weeks prior to commencement.<br />
Likewise, the division’s future seems just as promising, with the <strong>of</strong>ficial launch <strong>of</strong> a bachelor’s degree<br />
program this fall, continued updates to the facilities and equipment, and the expansion <strong>of</strong> the crossdisciplinary<br />
programs that the division has already initiated with other schools and departments at<br />
<strong>USC</strong> and beyond.<br />
“Interactive Media — and by that I mean both the field and the division — are at a pivotal moment,<br />
much like the Internet was in the early ’90s,” Fisher said. “I couldn’t even begin to tell you what things<br />
will look like three years from now, but I do know these grads and the ones who follow will have a hand<br />
in determining that future,” he added.<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 13
Backseat Bingo<br />
Ahead <strong>of</strong> the Filmmaking Curve<br />
By Jacqueline Angiuli<br />
When Ruth moved into Sid’s apartment complex, the 82-year-old widower<br />
found love. And his granddaughter, Liz Blazer, M.F.A. ’03, found the<br />
inspiration to create her acclaimed animated documentary, Backseat<br />
Bingo, which premiered at the <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television’s annual First Look Film<br />
Festival in the fall <strong>of</strong> 2004.<br />
Sid, deeply despondent after losing his wife <strong>of</strong> 60 years, was “instantly transformed” by his<br />
love affair with Ruth, said Liz. “Hair grew out <strong>of</strong> the top <strong>of</strong> his head for the first time in a<br />
half century,” she recalls. “My grandfather giggled, danced, and wrote love letters.”<br />
Seniors talk about love and intimacy in the animated documentary Backseat Bingo<br />
Liz was struck by how the vitality <strong>of</strong> Sid and Ruth’s relationship seemed to stand in stark<br />
contrast to most assumptions about older people and romance, so she set out to make a<br />
film that would explore the intimate lives <strong>of</strong> senior citizens.<br />
“I asked around for months, searching for a group <strong>of</strong> passionate seniors who were willing<br />
to talk about sex,” said Liz. “I finally found Robert, a 93-year-old composer who introduced<br />
me to his clique <strong>of</strong> fabulous friends. They were excited about being interviewed<br />
and quite candid, knowing that the final film would be animated.”<br />
Liz, the sole animator, director, and producer <strong>of</strong> Backseat Bingo, chose to make a documentary<br />
featuring animated characters, knowing it would help audiences shed their<br />
preconceptions about aging and focus on the actual message about companionship and<br />
the universality <strong>of</strong> romantic longing. “I wanted to show these folks in the most wise, vital,<br />
and compassionate way that I could — literally, animated,” she explained.<br />
The completed project — a “cut-out film” that was created by scanning watercolor drawings,<br />
fabrics, and printed textures and using Photoshop and After Effects for assembly and<br />
animation — earned Liz not only a master’s degree from the <strong>School</strong>’s Division <strong>of</strong><br />
Animation and Digital <strong>Arts</strong>, but also an avalanche <strong>of</strong> accolades from across the country<br />
and around the globe. Film-festival audiences from California to Croatia have embraced<br />
this insightful, imaginative five-minute masterpiece, and Animation Magazine, the HBO<br />
Sith’s Digital Dazzle<br />
It was “déjà vu all over again” when a capacity<br />
crowd filled Frank Sinatra Hall in the Norris<br />
Theatre Complex on May 15 to enjoy prerelease<br />
screenings <strong>of</strong> Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge <strong>of</strong> the Sith,<br />
courtesy <strong>of</strong> Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox.<br />
Ben Burtt ’75, Academy Award nominee and longtime<br />
George Lucas collaborator, discusses his role as a film editor<br />
and sound designer on Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Sith<br />
14 | in motion summer 2005<br />
As Dean Elizabeth Daley noted, “A smaller collection <strong>of</strong><br />
guests assembled at the very same venue back in 1977 to<br />
watch a special screening <strong>of</strong> the first Star Wars movie, so<br />
we are very honored that George [Lucas] agreed to let us<br />
screen the finale to this landmark series here as well.”<br />
Thanks to the digital file server provided by Avica<br />
Technology and the digital projector already donated to<br />
the <strong>School</strong> and installed in Norris Theatre/Sinatra Hall by<br />
corporate partner Christie’s, guests saw Episode III the way<br />
George Lucas wanted it to be seen — completely digitally.<br />
And the <strong>USC</strong> audience cherished every magical<br />
moment. Alumni, faculty, students, and friends greeted<br />
the first notes <strong>of</strong> John Williams’s score with eager<br />
applause, cheered for their Jedi heroes during the spectacular<br />
battle scenes, and <strong>of</strong>fered a thundering ovation as<br />
the credits rolled.<br />
Comedy <strong>Arts</strong> Festival, and the International Documentary Association are just a few <strong>of</strong><br />
the many organizations that awarded Backseat Bingo their highest honors.<br />
The enthusiastic response probably shouldn’t come as too much <strong>of</strong> a surprise. More than<br />
20 percent <strong>of</strong> the U.S. population will be 65 years or older by 2030, and the first baby<br />
boomers will reach the age <strong>of</strong> 60 in 2006. This means that an unprecedented number <strong>of</strong><br />
Americans are trying to understand the evolving role <strong>of</strong> older persons in society — just as<br />
Liz Blazer sensed when she saw Ruth and Sid’s relationship beginning to unfold.<br />
But Liz emphasized that it was the education she received at the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Cinema-Television that enabled her to turn her artistic instincts into film reality.<br />
“What excited me most about the program initially was that <strong>USC</strong> <strong>of</strong>fered the opportunity<br />
to study animation within the context <strong>of</strong> the film school, instead <strong>of</strong> as a segregated animation<br />
department in an art school,” she noted. “The <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television is exceptional<br />
because <strong>of</strong> its philosophical commitment to teaching not only the technical tools <strong>of</strong><br />
the trade, but also critical thinking and — most important — the art <strong>of</strong> storytelling.”<br />
The success <strong>of</strong> Backseat Bingo has encouraged Liz to continue to explore the intersection<br />
<strong>of</strong> the animation and documentary genres. She is currently working on a short —<br />
Fitting Room Confidential is the working title — that will address the issues surrounding<br />
female self-image by illustrating the “humorous, compassionate, <strong>of</strong>ten silly, and sometimes<br />
painful interactions” that occur in the hidden worlds <strong>of</strong> the dressing rooms <strong>of</strong> discount<br />
clothing stores.<br />
“Liz Blazer is a wonderful spirit and a true humanitarian,” said Kathy Smith, chair <strong>of</strong><br />
the Division <strong>of</strong> Animation and Digital <strong>Arts</strong>. “Her work is imbued with a sensitivity and<br />
maturity that comes from having elderly parents and a sincere interest in the fragility <strong>of</strong><br />
life and the transience <strong>of</strong> existence,” Smith observed, adding, “She never fails to find<br />
some sense <strong>of</strong> emotion or humor in even the smallest moment.”<br />
Another highlight <strong>of</strong> the afternoon was an appearance<br />
by alumnus Ben Burtt ’75, the sound designer on all <strong>of</strong><br />
the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films and picture editor<br />
on Episodes I, II, and III. Burtt joined the festivities to<br />
participate in a question-and-answer session with<br />
Associate Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Norman Hollyn, head <strong>of</strong> the<br />
<strong>School</strong>’s editing track.<br />
Burtt talked about the care taken by the filmmakers to<br />
connect the threads between all the Star Wars films in the<br />
final installment, adding that “they are very enjoyable<br />
threads to follow.”<br />
Recounting his experiences working on Episode III, Burtt<br />
said that there was “a tremendous amount <strong>of</strong> … experimentation<br />
going on in the editing room.” The prolific<br />
Burtt — he also created the voice <strong>of</strong> E.T. — went on to<br />
encourage aspiring filmmakers to get a broad education<br />
but also to “become an expert in several things so you<br />
have a developed point <strong>of</strong> view.”
<strong>USC</strong> Is in the “Flow”<br />
at Sundance ’05<br />
By Justin Wilson, M.F.A. ’98<br />
Braving streets choked with snow<br />
banks and throngs <strong>of</strong> festival-goers,<br />
more than 200 alumni, students,<br />
faculty, and friends joined the <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Cinema-Television’s annual cocktail party at<br />
Café Terigo to celebrate the 20-plus <strong>USC</strong>-affiliated<br />
projects that were presented at this year’s<br />
Michael Phillips, senior production designer at Avid<br />
Sundance and Slamdance film festivals.<br />
Technology, Nelson Cragg, M.F.A.’03, and Dean<br />
Daley at the <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television's annual<br />
The January event — sponsored by Avid,<br />
Sundance reception<br />
Moviefone, and Stella Artois — drew a record<br />
crowd, all <strong>of</strong> whom were buzzing about the award-winning fiction features Hustle & Flow<br />
(produced by John Singleton, B.A. ’90) and Brick (written and directed by Rian Johnson, B.A.<br />
’96), as well as the documentary The Fall <strong>of</strong> Fujimori (directed by alumna Ellen Perry).<br />
As in years past, short films proved an excellent way for current students like Ari Sandel<br />
(writer-director <strong>of</strong> the musical West Bank Story) and Michael Hoy (producer <strong>of</strong> the Slamdance<br />
entry Lower East Side Stories) to participate in the Park City festivities.<br />
Sandel summed up his experience as a first-time filmmaker by saying, “The difference between<br />
going to Sundance and showing a film at Sundance is that going as an observer is more fun,<br />
but showing a film is more exciting. That’s because the chaos and crazy schedules combined<br />
with all <strong>of</strong> the constant networking takes its toll, but when you are presenting a film the stakes<br />
are higher. The experience was a real success for me and the film.”<br />
David Greenspan, M.F.A. ’01, director <strong>of</strong> the new feature comedy Mall Cop, is a Park City veteran,<br />
having participated in Slamdance four years ago as the writer-director <strong>of</strong> the Palme d’Or–winning<br />
short Beancake. “I ran into a number <strong>of</strong> other <strong>USC</strong> alumni and students at Slamdance,” said<br />
Greenspan, describing the collegial environment at Park<br />
City. “I met Kori Bunds, a current 546 director, whose<br />
508 was in Slamdance. We shared <strong>USC</strong> war stories and<br />
bonded. I did feel like part <strong>of</strong> the family.”<br />
Hoy seconded this notion, saying, “In a funny way,<br />
Park City started to feel like a home away from home.<br />
The Trojan presence at Sundance and Slamdance,<br />
Alumni Ravi Malhotra, Ashley Jordan, Kim whether students or alumni, filmmakers or supporters,<br />
Ray, and Donovan Eberling at Sundance ’05<br />
was so strong and it really solidified for me why I go to<br />
<strong>USC</strong>. There are so many students and alumni from ’SC who have a determination to make an<br />
impact on the world and so many <strong>of</strong> them are actually doing it. It really made the film world<br />
feel even smaller than it already does. It’s just really great when you can mention something<br />
like 290 or 310, and people actually know what you’re talking about!<br />
Adds Kim Ray, M.F.A. ’04, co-writer <strong>of</strong> West Bank Story, “Sundance is what you make <strong>of</strong> it,<br />
whether you’re a participant or have something in the festival … It’s fun to be there with a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> <strong>USC</strong> people because you’re never at a loss for what to do at any hour <strong>of</strong> the day.”<br />
The <strong>USC</strong> cocktail party was particularly enjoyable, she said, because “You’re in a room filled<br />
with people who not only have things they worked on in the festival but are also working on<br />
new projects. It’s really exciting.”<br />
AOL Annoucement<br />
America Online, the world’s leading interactive services company, and the <strong>USC</strong><br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television recently joined forces, launching an initiative that<br />
will take online content and entertainment to exhilarating new heights in the coming years.<br />
Steven Yee (general manager <strong>of</strong><br />
AOL Movies), alumnus Jon<br />
Turteltaub, and Larry Auerbach<br />
at the April First Look Festival<br />
The partnership got <strong>of</strong>f to a picture-perfect start this April<br />
when Moviefone, a division <strong>of</strong> AOL, helped underwrite the<br />
<strong>School</strong>’s First Look Film Festival and hosted the festival’s<br />
opening-night celebration. Moviefone will continue to support<br />
First Look — and furnish new platforms for<br />
showcasing student work — as part <strong>of</strong> a multifaceted AOL-<br />
<strong>USC</strong> agreement.<br />
Stay tuned for more details about this exciting partnership!<br />
Mixing with Moore<br />
T housands<br />
flooded McCarthy Quad last October for an outdoor<br />
screening — featuring exclusive unreleased footage — <strong>of</strong> Michael<br />
Moore’s Palme d’Or–winning documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Hosted by the<br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema–Television and the <strong>USC</strong> Program Board, this unique<br />
event drew students from across campus, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder to<br />
watch the now-legendary film and lob questions at its controversial creator,<br />
Michael Moore. The university-wide screening and question-and-answer session<br />
were preceded by a reception attended by the Academy Award–winning<br />
filmmaker and a small group <strong>of</strong> faculty and students.<br />
Hanks Gets Real<br />
I n<br />
February, the inimitable Tom Hanks took the podium in Frank Sinatra<br />
Hall — much to the delight <strong>of</strong> the capacity crowd <strong>of</strong> students who had<br />
gathered there to hear their idol share his perspectives on the role and impact<br />
<strong>of</strong> non–fiction filmmaking. Hanks showed clips from such esteemed film and<br />
television projects as Band <strong>of</strong> Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, and<br />
Ken Burns’ The Civil War, and reflected that the most enduring films all have<br />
“the three Es” — they entertain, enlighten, and educate. A lively questionand-answer<br />
session, moderated by Associate Dean <strong>of</strong> Academic Affairs<br />
Michael Renov and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Mark Harris, concluded this remarkable twohour<br />
program.<br />
WB Hosts Students<br />
When Josh Schwartz, creator <strong>of</strong> the smash-hit television series The<br />
O.C., and Bruce Rosenblum, executive vice president <strong>of</strong> Warner<br />
Bros. Television Group, hosted a lunch for 18 cinema-television students on<br />
the WB lot in March, club sandwiches weren’t the only things on the menu.<br />
Students relished the opportunity to learn about the realities <strong>of</strong> a television<br />
career firsthand from two <strong>of</strong> the giants in the business. The luncheon was<br />
the second in a successful new quarterly series organized by Rosenblum and<br />
designed to connect students interested in careers in television with<br />
successful alumni in the field. Rosenblum and film and television impresario<br />
John Wells, M.F.A. ’82, hosted the inaugural luncheon event in January.<br />
summer 2005 in motion | 15
CHOOL OF<br />
C<strong>IN</strong>EMA<br />
ELEVISION<br />
The Write Stuff<br />
By Jacqueline Angiuli<br />
There they were —an exiled warrior, an<br />
eccentric circus family, a former badminton<br />
champ, an agoraphobic schoolteacher,<br />
a Goth-wannabe, and a pony named<br />
Twinkles — all gathered together on a warm<br />
spring evening inside the Four Seasons<br />
Hotel’s elegant Beverly Hills Ballroom.<br />
First Pitch 2005 Director Hayley Terris Feldman ’05<br />
with alumni Josh Schwartz ’99 (left), and James<br />
Vanderbilt ’99 (right)<br />
Of course, to most casual observers the<br />
expansive, light-filled room held only several<br />
rows <strong>of</strong> small round tables, 50 or so smartly<br />
dressed writing students from the <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Cinema-Television, and about three dozen<br />
entertainment industry representatives. But<br />
this was First Pitch, the annual student-run<br />
event that introduces <strong>USC</strong>’s latest crop <strong>of</strong><br />
screenwriters to industry decision-makers by<br />
way <strong>of</strong> an evening <strong>of</strong> rapid-fire storytelling.<br />
So characters <strong>of</strong> all kinds filled the space,<br />
creatively conjured by graduating M.F.A.<br />
and B.F.A. students who hoped that long<br />
weeks <strong>of</strong> fine-tuning screenplays and rehears-<br />
SCHOOL OF<br />
C<strong>IN</strong>EMA<br />
TELEVISION<br />
SCHOOL OF<br />
C<strong>IN</strong>EMA<br />
TELEVISION<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Southern California<br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television<br />
George Lucas Building, Room 209<br />
Los Angeles, California 90089-2211<br />
www.usc.edu/schools/cntv<br />
ing pitches would result in script requests or<br />
representation.<br />
Hosts — and cinema-television alumni —<br />
Josh Schwartz (creator <strong>of</strong> The O.C.) and<br />
James Vanderbilt (writer <strong>of</strong> Basic and The<br />
Rundown) were invited by First Pitch 2005<br />
Director Hayley Terris Feldman ’05 to “throw<br />
out the first pitch” (by ringing the bell signaling<br />
the beginning <strong>of</strong> the first five-minute<br />
round). Then students took their places opposite<br />
representatives from such entertainment<br />
heavy-hitters as CAA, Endeavor, Fox, FUSE,<br />
ICM, Paradigm, Sony Pictures, UTA, Warner<br />
Bros., and William Morris.<br />
The format is a bit like speed-dating, with<br />
students allotted five minutes each to discuss<br />
their scripts with invited agents, managers,<br />
and creative executives, who are positioned at<br />
separate tables around the room.<br />
“We see this as our screenwriting debutant<br />
ball,” said Terris Feldman. “We walked into<br />
that ballroom not as 52 aspiring screen<br />
writers, but as 52 pr<strong>of</strong>essional screenwriters.”<br />
The results have been astounding. Students<br />
are taking meetings and gaining representation;<br />
script requests are up more than 30 percent<br />
over last year; and the responses are still<br />
pouring in.<br />
Now that’s a happy ending<br />
Summer Program Heats Up<br />
By Duke Underwood<br />
A cademic<br />
ambition doesn’t tend to run very high in the summer, when the<br />
siren song <strong>of</strong> cool ocean breezes lures so many people away from cities and<br />
college campuses. But for the determined band <strong>of</strong> film, television, and new media<br />
enthusiasts who enroll in the <strong>USC</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cinema-Television’s renowned<br />
Summer Program, the opportunity to hoist heavy camera kits and work in darkened<br />
editing rooms will prove to be a much bigger draw than any sandy stretch<br />
<strong>of</strong> beach. And this year, in addition to <strong>of</strong>fering an ever-growing catalogue <strong>of</strong> classes<br />
to <strong>USC</strong> students and the general public, the Summer Program is hosting a series <strong>of</strong><br />
one-<strong>of</strong>-a-kind events.<br />
In collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute <strong>of</strong> Los Angeles, Filmmaking,<br />
Italian Style — a new production course and the Los Angeles incarnation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
popular filmmaking course <strong>of</strong>fered in 2002 and 2003 at Cinecittà Studios in<br />
Rome — will bring legendary screen siren Claudia Cardinale to the <strong>USC</strong> campus.<br />
Cardinale and her work will be honored on July 28 at a special event in the<br />
Norris Theatre Complex’s Frank Sinatra Hall.<br />
The Summer Program will also welcome television industry figures who will<br />
participate in stimulating panel discussions about award-winning television. Paul<br />
Feig, B.A. ’84, creator <strong>of</strong> Freaks and Geeks and director <strong>of</strong> Arrested Development,<br />
and Robert B. Weide, Emmy Award–winning director and co-executive producer<br />
<strong>of</strong> Curb Your Enthusiasm, are among the creative leaders slated to appear.<br />
Other Summer Program participants include visual effects trailblazer Ray<br />
Harryhausen (Clash <strong>of</strong> the Titans) and Italian actress and director Asia Argento<br />
(Last Days).<br />
On July 20 and 21, the Summer Program will collaborate with the Austrian<br />
Consulate and Instituto Luce in Rome to present a two-evening look at propaganda<br />
films, both documentary and narrative, that were produced in Italy and<br />
Austria between the two world wars.<br />
Please log on to www.uscsummerfilm.com for more details and updates. If you<br />
would like to receive information about special events, send your e-mail address<br />
to spmail@cinema.usc.edu.<br />
Dean Elizabeth M. Daley<br />
Associate Dean,<br />
External Relations Marlene Loadvine<br />
Editor/Writer Jacqueline Angiuli<br />
SUMMER 2005<br />
Contributors Jessica Brownell, Meredith Goodwin,<br />
Cindy Villaseñor Iwanaga, Elizabeth Randall,<br />
Ann Spurgeon, Duke Underwood, Justin Wilson,<br />
John Zollinger<br />
Researchers Abraham George, Lindsay Trapnell<br />
Design Leslie Baker Graphic Design<br />
Copy Editor Lisa Killen<br />
Contributing Photographers AOL<br />
Dan Avila<br />
Hao Gu<br />
Randall Michelson,<br />
Elizabeth Randall<br />
Alberto Rodriguez/Alan Berliner Studios<br />
Ann Spurgeon<br />
Lindsay Trapnell<br />
Address service requested<br />
NONPROFIT ORG<br />
U.S. POSTAGE PAID<br />
GLENDALE, CA<br />
PERMIT NO.1233