June 2009 - College of Arts and Sciences

fvs takes
the university of oklahoma - college of arts and sciences
film and video studies newsletter
june 2009
volume 10, number 2
All about OU, I Love You
Los Angeles Trip 2009
Sundance Filmmaker Visits
Clermont-Ferrand Fest
The Las Vegas NAB Show
Student Film Production Club
content
editors’ letter
3
Editors’ Letter and From the
Director’s Chair
4
OU I Love You From Start to Finish
6
Student Film Production Club Takes
the Lead - Katrina G. Boyd
7
Report From the Clermont-Ferrand
Short Film Festival - Timothy Shary
8
FVS 2009 Hollywood Trip
Well, here it is – the very first digital edition of
FVS Takes. We feel pretty good about it. Not only
will our digital format be more convenient and
reach more people, but it’s also an environmentally
responsible thing to do. OK, so maybe there will
still be a few print copies available in the main office,
but as long as those copies eventually get recycled,
we’re still saving a lot of trees.
In addition to our newsletter going digital, you
might have also noticed that FVS Takes has a totally
new look. This little publication is about to celebrate
its eighth birthday, so we thought it was time for a
slightly more mature look. We hope that it will
– Virginia Duke and Josephine Bozek
Nedeljkovich
continue to evolve throughout its life, although we’re
not looking forward to its rebellious, teenage years.
Hopefully, it won’t get any tattoos.
While we have only a few stories in this edition,
we hope to expand. We strongly encourage
professors, alumni and students to submit ideas,
articles, photographs, et cetera. The more we receive,
the more diverse and interesting our newsletter will
be. In the future, we would also like to see feature
articles, a section for student papers (so professors
take note if a student turns in a paper that really
stands out), and maybe a film review or two, in
addition to coverage of our many FVS events.
So, here’s to a new phase. Let’s make it great.
— Sarah Denton and Anna Reynolds
Editors
- Misha
filmmaker Adela Peeva and OU alumnus Steve
Judd, an Oklahoman and a Native American who
is working on a new Disney TV comedy series.
Film scholar Diane Carson visited and gave a
lecture on the films of John Sayles, and film scholar
Stuart McDougal gave a lecture on both versions
of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too
Much. Richard Rosser, an Oklahoma native and first
assistant director for the television series 24, gave
an exciting talk on visual effects and production
design. Finally it was a pleasure to bring back one
of our very successful former students, Sterlin Harjo,
whose second feature film, Barking Water, was very
successful at Sundance this year.
We should also add that we in FVS have been
blessed over the years to have many amazing visiting
professors. It has been exciting to have Dr. James
Ragan here teaching screenwriting for the past
three semesters. As a widely awarded screenwriter,
playwright and poet who headed the USC graduate
writing programs for over 25 years, he has certainly
touched many of our students’ lives with his
encouragement and creative instructing.
Here’s to an exciting future in our newly
renovated “home”!
— Andrew Horton
Jeanne H. Smith Profesor of FVS
from the director’s chair
10 Attending the Nab Show: The New
Entertainment and Media Frontiers
Yes! We have finally moved
- Misha Nedeljkovich
12 Former FVS Native Filmmaker
Sterlin Harjo Visits FVS - Jensen R.
Editors/Design: Sarah Denton, Anna Reynolds
Cass
Other Contributors: Andrew Horton, Timothy
Shary, Katrina Boyd, Misha Nedeljkovich, Virginia
Duke, Josephine Bozek, Jensen Cass, Callie
Kavourgias, Cupid Flowers, Amanda Kehrberg
13 The Three Musketeers Take On
Tulsa - Callie Kavourgias
14 FVS Gets “Grade A” Review -
FVS Takes is published by the University of
Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences - Film and
Video Studies Program, 640 Parrington Oval,
Norman, OK 73019-2100.
Amanda Kehrberg
15 Hang 10 Contest Win - Cupid Flowers
16 Alumni Updates
We want to hear from you. Please send
17 Extras: FVS Winners, Graduating
suggestions to FVStakes at [email protected]. We’d like
to hear from you so we can better direct FVS
programs and newsletter content to meet your
needs and interests. We’re interested in hearing
your thoughts on article ideas and speaker/program
suggestions.
Seniors, 2009 Course List
18 Faculty Updates
2
back into our original home
in Wallace Old Science
Hall, after two years of
renovation. We invite alumni
and friends to come visit and
see our new classroom (that
seats up to 40 and is equipped
with an excellent projector
and a large screen), our busy
library where so many of our
students edit their films, our conference room and our
various faculty offices. We began the semester with a premiere of Ursula
Devine and Joe Campo’s feature comedy, The Art of
Kissing, which was shot on campus the previous year
and brought in a full house at Meacham Auditorium. And, in April, we had the exciting premiere of the
Student Film Club’s OU, I Love You project, which
featured 12 short films about “love on campus” (a
wink to the French film Paris, je t’aime).
We also had many guests in the past semester,
including the award-winning Bulgarian documentary
3
s t udent story
side of the project, which was
an undertaking in and of itself.
While I am definitely ready
for summer, I am glad I got to
watch this little idea unfold as
students around campus got
inspired. At the same time, I
learned my own strengths and
weaknesses in my chosen field
of work after graduation. It has
been a long journey that we hope
will continue on into festivals to
prove just how talented our FVS
program really is, all the way
down in Oklahoma. v
OU, I Love You From Start to Finish
By Virginia Duke and Josephine Bozek
OU, I Love You started, like
all good ideas do, with the words,
“Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” And just
like that, from a casual chat between
Dr. Andy Horton and student
Josephine Bozek, the idea sparked.
Based on Paris, je t’aime (and
inspired by the upcoming New
York, I Love You), OU, I Love
You is a compilation of short films
about love set on the OU campus.
With this concept in mind,
Josephine contacted Virginia Duke
(programming chair) and Jack
Patchell (president) about getting
the Student Film Production
Club on board with the project.
And the rest, they say, is history.
Virginia Duke: The idea for
OU, I Love You came at the end of
the fall semester. Since we wanted
to execute the project in the spring,
we knew we had to hit the ground
running when we got back from break.
The first thing we did was hold
a competition for screenwriting and
directorial works. Students submitted
screenplays for the OU, I Love You
shorts, and those who wanted to
be selected as directors submitted
their director reels and former films.
I remember telling everyone
that if we got even 12 screenplay
submissions, I would be happy.
Twelve submissions would make
all the planning and preparation
up to that point worth it. So, when
the submissions were in and it was
time to count the astonishingly
high pile of screenplays, I was
blown away. In the box were 55
screenplay submissions and 26
director submissions. Incredible!
And the enthusiasm and support
for the project kept increasing.
We held a casting call, and more
than 50 student actors auditioned.
We recruited student composers
to create original scores for
our shorts. And every time a
director needed crewmembers or
extras for their film, volunteers
kept rolling out for each shoot.
Not only was the participation
on this project phenomenal, but the
project seemed to promote itself.
Throughout the entire semester,
we didn’t contact a single media
source ourselves, and yet we
were constantly being asked for
interviews with Sooner Magazine,
The OU Daily and The Oklahoman.
Being a producer for OU, I Love
You has been a very rewarding
experience, both because of the
project’s great success and also
because of the lessons learned.
And, boy, have the lessons learned
been numerous. For example, I
have learned that deadlines exist
for a reason and that recruiting
volunteers requires a lot of
enthusiasm, persuasive talents and
the willingness to talk to as many
film classes as possible. I’ve also
learned to always double check the
cost of printing before using the
copy machine, that film productions
kill a lot of trees, that Meacham
4
holds 400 people and that a packed
house is a beautiful sight, that “day
planner” in producer language
means “saver of sanity,” and also
that “delegate” is a magic word.
And the biggest thing I learned
through this project is that the
film community here on campus
is thriving and only needs a place
to channel its incredible resources
of creativity and talent. Perhaps
we will do this again next year!
Josephine Bozek: Having seen
some shorts from Paris, je t’aime in
Dr. Horton’s “TV Comedy” class,
I made sure to tell him of the new
companion film, New York, I Love
You. His suggestion was that we
needed an OU, I Love You and
my mind instantly went to work.
So, here we are, about seven
months later, with the project and
successful screening under our cochair and SFPC belts. There were
over 200 participants throughout the
semester from various departments
(Drama, Zoology and Finance) in
addition to FVS participants. It
was definitely not an easy task.
It was the first time this project
had been done on campus, so a
simple thought grew into a huge
undertaking that was almost like a
third job on top of school and parttime work. There were times when
Virginia had to prod me back into
motion, but it was a great way to
see first-hand what goes into the
making of a project like this. And
as a director I also saw another
1
2
3
4
OU, I Love You Shorts:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
122
1. “Adams Hall” (Writer/
Director: Gary Kyle Wilson)
2. “Obsession Tango”
(Director: Chadley Bergeron
Writer: Shannon Albert)
3. “Charlie’s Classical
Countdown” (Writer/Director:
Andrew Hajek)
4. “Elevator Girl”
(Director: Kenny Madison
Writer: Robert Flippo)
5. “Erec and Johanna”
(Director: Josephine Bozek
Writer: Leanna Litsch)
6. “Happy in My Ness”
(Writer/Director: Jake
McDaniel)
7. “Hey!”
(Director: Kevin Lough
Writer: Nate Williams)
8. “Welcome to the Daily”
(Director: Ryan Lawson
Writer: Dane Beavers)
9. “Stacks”
(Director: John Cope
Writer: Dylan Juby)
10. “Tears of Sweat”
(Director: Leanna Litsch
Writer: Reilly Smith)
11. “Thursday”
(Director: Travers Jacobs
Writer: Shaeffer Holt)
12. “A Vision of Love:”
(Director: Jack Patchell
Writer: Mary Ozor)
5
f a culty focus
faculty focus
Student Film Production Club Takes the Lead
Report From Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival
W
By Katrina G. Boyd, SFPC Faculty Sponsor
ith dedicated officers in
place and the successful
fall 2008 24-hour Film
Blitz competition in the can, the
SFPC hit the ground running in
January, which marked the club’s
official one-year anniversary. The
club decided to make the 24-hour Blitz a standing event each
semester since it provides club
members an opportunity to meet
and learn from each other in a state
students enjoy: sleep deprivation.
The club instituted two significant
improvements for the spring 2009
version of the 24-Hour Blitz.
First, the screening was held one
week after the contest, allowing
well-rested participants to better
enjoy the screening and those who
did not meet the official 24-hour
deadline to still screen their films.
Second, due to the fundraising
efforts of our industrious vice
president, Jessica Martin, each
member of the winning production
team (selected by the audience)
received a beautifully decorated
prize goody bag.
OU, I Love You committee cochairs Virginia Duke and Josephine
Bozek, as well as SFPC President,
Jack Patchell did an exceptional
job putting together this ambitious,
collaborative film project. Although
you should read Virginia’s article
in this issue for a more complete
account, I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the faculty
judges who helped select the best
scripts from the 55 submitted and
the best directors from a group of
26 applicants. Our judges included
renowned poet and screenwriter
Jim Ragan, who is a visiting
professor in Film and Video
Studies this year; political science
professor Keith Gaddie; writer
and Gaylord Family Endowed
Professor J. Madison Davis;
Associate Dean of the Honors
“In only three semesters,
the Student Film
Production Club has had
a significant impact on
filmmaking at OU...”
College, Randolph Lewis; and
FVS professor Tim Shary. Playing
to a packed house at Meacham
auditorium, this collection of
short films was not only well
received by the audience but The
Oklahoman also covered the event
enthusiastically. I have continued
to receive positive feedback about
OU, I Love You, which seems
to have put the Student Film
Production Club on the map for the
broader campus.
In only three semesters, the
Student Film Production Club
has had a significant impact on
filmmaking at OU, particularly
in terms of putting students
from different programs and
departments in touch with each
other. SFPC sponsored events have
6
been discussed in all manner of
OU media this year — KGOU,
TV4OU, The Daily, the OU
Parents’ Association’s “Parents’
Weekend” newsletter — and will
even be featured in the yearbook.
This flurry of publicity raised the
club’s profile significantly, and we
have been approached by campus
organizations and members of the
community for help making short
films.
We had the last meeting of
the semester last night, and I was
pleased to see the officers and
club members already thinking
about how to improve events
and implement new plans for
continued, quality production
opportunities on campus. As I
write this, I look forward to the
second annual SFPC sponsored
film festival, recently renamed the
RedBud Film Festival. Our faculty
judges this year are Liz Rodda of
Fine Arts and multiple FVS faculty
members: Misha Nideljkovich,
Darryl Cox, Jim Ragan and yours
truly. FVS has joined forces with
SFPC this year to present the four
major FVS scholarships at the
Redbud Festival, and next year
non-OU student production groups
will have the opportunity to send in
short films for the festival.
I am honored to work with the
SFPC’s dedicated officers and
enthusiastic club members and look
forward to seeing what next year
will bring. v
N
orman’s
sister city in
Europe, Clermont-Ferrand,
happens to hold the world’s
largest short film festival every
February, and OU students are
privileged to submit their films
and videos for a special screening
session devoted to OU work.
I was fortunate to be the sponsor
of our screening at the festival
this year, and the entire event was
quite impressive. Even though
many screenings took place early
in the morning and late at night,
the 15 different venues all over
the city were almost always filled
to capacity, including the theater
where our students’ films were
shown at 9 a.m. on Feb. 4 in the G.
Conchon Theater.
Seeing crowds of hundreds
show up to watch films from all
over the world, in all styles, genres,
By Timothy Shary
and formats, truly gave me a sense
of the so-called cinephilia that the
most ardent filmgoers experience.
In addition to the hundreds of
screenings, over a thousand films
were “shopped” in the market of
the festival, where distributors
met to make deals to buy and
show films around the world. I
met with three such distributors
to promote our students’ films,
and at press time I can only say
that at least one student has been
offered an international distribution
opportunity, but the details are not
yet public.
The eight students whose films
were shown in the festival are
primarily FVS majors, although
two students made their videos in
the Art Department with professor
Liz Rodda, including — by sheer
coincidence — an exchange
student from France who grew
up in the Clermont-Ferrand area.
Justine Emard, whose four short
experimental videos were part of
the OU screening, is finishing her
art degree at a college just blocks
from where her work screened, and
she told me that she had attended
the festival for many years since
her youth, but never thought that
someday her work would actually
be in the festival.
Competition for selection to
the festival was high, since we had
well over 20 quality submissions,
but given the limitations of our
screening time, I could only select
the work of these eight students, all
of whom deserve special praise:
Leanna Litsch, The Proposal
Josephine Bozek, Epiphany
Travers Jacobs, The Shot
Justine Emard, 4 short videos
Mary Anthony, Vending
Machine
Chad Bergeron, Foresight’s
20/20
Benjamin Poynter, 1991
Cassandra Ketrick, The Coming
of Ani
Tim Shary (left), Justine Emard and friends at Clermont-Ferrand.
7
We hope that even more
students will submit films again
for next year’s festival, which
gives them exposure to a world
market far beyond the reach of
Norman. v
Later that afternoon, we went to CBS, where we
attended the taping of The Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson. Even a friend of mine, Chunky B, a CBS
employee and Craig Ferguson’s “warm-up guy,” could
not help us keep our cameras and telephones from
CBS security. All I could do was “steal” these two
photos of us leaving the studio (photos 10, 11):
f a culty focus
FVS 2009 L.A. Trip
T
By Misha Nedeljkovich
wenty-four students signed up for our annual
FVS trip to Hollywood this year. However, we
could only take 17. We met in L.A. on April 15
at Gladstone’s of Malibu for dinner, where a group of
FVS alumni were there to greet us (photo 1).
The following morning was very busy. We toured
E! Studios (photos 3 and 4):
3
On our way to the studio, we met Kevin Pereira and
Casey Schreiner, who work for G4tv’s Attack of the
Show! (photo 5).
5
14
15
16
11
4
1
Some of the alumni who met us at Gladstone’s
are graduate students who attend L.A. film schools
(Chapman, USC and UCLA), and some are already
working in the business. We had a chance to talk to
them about graduate studies in film, and what it’s like
to live and work in L.A and Hollywood. Also, FVS
alum Roberta Pacino (Al Pacino’s sister) was there
with her husband, Mark Richman, a film producer
and FVS alum (photo 2).
10
13
Barker gave us a tour of the studio, and he screened
an episode of Family Guy for us, which has not yet
aired (photo 17).
Even though this was considered a breach of
security, CBS security let me get away with it.
While we were there, Chunky B told Craig
Ferguson that we were film students from OU, and
Craig mentioned Oklahoma in one of his jokes… on
national TV!
On Friday, our schedule was quite difficult. We
had to leave our hotels very early in order to make it
on time to Paramount Studio in North Hollywood by
8 a.m. At the entrance of Paramount Studio, a famous
Hollywood sign suddenly popped up right in front of
us (photo 12):
17
The Family Guy producers were very nice, and
they even gave us a few souvenirs to take back to
Oklahoma (photos 18, 19):
12
18
We visited the G4 television station and the sets of
Attack of The Show!, X-Play and The Loop (Photos 6,
7, 8, 9).
6
2
8
8
On Saturday, we celebrated our successful 2009 trip
to L.A. with a stray dog and lunch at beautiful Venice
Beach (photo 20). v
7
9
19
20
At Paramount, we met another FVS alum, Clark
Watts, who is working as a PR for the studio, and we
also got to be in the audience during the taping of an
episode of The Doctors.
Later that afternoon, we went to Beverly Hills FOX
Studio. Our host was Mike Barker, producer of Family
Guy and American Dad (Photos 13, 14, 15, 16).
9
f a culty focus
4
Nab Show: New Entertainment and Media Frontiers
By Misha Nedeljkovich
T
she desires and the method
he annual NAB Show
used to receive and interact.
(the world’s largest
Instead of communicating to
electronic media
a large group, each individual
convention/ exhibition) was
is able to personalize the
held April 20 through 24 at
experience. One can listen to
the Las Vegas Convention
radio, view television live,
Center in Las Vegas.
or read a book, newspaper
NAB (National Association
or magazine all from within
of Broadcasters) is a
the confine of his or her own
professional and technological
personal space. How do
global organization that
we create content for this
covers technological insights
person, and what options can
hardcopy books, magazines,
and innovations in media,
be made available to enhance
and newspapers are being re- the overall experience? What
from entertainment to news
purposed into e-books,
to business communications,
are the legal implications?
e-zines, and online
including broadcasting,
What can be distributed by
newspapers. Radio and
cable, satellite, motion
this medium that would not
television broadcasts can
pictures, Internet/streaming
be possible by conventional
now be made via the Internet, methods? What are the
and wireless technologies.
catering to a diverse,
The future of worldwide,
technologies of today, and
worldwide audience. Others
electronic media takes shape
what will we see in the
have chosen to broadcast to
at the NAB Show. Bringing
future? How will production
large sectors of the population techniques change to take
together more than 90,000
attendees and 1,300 exhibitors via satellite.
advantage of this up-close
We now have the ability
from more than 130 countries,
communication?
to design and tailor our
the NAB Show delivers
The NAB Show provides
communication medium to
the most comprehensive
an exciting environment
showcase of electronic media our lifestyle. Devices such as where these questions
the iPod, Zune, XM2go, Treo, can be asked and where
in the world.
Blackberry and countless
Technology has forever
professionals, students and
others have created an
changed the way we
faculty can enjoy informative,
environment that allows the
communicate information
hands-on experiences with the
consumer to decide what he or technology of tomorrow. v
to one another. Traditional
“What are the
technologies
of today, and
what will we
see in the
future? “
10
1
1) Steadicam on wheels
2) 3D television
3) Super thin, organic TV
4) Real-time animation suit
5) Real-time animation
2
5
3
11
s t udent story
student story
Former FVS Native Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo Visits FVS
The Three Musketeers Take On Tulsa
By Jensen R. Cass
By Callie Kavourgias
Sterlin Harjo, former OU
FVS student and award-winning
filmmaker, was a guest speaker
in Professor Andrew Horton’s
“Retakes on Cinematic Remakes”
class in March.
S
terlin Harjo fielded questions
from the students after his
presentation. Harjo’s main
advice to the film students was to
focus on their goals as filmmakers
and to not let up until they had
been reached.
“I just want to make movies
about what I know,” says Harjo.
And the film world seems to
like what he’s saying. All three
of the films that Mr. Harjo has
written and directed have been
accepted into the Sundance Film
Festival. Harjo’s first film, a short
titled Good Night Irene (2005),
was immediately praised by the
Sundance crowd. His next film, a
feature length titled Four Sheets to
the Wind (2007), was nominated
for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize,
and Harjo’s newest feature,
Barking Water (2009), has already
received rave reviews from the
Sundance community. Barking
Water has also been selected to
show in New York City’s Museum
of Modern Art beginning this
summer, as well as being featured
in the Smithsonian Museum’s
Native American display. Although
no major studios have offered Mr.
Harjo a contract, his success thus
far has allowed him to strictly
concentrate on filmmaking.
“With Barking Water, it was
really the first time that I didn’t
have to worry about my budget, or
this or that. Instead, I could just
focus on making the movie,” says
Harjo.
discussion on Native American
filmmaking.
Here we are, in the state of
Oklahoma (Oklahoma being a
Choctaw Indian word meaning “a
group of red people”), yet there
has never been a mention of Native
Americans in any of the FVS
classes I’ve taken, although I am
From left:
Andrew Horton,
Sterlin Harjo
and Richard Ray
Whitman
Not only is Sterlin Harjo an
example for all film students to
follow, but he has also become a
rising role model among Native
American youth. Why is this
important?
Let me briefly explain. In the
four years that I’ve been an FVS
major here at OU, I’ve learned
a great many things about film
language and theory, writing about
film and film history. We have
classes covering almost every
genre, including children and their
place in film, as well as masculinity
and femininity in film. But one
glaring absence has always stood
out to me: the lack of classes and
12
aware that some Native American
film classes have been taught
through Native American Studies
and the History Department in the
past. So, it was significant and
inspiring to have Sterlin Harjo in
the FVS classroom, and I hope
to see more Native American
filmmakers in the future.
Here’s to FVS becoming more
active in Native American cinema.
Long live the Indian
filmmakers! v
Jensen Cass, FVS senior and
Oklahoma Choctaw Indian.
On April 4, five FVS faculty
members and nine OU students
presented either papers or their
films at the ninth Oklahoma Film
and Video Studies Conference
at the University of Tulsa. The
keynote speaker was Sterlin
Harjo, a former OU student whose
second feature film, Barking
Water (2009), premiered at
Sundance in January.
I
turned in a paper for Dr.
Horton’s “Retakes on
Remakes” course about
The Three Musketeers and The
Man in the Iron Mask, and he
recommended that I apply to
present it at the Oklahoma Film
and Video Studies Conference
in Tulsa. Initially I brushed off
Dr. Horton’s recommendation,
but I couldn’t stop thinking about
it. I had no idea what I would do
or say at such a conference that
would hold the attention of film
scholars. My paper didn’t seem
scholarly enough to me – it was
about how The Man in the Iron
Mask is a much darker film than
Stephen Herek’s 1993 film The
Three Musketeers. Eventually, I
decided that if Dr. Horton thought
it was good enough then it was
worth applying to the conference
at least. Not too long after I made
my decision, I received an e-mail
saying that I had been accepted.
Once accepted, I started to
panic. I had never presented a
paper before, and I was afraid of
looking awkward and uneducated.
I visited Dr. Horton and asked for
advice. He gave me some great
tips, and, suddenly, I was pretty
calm about the whole thing. I
changed my paper into more of a
speech and picked a scene from
each film to show from DVDs.
On the day of the conference,
my mom, brother and I drove to
Tulsa. I was anxious in the car, but
I wasn’t nervous until the woman
before me started her presentation.
All my initial fears were back. I
was afraid only my mom would
like my presentation and that no
one would ask me a single question
during the Q&A portion and that
I’d be standing up there for an
eternity.
Once I made it to the podium,
my fears started to evaporate. The
technical difficulties I had with the
DVD player didn’t even break my
13
spirit. Amazingly enough, after
my presentation, a hand went up.
Someone had a question for me!
What she asked isn’t important,
but somehow that question made
me feel validated. It meant that
someone besides my mom cared
about what I had to say – and it felt
good.
Anyone who knows me knows
that I’m not shy or afraid of public
speaking, but I was terrified to
speak about a paper I wrote. But,
once it was all over, I know it was
worth overcoming my fear. And
I’d be glad to do it again! v
Callie Kavourgias is a
journalism major and FVS
minor.
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FVS Gets “Grade A” Review
Hang 10 Contest Win
By Amanda Kehrberg
By Cupid Flowers
M
arisa Tomei walked
into the theater, looking
somewhat off-kilter and
in a hurry, and unceremoniously
plopped herself in one of the
canvas chairs next to director
Darren Aronofsky. The two were in
Scottsdale, Ariz., for a Q&A forum
following an advanced screening
of The Wrestler, hosted by Bill
Goodykoontz, lead film critic for
The Arizona Republic. After a
lengthy discussion of Aronofsky’s
working relationship with the
year’s comeback king, Mickey
Rourke (including Rourke’s clearly
tapped ability to “act with his
back”), Goodykoontz turned to
Tomei. The Oscar-winning actress
bounced her crossed leg and smiled
as Goodykoontz asked how she
was able to take on such a risqué
role. Dressed in a high-necked
black dress with a short string of
thick, white pearls, Tomei cut a
peculiarly conservative contrast
to her exotic dancer character.
Aronofsky answered: “She’s got
balls.” Unable to help himself,
Goodykoontz blurted out, “If she
had balls, I think we would have
seen them.”
Tomei, thank goodness,
laughed.
As the publisher/editor of the
magazine of one of Phoenix’s highend suburbs (Ahwatukee), I am
lucky enough to have a title that
opens many doors. Since I took
over the magazine last September, I
have taken advantage of as many
opportunities as possible to feed
my love of film. In the December
issue, I added a regular page of
reviews of new DVD releases,
allowing me to share my take
on all the films I saw in theaters
(with a $5 ticket price before
noon on Saturdays and Sundays,
I’m there a lot!). In February, I
did a page called “Oscar Watch”
that discussed what was new
about the Academy Awards this
year, including my list of winners
of award categories I made up
(Elizabeth Banks was my Most
Versatile Actress). But the greatest
treat was in the January issue, when
I printed a 600-plus-word review
I’d written after an advanced
screening of Valkyrie.
14
I’ve also had access to a
couple of celebrities. Last fall, I
interviewed one of my favorite
comedians, Daniel Tosh, who
talked to me about his career and
his upcoming program on Comedy
Central. I also interviewed Terry
Fator, who took me on the journey
from his very first puppet to the
astounding act that won him the
second season of “America’s Got
Talent.”
In all, it’s been an amazing job
and one I am always thankful for,
no matter how much work it takes!
I owe a lot of my success to the
Film and Video Studies program. In
today’s down economy, employers
want diversity. The more they
can get done with one person,
the better. The way the FVS
program attracts and encourages
independence in education helps
produce well-rounded graduates
who can talk cinema – and just
about everyone you meet, from
whatever industry, can connect to
movies! v
Amanda Kehrberg is a 2007
FVS graduate who, among
many accomplishments
at OU, won the 2007 FVS
Clay Withrow Writing About
Film award. She is now
the publisher/editor of “A”
– Ahwatukee’s Premiere
Magazine, in Phoenix.
T
he first 10 pages are the
most crucial aspect of your
screenplay. These pages
establish the world, concept,
characters and emotion of the story.
The 10th page should end with a
surprise or something suspenseful
to hook the reader. It serves as an
introduction to your story, and you
want to make sure that you make
an excellent first impression. If a
reader or agent doesn’t like the first
10 pages of your screenplay, he
or she may not finish reading the
script (hint hint). My recent experience with
the “10 page rules” began when
I participated in the Hang 10
screenwriting seminar and contest
(Feb. 21-22). I submitted the
first 10 pages of my thesis for the
screenwriting competition. During
the seminar, we discussed various
aspects of screenwriting, pitching
and the industry.
The results of the contest
were announced at the end of the
second day. Nervousness clouded
the atmosphere. People couldn’t
sit still. Some chewed their
fingernails. Everyone dreamed of
winning the first-place prize, which
is a one-year contract with an
agent. I sat calmly because I didn’t
think that I would win. The judges
said, “The first-place winner in the
Hang 10 competition is The Hands
of Time.” Flabbergasted, I
students,
alumni and
faculty
asked myself, “How could a
country girl, from a town of 502,
be in this place at this moment
and score the grand prize?” After
everyone gave me a round of
applause and congratulated me, I
knew it was real.
What happens now? I will
finish the screenplay and submit
it to one of the judges for a final
rewrite/polish, and then it will be
given to an agent. My advice is
to study, be informed (knowledge
is power) and read screenplays.
Lastly, as Lew Hunter would say:
“Write on!” v
Cupid Flowers is
from Thornton, Ark. She
graduated from the FVS
program in 2004. She
will graduate from UCLA
in June with an MFA in
creative writing with an
emphasis in screenwriting.
15
have an article
idea?
want to cover the
next FVS event for
the
newsletter?
please submit your
ideas to FVS Takes.
a l u mni updates
Adam Littke (’04) has been very busy in the
world of music videos, directing videos for bands
such as Radar Bros., Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy),
OneRepublic, and Debate Team, which have aired
on MTV in the UK. His directing company, The
General Assembly, is based out of Los Angeles.
Currently, Adam is working on a few treatments for
a couple of bands, as well as scripts and a pilot. His
company’s latest video (Jason Lytle “I Am Lost”)
recently premiered in Hollywood, and he shot a live
performance of Jason Lytle at the San Francisco
Airport that will be available on iTunes with Lytle’s
album on May 19. In the future, Adam hopes to
provide internships for OU Film and Video Studies
students. “Hopefully we can get to that point soon,”
he says. “I would love to assist any student who is
interested in music videos, short films and
Web-based media in the education of these mediums.”
The General Assembly has MySpace and Facebook
pages, as well as a Web site:
http://www.thegeneralassembly.us/The_General_
Assembly/Home.html.
GABE HUFFSTUTLER (’04) reports that he
moved to NYC after graduation, where he worked
with several production companies (Fox 2000, Palm
Pictures) and for the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2007,
he took a job back in Oklahoma for a podcasting
company before going to work with Creative
Oklahoma Inc., a nonprofit launched in 2008 that is
composed of business leaders, educators, community
activists and artists. Creative Oklahoma Inc. is
dedicated to improving Oklahoma through creative
collaboration, education and promotion. “We look
to act as a creative ‘incubator’ and facilitate creative/
innovative programs, educational opportunities and
economic initiatives, which would then impact the
overall culture in Oklahoma,” Gabe notes. Creative
Oklahoma Inc.’s Web site is www.stateofcreativity.
com. Gabe will be moving to Boulder, Colo. soon, but
he is currently helping to form a sister organization
led by young Oklahomans. Gabe can be reached at
[email protected].
Mark Potts (’07) 2008 was a busy year for
Singletree Productions, the company started by alumni
Mark Potts and Cole Selix. The duo completed their
first feature film, The Stanton Family Grave Robbery.
The film has played at numerous film festivals so
far. It had two sold-out screenings at the Austin
Film Festival, won the Best Oklahoma Film and the
Ridiculously Good Movie awards from the Southern
Winds Festival and won best Action/Adventure film at
the Trail Dance Film Festival. It also received positive
reviews from
Cinematical
and was named
by Film Threat
as one of
2008’s “Best
Festival Films.”
In short film
news, Potts’
and Selix’s
short film,
Icescraper,
was named
one of the four
funniest college
comedy films
by Rooftop
Comedy.
Building
Imagination
played at the Heart of Gold Film Festival in Australia
and will show at the Goelali Children’s Film Festival,
Indonesia’s first film festival for children. They have
also been hired by The Oklahoman to begin making
comedy shorts for their Look@OKC Web site.
Currently, Potts and Selix are finishing work
on their second feature, Simmons on Vinyl, and are
planning a third feature, which will be shot in the fall.
They are also working on promotional videos for the
2009 deadCenter Film Festival. These promos will
show before every screening at the festival and will be
used for online promotions as well. Their short film,
Hitboys to Men, also will be playing at the festival.
16
extras
FVS Award Winners 2009
Clay Withrow Writing About Film Award:
Heidi Karriker Scholarship: The winner is
Clay Withrow Screenplay Award: The
Ned Hockman Filmmaking Award: The winner is Glenn Snyder, an FVS major, for his
essay, “The Narcissistic Zombie: Dawn of the Dead’s
Reproach to Materialism.”
winners are Andrew Hajek, an FVS major, for “Crazy
White Mother,” and Nicholas Chancellor, an FVS
major, for “Escape Clause.”
Bijon (Imtiaz) Ahmed, who will use the award for
his study internship at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
American Pavilion Program.
The winner is Sonja Bozic, a broadcast-journalism
major, for “Visibility and Coming Out as a Drag
Queen.”
Graduation Candidates for May 2009
Kelly Bach
Tony Dreier
Kristen Durrett
Susan Emberton
Matthew Housley
Aaron Huffines
Travers Jacobs
Philip Jecty
Yvette Landwehr
Randall Martin
FVS Courses - Fall 2009
Lauren McPhee
Robert Nelson
Faith Oldenburg
Oliver Shelton
Patrick Smyth
Congratulations!
Matthew Cates and Lacey Busse
FVS 1013 Introduction to Film and Video Studies
FVS 2023 Film History – 1945 to Present
FVS 2033 Writing About Film
FVS 2123 Acting For the Camera
FVS 3213 Media Theories
FVS 3223 The Hollywood Musical
FVS 3313 Single Camera Production
FVS 3810 Script Analysis
FVS 3810 Writing For Television
FVS 3810 Cinematic Remakes
FVS 3843 Representing Italy
FVS 4013 Senior Seminar
Married May 2009
17
f a c ulty updates
Katrina G. Boyd continues to serve as the faculty
adviser for the Student Film Production Club (see
article in this issue). She delivered a talk on Stanley
Kramer’s offbeat 1973 film, Oklahoma Crude, at
the Oklahoma Film and Video Studies Society’s
conference in Tulsa on April 4. An essay version of
this talk, “Oklahoma Crude: Wild-Cat Oil and the
Strong-Willed Woman,” will be published in June by
Forty-Sixth Star Press in their forthcoming anthology
titled Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies.
Stephanie Horn Cary, assistant professor of Italian in
the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and
Linguistics, comments that she is “delighted to have
been made an associate FVS faculty member” this
year. She notes that the OU Regents have approved
a B.A. in Italian beginning in the fall semester. In
addition to the Italian cinema course, which is a
core requirement and will be offered regularly every
other spring, Cary says that students should look for
additional Italian courses that will include Italian
cinema components.
Horton continues doing editorial work for Cineaste,
Film Criticism, and several other journals, and he
has several upcoming lectures: “Beyond No Man’s
Land: Comic Tragedy and Tearful Laughter in the
Cinemas of the Balkans” at Princeton University,
May 8-9; “Ernie Kovacs’ Cinematic Roles on the
Big Screen” at the Society for Cinema and Media
Studies Conference in Tokyo, Japan, May 21-24;
“Using Cinema and Visual Media to Increase ‘Native’
(Indigenous) Understanding and Appreciation” at the
fourth International Conference on Interdisciplinary
Social Sciences, held at the University of Athens in
Greece, July 8-11; and “Teaching Maori and Native
American Cinemas: Increasing Indigenous Media
Appreciation” at the University Film and Video
Association Conference in New Orleans, Aug. 4-8.
Misha Nedeljkovich published the following book
chapters: “Election News and the Media in the
Republic of Serbia” in Jesper Stromback’s Handbook
of Election News Coverage Around the World, and
“Development Communication and Communicating
Development: A Perceptual Study,” published in
Andrew Horton, the Jeanne H. Smith Professor of
Development Communication in Rural Sector by
FVS, completed his book, Nothing in Moderation:
Debabrata Das Gupta, Sarthak Chowdhury and
Ernie Kovacs’ Shows and Films, under contract for
Siddhartha Dev Mukhopadhyay. In November, he
the University of Texas Press, which will be published
presented his paper, “Critical Mode of Filmmaking:
in 2010. His essay “Cinema Haunts My Memory:
Želimir Žilnik’s 1969 film Early Works,” at the
Filmmaking in the Former Yugoslavia” has appeared
XIV Biennial Conference of the Film Association
in Cinema in Transition: Post-Socialist Filmmaking
of Australia and New Zealand at Otago University.
in East-Central Europe, edited by Catherine Portuges
He also held four weeklong film lectures/seminars:
and Peter Hames (Temple University Press), and his
“Masterpieces of Contemporary Iranian Cinema” and
essay “Indigenous Stories Reaching Out to The World:
“American vs. European Independents: Jim Jarmusch
New Zealand Maori & Native American Cinemas”
and Dardenne Brothers,” both at the Podgorica
is in the latest issue of World Literature Today (May
American Cultural Center in Montenegro; “Twilight
2009). His feature screenplays for 2009 include
Zone: Rod Serling as an American TV Chekhov,”
Make A Joyful Noise, Route 66 and The Eagle of the
in American Corner, Belgrade; and “Iranian Movies
Comanches: Quanah Parker. Co-written with Russell
Nights” presented to the OU Iranian Student
Campbell, Make a Joyful Noise is a romantic comedy
Association in Norman, Okla.
under contract with Inspire Films of Wellington, New
Zealand. Route 66 is a Greek/Sac and Fox romantic
James Ragan, FVS visiting professor, presented
comedy set in Oklahoma, which is under contract with
screenwriting and poetry seminars at the Academia
No Budget Films of Athens, Greece, and The Eagle
Internacional de Cinema in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and at
of the Comanches: Quanah Parker is a biographical
PUC University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in March.
feature script under contract with author Bill Neeley.
18
faculty updates
In addition, he presented seminars on “How to Read a
Film” at the Film and Video Studies Conference at the
University of Tulsa and at Oral Roberts University in
April. He recently gave interviews for radio (KWGSPBS Tulsa) and television (OETA-PBS Oklahoma
City) and YouTube, OU. Following the March
publication of his new book of poetry, “Too Long a
Solitude” (OU Press), Ragan has given readings at
the Madden Museum in Denver, the University of
Delaware, Oral Roberts University, the University of
California at Davis, Oklahoma City University and
the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. A record
album featuring jazz singer Linda Carriere singing
12 of Ragan’s poems will be released in 2009.
Ragan’s play, “Commedia,” was recently produced
at Renmin University in Beijing and is scheduled for
production in 2010 by La Fabrique àThéàtre at École
Poytechnique in Paris.
Joanna E. Rapf presented her paper, “The Bizarre
and Subversive Comedy of Fay Tincher,” at the
Southwest Popular Culture/American Culture
Association Conference in March and presented
another paper, “The Infantile and the Perverse:
Reflections on the Critical Neglect of Roscoe
Arbuckle and Harry Langdon,” at the Cultural Studies
Association Conference in April. She gave several
community lectures, including one as part of the
Greek Community Faculty Forum in February, titled
“‘Shakespeare Would Have Loved Motion Pictures’:
Women Behind the Camera During the Silent Era,”
another in March at the Messiah Lutheran Church in
Oklahoma City on “Screwball Senior Style: An Angry
Old Woman ‘Waiting for God’,” and, lastly, a talk
for the AARP in Shawnee, Okla. on “Film Comedy
Before Sound” in April. She completed two essays
that will be published in spring of 2010: “Marie
Dressler: Thief of the Talkies” (as part of the “Star
Decades” series for Routledge) and “Both Sides of
the Camera: Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle’s Evolution at
Keystone” for a volume about Keystone, also being
published by Routledge. In addition, the Arbuckle
piece, in slightly different form, will appear in The
Quarterly Review of Film & Video.
Betty Robbins wrote a paper titled “Abjection in
Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler” for the Film and
Video Studies conference in Tulsa.
Timothy Shary, associate professor of FVS,
published a chapter titled “Teens, Tots, and Tech” in
American Cinema of the 1990s, edited by Christine
Holmlund (part of the Screen Decades series at
Rutgers University Press), and also published two
book reviews in the journal Men and Masculinities.
His anthology on male imagery in American cinema
will be published by Wayne State University Press
next year. In December, he was invited to present
his paper “Facing the Inevitable End: Elderly Death
in American Cinema” (the subject of his upcoming
book) at the “Interrogating Trauma” conference
hosted by Murdoch and Curtin Universities in Perth,
Australia. In April, he was invited to give a talk based
on his past research on teen films titled “Cold War
Childhood: How Hollywood Convinced Youth to
Fight” at the “Children and War” conference hosted
by Rutgers University. Shary was interviewed on
“The State of Things With Frank Senso” on NPR in
December regarding popularity in youth culture and
cinema and also was featured on “Under Surveillance
With Kevin Fullam” on WLUW of Chicago in April
regarding the depiction of teachers and schooling in
movies.
Victoria Sturtevant, associate professor, recently
published her first book, A Great Big Girl Like Me:
the Films of Marie Dressler (University of Illinois
Press, 2009). She presented a paper, “Poor Little
Rich Girl: Class and Embodiment in the Films of
Mary Pickford,” at the Cultural Studies Association
Annual Conference in Kansas City in April. She also
contributed a chapter, “Stop the Wedding!: William
Haines and The Comedy of the Closet,” to the
new anthology Hetero: Queering Representations
of Straightness (SUNY Press, 2009). In January,
Sturtevant and her husband, Jim Zeigler (OU English
Department), celebrated the birth of their first son,
John Wiley Zeigler, who is a marvelous baby.
19
Thanks to our kind donors
FVS wants to thank our donors for helping to make a difference for FVS students
and faculty. For instructions on how to donate to the FVS program, visit our
Web site: www.ou.edu/fvs
FVSTakes is published by the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences Film and
Video Studies Program, 640 Parrington Oval, Norman, OK 73019-2100 and authorized by Paul
Bell, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. OU Printing Services printed 75 copies at no
cost to the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.