In Production Magazine Spring 2018

SPRING 2018

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY DODGE COLLEGE OF FILM AND MEDIA ARTS

VISUAL EFFECTS:

THE CHALLENGE OF BRINGING DREAMS TO THE SCREEN P129212_KTP_Booklet R1.indd 1

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A TEACHER TOUCHES ETERNITY A recent loss in the Dodge College family reminded me of a phrase I have returned to many times over the years from historian Henry Adams: “A teacher touches eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” To me, this is a reminder of how powerful the teaching/mentoring relationship can be in shaping young lives, in touching young people when they are most engaged in the search for who they are and what they want to do with their lives.

The unexpected passing of Professor Harry Ufland in March was the cause for my recent reflection on this thought.

Within hours of the news of his passing, an outpouring of emotion and gratitude came our way—in the form of emails and Facebook postings, from students requesting information about a memorial service, in the appearance of post-it notes and other tributes at Harry’s office door, saying “Thank you, Harry,” “Love you, Harry.”

Looking up at the nearly 300 students who gathered in the Folino Theater just days after his passing, I was struck by how deeply this professor had touched his students, by how widely his influence was felt. Students quickly pulled together to create a tribute drawing on nearly 40 students in a video managed by Gintare Urbutyte (BFA/CRPR ’16). Students living abroad and outside of California asked that the service be live-streamed so they could see and hear the words of their professors and peers about this man who meant so much to them. The theater was filled with both laughter and tears, as the speakers shared stories about this truly unique individual.

As Professor Ufland’s wife Mary Jane said to me, Harry, who worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro as an agent and then as a producer in his 60-year career, saw his students as clients. He worked tirelessly with them one-on-one, providing career advice and relentless coaching. He listened to them, he pushed them, and he shared his connections. More than one alum came up to tell me afterwards that Harry helped them launch their careers.

Since coming to Chapman in 2012, Harry brought some of the most important players in Hollywood to Chapman and arranged field trips and meetings in LA for his students and alumni many times. He constantly tapped his deep business connections for the benefit of our students.

For everyone touched by their interactions with Harry, the service was a resonant reminder of the privilege we enjoy as teachers—and of the importance of community. Listening to the speakers, I was also reminded of the strength of the connections we share across the years. How we treat and teach each other does indeed affect eternity.

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what’s inside other stuff 5

Internship Spotlight: Katie Paige (BA/PRA ’18)

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Interterm Roundup: The World as a Classroom

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Dodge College News Briefs: Directing/Acting Workshop for Aspiring Chinese Filmmakers; Trustee Professor’s Doc Groundwater Explores Landmark Water Saving Law; New Book Co-Authored by Dodge Professor Navigates Contradictory Screenwriting Advice

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VR/AR Project Freiheit Preserves History at International Foum

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Dani Sanchez-Lopez: Taking Advantage of Opportunity and Community Experiences

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Tanner Matthews: Moving Through the American Landscape

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Chapman Directors Headline 2018 Sundance Film Festival

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Balance of Power: Thoughts on Navigating the New World of #MeToo

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Alex Italics: Getting Your Work Seen – In Festivals and Online

14 Stop Motion Marries Visual

Effects and Animation to Tell a Warrior’s Story

16 Program Spotlight

VFX at Chapman: Preparing to Enter the Dizzying, Dazzling World of Special Effects

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April Abetya: Helping Girls Tell Their Stories on Film

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Jon Schnitzer: Probing Near Death or Scared to Death Experiences

20 It All Started with Star Wars

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Festival Highlights

24 Michael Mohan & Ben York Jones

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Alumni Notes

Cover design courtesy of professor Bill Kroyer.

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The 2018 Sundance Film Festival sets new record of achievement for Dodge College. (p. 2)

Bring Everything Sucks! to Netflix

In Production: Editor, Janell Shearer; Assistant Editor, Meagan O’Shea; Writers: Ian Cabrera, Kevin Harman and Jon Hernandez

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CHAPMAN DIRECTORS HEADLINE 2018

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

BY IAN CABRERA

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he 2018 Sundance Film Festival set a new standard of achievement for Dodge College with the two films selected to open the festival both having been directed by Chapman alumni. “The films by directors Carlos Lopez-Estrada (Blindspotting, a narrative feature) and Derek Doneen (Kailash, a feature documentary) have most likely set a benchmark unmatched by any other film school in the country, as far as I know,” says Dodge College Dean Bob Bassett.

Carlos Lopez Estrada’s (BFA.FP ‘12) film was nominated for the Grand Jury prize and later picked up by Lionsgate.

Blindspotting earned high words of praise from Variety’s chief film critic, Peter Debruge, who wrote, “This explosive big-screen collaboration

Rock Steady Row

marks a rousing and incredibly timely choice to kick off Sundance 2018, with great potential to serve as a cultural touchstone in months to come.”

merse the audience in the real danger faced by Satyarthi as he continues his decades-long fight for the children of India.

Kailash features the work of children’s rights activist and 2014 Nobel Peace prize recipient, Kailash Satyarthi, and is one-part social commentary, one-part action thriller. The film opens by putting audiences directly behind Styarthi as he breaks down a door and plunges into the depths of his journey to end child slavery.

A bare bones crew spent a total of six months filming over the past two years with Satyarthi as he broke down doors and freed child slaves in pursuit of his goal to “see child slavery eradicated in my lifetime.” This is the experience Doneen sought to bring to audiences, finding himself transformed along the way by Styarthi’s energy and his work.

“It’s really the best part about being a documentary filmmaker,” Doneen says, “it has changed my perspective on my place in the world and on the world in general, and that is what we are trying to do as storytellers, make people think a little more carefully about the world

“This is the work that Kailash does every week. He really is risking his life, he’s been beaten several times and has had colleagues murdered,” Doneen (BFA/FP ’09) says. It was important to Doneen and his team to fully im-

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focused. I’m very excited to see the audience for VR grow, and I’m confident it will.” Though rapid-fire change is inevitable, she is focused on how technology serves her story. “It’s really about exploring various storytelling techniques in VR. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the industry at a time when we’re still developing the language around the medium.”

Director Trevor Stevens (BFA/FP ’15) and cinematographer Nico Aguilar’s (BFA.FP ’16) film, Rock Steady Row, made its world premiere at the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival, and was awarded the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. tificial intelligence, a space to showcase their work. The film was the pilot episode for the series The Incident, which uses virtual reality to enhance the movie-going experience.

around them.”

Four other alumni teams showcased their work at the film festivals in Park City, Utah.

Rachel Skidmore (MFA/FTP ‘10) served as producer of the innovative team which premiered their virtual reality film, Dinner Party, an alien abduction thriller, at New Frontier at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The New Frontier program of Sundance gives artists working in new mediums of virtual and augmented reality, and ar-

Future episodes of the series will focus on unsolved paranormal mysteries.

“Since the success of films like Get Out (2017), audiences really have an appetite for social horror,” Skidmore says. “I saw a lot of potential in the vision from the [Dinner Party] creators and it was an exciting piece to produce.” Using one-of-a-kind camera technology and adaptive film sets, audiences were able to interact with this film organically unlike any before.

The drastic improvements of virtual reality technology have brought this tool to the forefront for those seeking new movie experiences. “I noticed the sense of presence in VR allows you to forget where you are. During that time you really forget you are in a movie theater, that there are people around you,” says the film’s director, Angel Manuel Soto.

“You can’t be afraid to try things first,” adds Skidmore. “Being on the cutting edge means you have to be fearless and

The film focuses on a college freshmen who is thrown into what producer Gia Rigoli (BFA.CRPR ’18) calls a “Spaghetti Western in a college setting.”

The film weaves these two familiar, yet disparate, landscapes together with comic book-style bravado.

“We didn’t make this film to get rich or anything, we made it because it was a story we wanted to tell,” Stevens explains. Their focus on this project was to make their first feature-length film.

As one of over 6,000 films submitted to Slamdance, competition for audience attention was high.

Rigoli explained the group’s promotional strategy for the film while in Park City, Utah. “We printed around 500 posters, and twice a day we would go up and down Main Street with staple guns, stapling them everywhere.” The Rock Steady Row team were competing with professional marketing teams and over 200 other films also being screened. After a long week filled with tireless promotion and excitement, the team brought home the top prizes of the festival.

FOR STUDENTS, ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF DODGE COLLEGE OF FILM AND MEDIA ARTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

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From left, the team behind Funny Story: actress Emily Bett Richards, actress/producer Jana Winternitz, actor Matthew Glave, and writer/director Michael Gallagher.

Stevens credited the success of the film to his cast and crew. “We are very family based, in that, we do our best work with people that we trust,” he says. “We composed our team from Chapman, 90 percent of the entire cast and crew were all Chapman alumni or current students.”

you can trust, is invaluable,” she says.

“It’s so hard when you are starting out,” she continues, but being a part of the Chapman community has really helped her. “Now that I have my own [production] company, I’d say 95 percent of the people we hire are from Chapman.”

Another Slamdance world premiere was one of only 10 Anarchy Short films programmed:the scifi fantasy short, Order of the Orchid, directed by Alex Italics (MFA/FP ‘18). The seven-minute film features an elderly woman confronted by a mysterious man who brings her to another dimension. “Orchid was an idea I had in my head and more something I wanted to try, more of an actual experiment,” says Italics. “I didn’t expect anything to happen with it.” (See story on page 10.)

Winternitz is the co-founder of Cinemand Films, which has produced films for Legendary, Focus Features, 20th Century Fox and more. This film, Funny Story, was the first film fully financed by Cinemand. “We have worked with many other studios before… but this one was our baby so to speak,” she says, noting the energy surrounding the project was different than previous productions.

“We were able to get back to the pure spirit of filmmaking, which was really cool.”

Actor and producer Jana Winternitz (BFA/SCAC ‘12) returned to Slamdance this year to premiere her film Funny Story. Winternitz was joined by a band of other Chapman alumni who brought this film to life. “Having a group that are ‘project first,’ people

Winternitz has always been a driven producer, drawn to the strength of a script. As a student, she produced her first feature length film, @urFrenz, which became an official selection at the 2010 Slamdance. “It was a lot of work obviously,” she says of her first

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project, “but once you go through it, it’s very empowering!”

The confidence this first film offered has propelled Winternitz into a male-dominated industry, but she won’t be swayed from moving forward.

“We are at a really interesting moment for women in the industry,” she says, “for those in front of and behind the camera, who are creating amazing stories. In the past I had to prove why I was in the room,” she adds, but her success—and that of the other Chapman alumni screening their work in Park City—demonstrates that these young filmmakers already well are on their way.

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INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT KATIE PAGE (BA/PRA ‘18) TIMING IS EVERYTHING Brand Journalist/Blogger on the Storytelling Team at Kashi Co. How did you find your internship?

I found my internship by chance - the office is walking distance from my house in San Diego. As a student athlete I grew up eating Kashi bars and cereal so the thought of working for a company that made great food and advocated for sustainable farming practices sounded like the dream. I brought a copy of my resume and cover letter into the office and asked if there was someone I could speak with about an internship. After the initial and unofficial meet and greet, I applied online, scheduled a formal interview, and got the internship!

What is a typical day at your internship?

A typical day involves working on different individual projects, attending marketing meetings and working with the other interns on team projects.

My individual projects usually include working on back of pack copy, which are the stories that you see on our packaging. The first one I really owned was the Cinnamon French Toast cereal. It was almost surreal to read something I wrote on the back of a nationally distributed cereal box.

I also own the blog strategy and write the majority of the posts for it.

What is the highlight of your internship?

I would say the highlight of my internship has been working on packaging copy. With the Cinnamon French Toast cereal, I was lucky enough to travel with my boss and another intern to Nebraska to interview our Certified Transitional corn farmer, which was an incredible experience.

Honestly, seeing projects from start to finish has been incredibly rewarding— every time I go through that process I learn more about how to improve for next time. Everything I do at Kashi is hands-on and contributing to a larger cause.

values and everything else will fall into place.

What courses, professors or skills learned at Dodge are most helpful in your internship?

I would say Writing for PR, with Veston Rowe, was a huge help. It taught me how to write with grammatical accuracy and find the right balance between being concise and sharing the whole story, which is something I use every day, not just at my internship.

What advice would you offer your fellow students?

Look for a company or organization that does something you’re passionate about and pursue that avenue. I’m passionate about the environment, food and sustainability. Working for a company that encompasses all those things had never crossed my mind, but it’s been the perfect fit and I hope to have a career in the natural-organic good and beverage industry. Find a way to use what you’re good at for a company that is aligned with your personal 5

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BALANCE OF POWER:

THOUGHTS ON NAVIGATING THE NEW WORLD OF

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rom the earliest days, Dodge College has been a champion of women. The annual Women in Focus conference, started in 2000 with a panel of women editors, was created to “recognize the contributions of women trailblazers.” Over the years, we have brought in cinematographers, screenwriters, directors, producers and executives, among others. Some fields are more difficult for women than others, but all offer challenges.

Now, however, the game has changed significantly. The thunderous fall of Harvey Weinstein and the rising chorus of voices of the #MeToo movement have empowered women while identifying an even deeper web of trials facing women beyond the ongoing challenges of penetrating the ranks of the old boys’ club.

Today both men and women must travel a new landscape—one offering liberation from abuse but also the perils of false accusations and retaliation. Both men and women need to find new, safe ways of relating to each other without having to live in fear that every word or gesture might be misinterpreted.

Given this welcome but radically changed world, we asked faculty for their advice on navigating the new reality. Many focused on the need for both men and women to continue to speak up, fearlessly, and to expect that

MeToo

this new climate will help protect them from retaliation.

“Be honest, stay with it, speak up loudly,” says Professor Ron Friedman.

Look for support, advises Professor Saga Elmotaseb: “Talk with colleagues and see if this happened to someone else.

Ask for changes in the structure of the business.” Be aware that many industry support groups and studios are incorporating new guidelines and language into their HR policies, training and contracts.

Studios are introducing morality clauses in their contracts, points out Professor Jim Deck. The Hollywood Reporter has detailed how these contracts could allow studios and buyers to terminate deals and avoid financial losses if filmmakers or talent violate written guidelines (#MeToo Hits Movie Deals: Studios Race to Add ‘Morality Clauses’ to Contracts, Feb. 7, 2018).

Women need to support each other, in very direct ways. As Professor Sally Rubin points out, “Women can and should give younger women jobs, hire the less obvious candidate, give young women a chance. It never ceases to amaze me how when I give my female students the benefit of the doubt, they step up. They find their confidence and their strength and overcome challenges.

“Build a cohort of colleagues who you trust, particularly women,” she continues. “Tell people immediately when an infraction has occurred. Don’t hide.

Trust that the system will protect you, now that #MeToo is spreading so much awareness about sexual harassment.”

“It is important to encourage both men and women to consciously create a cycle of mentorship and encouragement,” says Professor Barbara Doyle. “That kind of culture starts to create a balance of power personally and professionally.

When women have more power in the workplace and in Washington and they in turn help other women, the power equation will become equal and the culture will gradually change. That’s the big battle ahead.”

Of course, everyone needs to be cognizant of their own behavior. It’s helpful, adds Friedman, to “try to think of the OTHER as your son, or daughter.”

Elmotaseb uses the same tactic, very directly. “I often ask men who may be on the verge of being inappropriate, ‘How would you feel if someone spoke to YOUR daughter/sister/mother the way you’re speaking with me? How would that make you feel?’ Works for me!” she says.

Faculty are also very worried about the potential for abuse in a climate when accusations alone may have unwarranted power.

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BY JANELL SHEARER

“Obviously I am opposed to any sort of sexual abuse or harassment,” says Professor Bob Shayne, “but I also believe equally strongly in the democratic process. So, I am quite dismayed at the lack of due process at the heart of this campaign. Somebody gets accused of something and suddenly they are disgraced, lose their livelihood and instantly sentenced by the Internet to a lifetime of shame and obscurity. This is akin to the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950s. And it’s morally reprehensible.”

Many faculty expressed concerns about the lack of nuance in evaluating sexual harassment claims.

“I’m one hundred percent behind the #MeToo campaign at the same time as I am dismayed by the extremity to which it is being pursued by its most fanatical supporters,” says Professor Paul Seydor. “For example, I do not believe that the actions of Al Franken and Harvey Weinstein are even remotely equivalent morally nor I do believe that Matt Damon should have been effectively chastised into silence for suggesting that, while both are deplorable, there is a chasm of difference between a grope on the derrière and rape.”

“The new awareness and sensitivity is a good thing,” adds Doyle. “That said, all things are not equal and the challenge now is to help people understand the

Photo Above: Empowering women in their careers is the purpose of the annual Women in Focus conference held at Dodge College for nearly two decades. From left: women directors’ panel; editor Gabriella Christiani at the first event in 2000; panelists at the 2013 conference, Women in Comedy, with Dean Bob Bassett.

line. All flirting is not bad or objectifying.

Every woman does not get the job because she is a woman. Sometimes a jerk is just a jerk. They are offensive but painting everyone with the same brush diminishes the pain victims of assault suffer.”

“I, for one, am happy that my daughter may grow up in a different world where grabbing someone’s body part without permission is completely unacceptable and not trivialized,” says Professor Lisa Lindsay. “That may be the biggest change, because there will always be perverse people, but many men don’t realize the day-to-day experiences that women are expected to ignore are inappropriate. My hope is that she will never have to be grabbed in any way, and even worse, expected to overlook (such behavior), which is contrary to experiences that almost every adult woman has experienced at some point in her life.”

“As to Chapman, we have to be careful about legislating proper behavior,” says Professor Russell Schwartz. “Even Google seems to have gone a bit over the top with their new HR directive. A person can ask another person out but if the other says no or comes up with an excuse, then that’s it. A second ask

can become a grievance. As close to a zero-tolerance policy as you can get.”

While there are no clear answers to how to navigate this new environment, sensitivity to our own actions and a willingness to speak up are key to moving forward. Young people studying film and television, interested in working as professionals in public relations and advertising or managing entertainment properties as producers have an even more powerful tool at their command.

“Let us not forget that one of the most powerful tools we have in our industry is the art form itself,” says Deck. “We need to develop, produce, support and teach socially conscious films and TV programs that push the boundaries and ask the relevant questions that are complex and difficult to answer.

“We may not find the panacea to what plagues our society today, however, the ability of the artist to create, illuminate and explore the most honest parts of the human condition is our sole purpose,” he says. “And communication and education will prevail.”

FOR STUDENTS, ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF DODGE COLLEGE OF FILM AND MEDIA ARTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

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INTERTERM ROUNDUP:

THE WORLD AS A CLASSROOM From the shores of Santa Catalina, one of California’s Channel Islands, to the boardrooms of New York’s top advertising agencies, to the sound stages in Marion Knott Studios, Dodge College students spent interterm applying classroom knowledge to real world situations.

isodic seri t of the ep On the se ios. nott Stud Marion K

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Taking a break from the adverti sing world to en of The Top of Ro joy the view fro ck, Rockefeller m the top Center.

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Students visit to p agencies to lea rn from the best New York trave in Jim Fredrick’s l course.

Advertising

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Kailish docume ntary director De rek Doneen (BFA/FP ’09) wi th Dean Bob Ba ssett at Chapman’s annual Pa rk City Reception .

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Cinematographer Brody Anderson ‘18 (left) and director Alex Italics ‘18 on the set of the They Might Be Giants music video for its song “The Greatest.”

ALEX ITALICS:

GETTING YOUR WORK SEEN IN FESTIVALS AND ONLINE

BY IAN CABRERA

The Slamdance Film Festival premiere of Order of the Orchid in Park City, Utah, marked a high watermark of sorts for Alex Italics (MFA/ FP ’18). Programmed in the Anarchy Short films category as one of only 10 screened, the seven-minute, scifi fantasy, features an elderly woman confronted by a mysterious man who brings her to another dimension. “Orchid was an idea I had in my head and more something I wanted to try, more of an actual experiment,” says Italics. “I didn’t expect anything to happen with it. I had no idea that movie, of all the things I have done, would be the one to get in.”

Though it is every filmmaker’s dream to be successful in a film festival, especially one as prestigious as Slamdance, Italics struggled to find his niche. “I have a collection of something like 10 years of rejection letters, from making stuff trying to get it into Slamdance and failing.”

But Italics believes that Order of the Orchid was successful because he quit trying to guess what others would want to see and made a film he wanted to see.

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At the premiere of Order of the Orchid in Park City.

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“One can try and try, and not succeed. But the moment they just surrender to making things for the sake of making them… there might be something to that. That is the lesson I take away. If you are making things with your own creative compass in mind, then you are destined for success. As long as you aim your ship in that direction, it is a much more satisfying outcome.”

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Alex Italics

Italics sees himself a short film artist, striving to create work that leaves his audience speechless, making films that captivate and astound. Yet he finds the world of short films frustrating.

“I really like short form narrative filmmaking. I think a lot of people view it as just an academic exercise, I tend to disagree.” The existing landscape for short films is much different from that of features and, as Italics says, “given the exclusivity of the festivals (which require that films not be previously released, even on the internet), people are so reluctant to share a film online.” Like many, Italics struggles with having to choose between wanting to showcase his work and keeping it under wraps during the many months of submitting a film to festivals and waiting for their response.

The immediacy of an online release is one reason Italics has chosen to work in the world of music videos. In early January 2018, a music video Italics directed for the band They Might be Giants, had over 60K views and an article on RollingStone.com.

The video stared actor Nick Offerman lifelessly lip syncing along to the words of the song.

“It’s so much more satisfying to do something like this Nick Offerman video,” he says, “where a month later everyone in the world can see it.”

While this video has certainly given Italics a platform from which to launch, he is open to a number of directions his career might take. “I would like to make teaching a part of my career at some point in the future.”

“ONE CAN TRY AND TRY, AND NOT SUCCEED. BUT THE MOMENT THEY JUST SURRENDER TO MAKING THINGS FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING THEM… THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO THAT.”

Order of the Orchid

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DODGE HOSTS DIRECTING/ACTING WORKSHOP

FOR ASPIRING CHINESE FILMMAKERS “A cting is important in animation,” Liu Chen said to Professor Ivar Brogger when asked about why she was visiting Dodge College. Chen, along with fellow student contest winners from China, spent the week attending workshops where they learned the process of becoming an actor from Professor Kelly Galindo, as well as the basics of being on a live set from Professor Brogger.

Chen is one of a handful of students who entered Beijing’s EZart Education short film competition for the chance to participate in a weeklong workshop at

Chapman. The winners, which included an animator, a director of photography, a screenwriter, and a director – gathered at Dodge College this January to absorb as much about the actor/director relationship in as little time as possible.

Industry veteran Sha Bihong, who has worked in Chinese television for 30 years as a documentary filmmaker as well as a personality, accompanied the group. Bihong, who owns her own production company, has come to Dodge College to begin a new chapter and “to understand more about the style of film in America, especially in Hollywood,” a desire that was echoed by each member

of the group who were all seeking to learn as much as possible during their time on campus.

Chapman University frequently collaborates with educational institutions such as EZart to offer international students the opportunity to learn from industry veterans in the U.S. These cross-border relationships are vital in advancing the mission of the university, “to create a global classroom that extends beyond the physical walls of the campus,” says Associate Dean Michael Kowalski.

12 Professor Brogger with visiting Chinese students.

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DODGE COLLEGE

NEWS

BRIEFS TRUSTEE PROFESSOR’S DOC GROUNDWATER EXPLORES LANDMARK WATER SAVING LAW

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roundwater: To enact a law for the common good written/ directed/produced by Chapman Trustee Professor Michael Schiffer and Kathleen Ferris, is a 30-minute documentary that explores the battle to pass the visionary 1980 law that saved the groundwater of the desert state of Arizona. Entertaining, inspiring, and funny at times, the film chronicles the effort to pass the law by individuals who saw the need to set aside their partisan issues to enact legislation in the interest of all and features interviews with national leaders like former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and former Arizona Senator John Kyl. Groundwater is the first documentary by filmmaker Michael Schiffer, whose writing credits include the films Colors, Lean on Me, and Crimson Tide; and the video game Call of Duty, versions One and Two. He is currently working on a

new book, entitled, One Last Look at the Open Road. Kathleen Ferris has championed wise water management in the desert for over four decades as Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and Executive Director of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. She is currently a Senior Fellow

at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, where she consults with the Kyl Center for Water Policy.

Groundwater is available on

iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube.

Visit www.groundwatermovie.com for more information.

NEW BOOK CO-AUTHORED BY DODGE PROFESSOR NAVIGATES CONTRADICTORY SCREENWRITING ADVICE

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odge College professor of screenwriting Paul Gulino teamed up with Dr. Connie Shears , a colleague in Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences to co-author a new book - The Science of Screenwriting – The Neuroscience Behind Story Telling Strategies – which aims to help students of the craft “navigate

the mass of often contradictory advice” about screenwriting by examining how perceptual/cognitive processes affect our understanding of film stories.

The Science of Screenwriting is available on Amazon.

“I hope readers will be empowered by the knowledge in the book to invent ever more creative ways to tell their stories,” says Gulino.

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STOP MOTION MARRIES VISUAL EFFECTS AND ANIMATION TO TELL A WARRIOR’S STORY

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Austin Piko, top photo, adjust elements on the Meraki set. Bottom, Taylor Johnston examines positioning, the full set built in the students’ garage, adjusting the character’s position.

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t’s probably safe to say that patience is not a defining characteristic of most college students. But when Taylor Johnston (BFA/DA ’18) and Austin Piko (BFA/DA ’18) decided to make a stop motion animated film for their senior thesis, they took the demand for patience to a whole new level.

Johnston and Piko are co-directing a story they wrote about a fatally wounded warrior who stumbles upon a ruined shrine and its fierce guardian spirit. The warrior, Meraki, decides to sacrifice his own life in order to save the spirit and bring peace to the shrine.

Shot at 24 frames per second, the four-minute film required more than 5,700 frames which, at approximately one to two hours per second of animation when the character moved (although faster when only the camera moved across a static scene and the character did not move), took somewhere in the neighborhood of 280 hours, or 35 eight-hour days to shoot. And, as Johnston adds, that did not include an entire first semester of pre-production during which “we easily spent over 100+ hours on building the set, modeling the character, making the costume and doing storyboards (and revisions).”

Along the way, Johnston and Piko faced a multitude of challenges, from designing every element of the film, including making all of the stages, the terrain, costumes and props from scratch, to figuring out how to composite special effects such as smoke particles, key out the blue screen, and roto-scope out rigs and other supports used for the warrior puppet and other structural elements.

“A big part of stop motion is problem solving on the fly,” says Piko. For example, they had to design costumes “with no sewing experience” that were sturdy enough to not to move on their own yet also be removable, so the character’s mechanical joints could be tightened by hand. They also had to compensate for human error, as “one bump into the

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stage could shift the frame entirely,” Johnston adds.

The students used Nuke, After Effects, Maya and Dragonframe software packages to bring their vision to life and were thrilled by the support of a $5,000 grant and the use of a PC workstation from AMD Studios. They also worked with Purple Porcupine, a local 3D printing company, to print armor and 70 unique faces for the character. “I am specializing in the stop motion aspects of the film and Austin is using his special effects wizardry to bring the spirit to life and bridge our two mediums,” says Johnston.

The story of Meraki was inspired by Johnston and Piko’s participation in last year’s summer travel course led by Animation and Visual Effects program director Bill Kroyer, which took the students to Japan to visit leading artists and animation studios. The Greek word “meraki,” Johnston says, refers to doing something with soul, creativity or love, when you “put something of yourself” into whatever you’re doing. “This film is our meraki, and the story is our character performing his meraki.”

Johnston and Piko are fully immersed in taking the film through post-production. What attracted them to such a demanding project? The desire to make something that would stand out from traditional 2D and 3D projects, love of the stop motion films such as those featuring the characters Wallace and Grommit, and the belief that no matter how well 3D computer animation can replicate the detail and feel of real world materials, the textures of actual physical objects and the light they reflect are more true to life on screen.

The result? “This has been the coolest experience of my life,” says Johnston, “and I cannot wait to finish. We have a lot of post-production ahead of us, but we are eager and ready for the work ahead.” Or, to put it another way, it’s meraki at work.

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PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

VFX AT CHAPMAN PREPARING TO ENTER THE DIZZYING, DAZZLING WORLD OF VISUAL EFFECTS

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Visual effects seniors Richard Duan, Ben Jannasch and Taos Whittaker joined with the film production team led by director Natalie Hermida and producer Yelim Heo to tell the story of The Sandman. Based on a European folk tale, the Sandman makes his nightly rounds putting people to sleep in the French town of Fuveau. All goes well until he accidentally puts a railway operator to sleep, and finds he must wake him up before two oncoming trains collide. Above, right: Individual render channels allow greater control of an image in post, eliminating the need to redo a render—a time-consuming process—to adjust such things as depth of field, motion blur or shadows on an object. The CG artist can tweak an individual channel to change the color of the character’s hat, for example, or adjust the lighting.

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any freshmen entering the Animation and Visual Effects program at Dodge College this year were born the year The Matrix was released—in effect, they have been surrounded by stunning visual effects their entire lives. Just as Keanu Reeves (Neo) fights to find his way out of the matrix, today’s aspiring young filmmakers are often fighting to get into the industry that created that eerie computer-controlled world.

The Visual Effects (VFX) program has grown to match their needs and desires.

With the arrival of program director and Professor Bill Kroyer, an Oscar-nominated animation director and 35-year Hollywood veteran, what was once a bare bones set of classes began to be shaped by connections— through Kroyer—to the top artists in

the industry who have helped revise the curriculum to meet industry standards.

As an area of study within the Animation and Visual Effects program, studies in VFX have been further supplemented by the addition of a minor in VFX and, most recently, a minor in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VRAR).

Whichever path a student chooses, a key advantage of studying visual effects at Chapman is its home within the #6 film school in the nation. “For all practical purposes, our students have the opportunity to work as if we were a VFX house serving a major film studio.

With all of the live action production at Dodge, our students have endless opportunities to partner with production students, both grad and undergrad, to practice their art and craft,” says Kroyer.

Ben Jannasch (BFA/DA ’18) is exactly the kind of student who takes advantage of this opportunity. Starting as a young boy interested in cartooning, Jannasch moved from drawing to filming, but was frustrated that he couldn’t capture everything is his imagination as he done with his drawings—until he discovered the world of visual effects in high school. At Chapman, he values “continuing to push both my passions of production as well as VFX,” with the goal of becoming a VFX supervisor both “on set as well as during the post-production process.”

Professor Adam Rote, a visual effects artist who has worked on films big and small (Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, Minority Report, Cats and Dogs) as well as a wide variety of video games (the Star Trek series, among others), teaches

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several of the primary VFX courses.

For Rote, the biggest challenge is “the daunting task of getting the students up to speed with the amount of software that is needed and used for each and every project in a progressive, yet understandable way.”

His approach is to teach each class “more like team building, just like I have done as Lead Artist or VFX Supervisor on the job with a team of artists.”

He asks advanced students to help those who need more assistance. At the same time, he pushes his students to practice each new skill immediately after class and on a continuing basis because “Knowledge is like water. It evaporates quickly if not used daily.”

In working with live action students,

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Rote finds that they often underestimate how long it can take to create effects or they misunderstand the process, making mistakes such as giving the VFX artist “green screen footage covered with orange tape shapes”—unneeded markers that need to be digitally removed in cleanup. As he says, “there is no ‘make art’ button” on the computer, so all VFX work and any green screen work needs to be identified during script breakdown and given priority in planning.

Rote takes his students through the technical challenges of Maya, Nuke, AfterEffects and Z-Brush and other software programs so that they can master tracking, compositing, set extensions, environmental modeling and lighting, creating digital characters and props,

and motion/performance capture. They learn about the production pipeline in order to be prepared to schedule and budget, manage data-wrangling, use pre-visualization, troubleshoot on set and prepare assets for post-production and delivery. It’s a complex process, but one that can lead to astonishing results—from the creation of new worlds to never before imagined life forms, all in service of story.

At the end of the day, as Kroyer says, “hopefully they will learn the mantra we have taught them in the animation/ VFX program from freshman year: do not be seduced by technology! Despite the wondrous new tools and powerful computing power at your fingertips, it is the eye, the taste, and the judgment of the artist that makes movies great.”

The train station was created using the game software Unreal Engine based on photos the students took in Fuveau over the summer. The wire frame, left, is used to troubleshoot how the scene will render.

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VR/AR PROJECT FREIHEIT PRESERVES HISTORY AT INTERNATIONAL FORUM

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ansjeet Duggal (MFA.FP ‘18) left an emphatic mark in Brussels, Belgium, this past winter with the debut of his VR project Freiheit at Stereopsia, an international forum dedicated to all artistic, technological, content, and business facets of 3D immersion. The project was selected as one of ten out of over 100 shortlisted contenders from across the world.

Freiheit, which literally means freedom in German, is a thematic journey of sacrifice and hope told through a young

Jewish child entering a concentration camp in World War II with his mother by his side. The viewer follows the traumatic events that threaten their survival and their hope of staying together.

“I have taken serious consideration in crafting the story and have been mentored by Hollywood experts, and have kept every angle in mind so we can convey the right emotions to the audience because at its core every story is about emotions,” Duggal says. “It was emotions where this Virtual Reality project got its start.”

Duggal believes VR is an important storytelling tool that will play a vital role in the perseveration of history.

“Freiheit is my first step to preserve history in a very unique way. By using Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality I was able to create an experience that preserves history and culture and presents it so the audience can actually put themselves in the shoes of the person in the past and experience history firsthand in addition to reading texts.”

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IT ALL STARTED WITH

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BY JANELL SHEARER

As technology has enabled filmmakers to put anything imaginable on the screen, VFX pioneer Richard Edlund offers an intimate view of how the field has evolved and what continues to be important.

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n the movie business, what we see on screen can be defined as before Star Wars and after Star Wars. That point in storytelling history was marked by the opening shot of a massive starship moving across the audience from above. It was a shot that changed the world of filmmaking, accomplished by shooting a three-foot model, upside down, using a camera system that took nine months to build, from scratch, using spare parts.

Richard Edlund, listed as first cameraman, miniature and optical effects unit on the groundbreaking 1977 film, not only built that camera but went on to become the godfather of the

world of special effects, winning four Oscars for the visual effects (in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi) and six additional Oscar nominations, three Academy Scientific and Engineering Awards, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards. This spring, he is the Pankey Distinguished Artist in Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

What Edlund brings to the classroom is unique: firsthand knowledge of the development of the visual effects industry (VFX) that now, in many ways, dominates the filmmaking business, and cautionary advice for a new generation seduced by the power of technology.

“We face a critical dichotomy,” Edlund says. “Everything has been possible for a few years now,” he says, referring to the fact that technology can create just about anything anyone can imagine.

Left, Richard Edlund with the joystick used to program camera moves. Above, programming a shot over the surface of the Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

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A model on a track and a lit blue screen create the entry of the Death Star.

“But everybody has seen everything; nothing surprises us now. It’s tough to give meaning to the scene.”

Warning that big effects can overshadow the story, Edlund reminds students that “the digital world offers so many options that the real problem is limiting yourself.”

Teaming with Professor Bill Kroyer, director of Chapman’s Animation and Visual Effects program, Edlund is taking Chapman students through the history of the visual effects era to the current debate about who should be honored by “acting” awards that involve both live actors and the animators and effects artists who tweak and shape their performances.

It’s a long way from the early days of practical effects created in the photochemical age to a period when even the experts can’t tell what’s real and what’s not. Today, the Visual Effects branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences requires submission of “before and after” reels in order to evaluate nominees for the Oscar in Visual Effects.

Part of the fun for the class is also learning about famous fixes of bad effects.

But perhaps what is most impressive to

students is how amazing effects were accomplished in what they call “the old days.” Discipline and inventiveness have been key characteristics of Edlund’s career, earning him “the well-deserved reputation as a pioneer in new techniques,” says Kroyer. “Listening to his analysis and solutions, students are exposed to the process of critical thinking; of identifying the core problem and finding the solution, often with very fresh new approaches.

“A remarkable feature of Richard’s history is the brilliance and often simplicity of his solutions to complex imagery,” Kroyer says. “When George Lucas asked for a shot of the Millennium Falcon spaceship to rocket into the distance as it ‘jumped to hyperspace,’ the shot would require the ship to be very small, indicating it went a very long distance very fast. Richard realized that the physical camera track couldn’t get far enough back to do the shot. His solution? He took a fourinch wide polaroid picture of the ship model, cut out the image with scissors, stuck it on a piece of glass in front of a blue screen, and moved the camera back so quickly that it disappeared right into the starfield! This $5 solution is in the final version of the shot you see in Star Wars.” That was the climactic shot

of the sequence and it got a huge reaction from the audience.

It’s almost incomprehensible to today’s college students to learn that the 365 effects shots in Star Wars were created by fewer than 80 people over two-anda-half years on a budget of about $2.5 million. These days, effects budgets alone run in the $50-100 million range and can employ hundreds of artists working at locations around the world.

Indeed, Edlund notes, “we’re now employing rocket scientists to work out algorithms” such as those used in The Shape of Water, where “dry for wet” substitutions can add to and enhance the look of hair floating in water.

Students are fascinated by Edlund’s “how they did it then stories”—by both the ingenuity and the practical demands of creating effects in the early days of the effects industry.

“We had to invent our way out of a corner lots of times,” he says, noting how the Star Destroyer was festooned with leftover parts from model kits, or how the filmmakers had to invent camera tracking on an animation crane to create the tauntaun scene in The Empire Strikes Back, or how some shots required compositing as many as 100

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Lessons from the godfather of VFX pieces of film.

“It makes you feel a bit lame to think that then you were able to get your hands dirty with actual models and explosions, and now in today’s world your job consists mostly of sitting in a chair,” says Taos Whittaker, (BFA/DA ’18), one of the 10 scholars selected to work individually with Edlund on their projects.

For students, the imaginative possibilities of the VFX industry beckon, along with the possibility of jobs. While the industry has gone global, with effects shots for Hollywood films being farmed out to VFX houses internationally, and films end with ever-longer lists of effects artists, the industry often operates on razor-thin margins. Indeed, one of the industry’s cautionary tales was the bankruptcy of Rhythm and Hues (where Kroyer worked as Senior Animation Supervisor), the animation and VFX house that declared bankruptcy just days after winning the Oscar for the astounding effects in The Life of Pi. Yet, as Edlund points out, VFX are now being routinely employed on television series, web series, and commercials. For aspiring young effects artists, the challenge, he says, is “to get started, to be tough, and be persistent” to break into an industry that is hiring, but also attracts “so many talented artists.”

In the end, his advice to students is simple: look for scripts that move people emotionally, rather than just viscerally, which “is what most VFX movies do.

“What excites me,” he says, “is a good movie,” a story the moves the viewer, with or without multi-million-dollar visual effects.

Very few students get to sit and class and learn from a teacher who is literally a part of living history.

Edlund’s astonishing career and recognition in the industry includes being among the founding team of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), which would become the biggest, most prestigious VFX company in the business.

Edlund has served as a governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 21 years, was chairman of the Visual Effects Branch since its inception, and served 15 years as chairman of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. In 2007, he was honored with the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation for outstanding service and dedication to the Academy. Currently, he is also serving on the boards of the Visual Effects Society (VES) and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), which honored him with its President’s Award in 2008 in recognition of his contributions to the art and craft of filmmaking.

One of his current projects is producing a 12-part documentary series on the history of visual effects, beginning with the film 2001: A Space Odyssey to now, and how we got here, in collaboration with Leslie Iwerks, granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, animator and co-creator of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

What are students doing?

Students selected to be mentored one-on-one by Edlund are tackling a variety of creative stories. Among them are: Cameron Clow (BFA/DA ’19) is telling the story of a young dinosaur searching for its family in a modern museum setting. Luke Snedecor (BFA/DA ’19) is working on a film about a boy trying to make a cake for his father’s birthday, but his hands melt everything he touches. The film involves 3D liquid and smoke simulations. Taos Whittaker (BFA/DA ’18), Richard Duan (BFA/DA ’18) and Ben Jannasch (BFA/DA ’18) are working on a live action/effects film titled The Sandman. The students received a $10,000 grant and use of three state-of-the-art computers from computer manufacturer AMD. Jameson Mitchell (MFA/FP ’18) has two projects underway. In one, a selfish scavenger in an apocalyptic desert fights off an orphan over a can of beans until fate brings them together to fend off the elements and, in the process, rediscover their humanity. In the second, a reluctant star fighter pilot searches for her sense of purpose in the midst of war.

“My meetings with Richard have been collaborative and foundation building,” says Mitchell. “I may go in with an idea for a set piece and ask how it could be done while he goes the extra step and asks why I need this visual effect in this specific moment. What am I trying to convey with this shot and can it be done in another way?

“Not only is he mentoring by giving advice on methods to get an effect done, but he treats us like a client, helping workshop ideas and offer creative alternatives and expanding ideas that I have.”

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From left, Mike Mohan and Ben York Jones; series actors Patch Darragh and Peyton Kennedy, and co-producer Adrienne Erickson.

MICHAEL MOHAN & BEN YORK JONES BRING

EVERYTHING SUCKS! TO NETFLIX Ben York Jones (BFA/FP ’06) and Michael Mohan (BFA/FTP ‘02 join the growing list of Chapman alumni selling shows to Netflix with the launch of their series Everything Sucks! in February. Set in 1990s Oregon, the show is a coming-of-age dramedy centered on the nerds in the AV Club and their histrionic rivals in the drama club.

Share your career path with us – how did you get where you are now?

We both kind of came-up through the Sundance Film Festival with various shorts and indie features (York Jones: Breathe In, Like Crazy; Mohan: Ex-Sex, Pink Grapefruit, Save the Date, One Too Many Mornings). Having our respective works play the festival over the years

really provided us with some initial momentum career-wise. We were both able to get representation, which is an important piece of the puzzle, and meet people we’d eventually collaborate with, including each other. Even though we both went to Chapman, we attended at different times, so the first time we met was at Sundance in 2010, when we were both there with ultra-low budget features.

The one thing we’ve learned is that there really isn’t any one path, and while ours have been similar in a macro-sense, when it comes to the micro, we’ve had very different experiences. Lots of fulfilling, but typically slow-going lateral movement that’s happily proven to shape and prepare us for the present.

How did you land with Netflix?

What was the process like?

We first collaborated on a show we sold to Starz a few years back. And even though that didn’t end up going forward, we asked ourselves “what’s next?” and agreed it would be a coming-of-age story. We worked on it in a vacuum for the better part of a year, in between other jobs, and once we had the basic concept and story and characters fleshed out, we began pitching to various producing entities in hope of finding some partners with television pedigrees. We found those partners in Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio, and with their support and creative input we began going around to networks.

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We probably pitched at about 10 places over the course of two weeks, and at the end of the day, much to our elation, three networks wanted the show. We went with Netflix for a host of reasons, but first and foremost was their enthusiasm for us, and ours for them. There was a meeting-of-the-minds we felt with those who would become our executives.

from him than any other teacher.

Is there any advice you received that you applied and worked in your career?

Ben: The greatest

Understanding film language in a structured and analytical group setting, with a resourceful professor leading the way, is huge. Potentially more important for a screenwriter than are actual screenwriting classes. Also, the directing classes I took with Jeff McCracken.

He’s a passionate teacher and artist who I felt believed in me. I think it’s super rare, even at a great school.

professional advice I ever received was from the magician Lance Burton. When I was a kid I loved magic, and I would do magic shows at birthday parties, so I asked him how much I should charge.

He told me to do it for free, and if I still loved it, and people kept asking me to do it, eventually they would start paying me and I wouldn’t even have to ask.

Not only was he right, but it turned out to be a real test of my passion for what I was doing. The lesson was: You better love what you’re going after enough that you’ll do it for free. If you can do that, you might have a chance to one day make a living at it.

Mike: The editing classes I took with

Mike: Back when I worked at the Sun-

Harry Cheney were formative. He would show us scenes from Kieslowski’s RED, and then break them down into each discreet creative decision, going frame by frame over each edit. Why was the camera placed where it was?

What motivated each cut? Things like that. I learned far more about directing

dance Screenwriting Labs, Stuart Stern once led a discussion where he said that filmmaking is a real gift. It’s a gift to be able to tell stories for a living, and it’s a gift for the audience as well. So you have to make absolutely certain you have something to say.

What classes or programs at Chapman did you find most useful in your professional career?

Ben: For me it was film history classes.

Where did you get your ideas for the themes and emotions in Everything Sucks!?

So much of our writing process consists of us just sitting in a room talking for hours, and seeing what we both spark to. For this project, we would constantly look through our old yearbooks, and be reminded of some ridiculous and poignant memories of our adolescence. Little by little, each character emerged, all of whom are a mosaic of several different aspects of different people we once knew. And the themes and emotions grew out from us discovering what each of these characters’ deepest insecurities might be.

Anything else you’d like to share about the show?

The soundtrack is killer. If you’re a fan of 90’s music, the show is jam-packed with some of the very best (and very worst) songs of that era.

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DANI SANCHEZ LOPEZ: TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITY AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES

BY JON HERNANDEZ

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eing passionate about what you do means that you will go wherever opportunities present themselves—even if that means traveling over 8000 miles to get there or just jumping into a project for a short time. Spanish cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez (MFA/FP ’09) took his talents to Asia when work was limited in Los Angeles. And he took advantage of a brief stint with the Sundance Institute in 2010—both offered learning opportunities.

“One of the best things that happened to me at that time was the access to all contemporary filmmakers,” says Sanchez-Lopez of working at Sundance, “so I understood where the new contemporary cinema was going.”

In Asia, he found connections with fellow alumni that led him from one project to the next.

In India and Pakistan, Sanchez-Lopez had the benefit of working with Ammar Rasool (MFA/Directing ’10) and Mian Adnan Ahmad (MFA/Di-

recting ’09). Rasool and Sanchez-Lopez co-directed a music video by East Side Story titled Qatil Akh (Widow Spider) in 2014. They also collaborated on a documentary for the Coke Studio in Pakistan titled The Journey Within, which brought together Eastern and Western sounds.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Sanchez-Lopez to make a name for himself.

He directed a music video for the popular Pakistani rock group Noori titled Aik Tha Badshah, which was nominated for a Hum Award in 2015 for Best Music Video. The video “was supposed to be for another song” but the group’s style was headed in a different direction, says Sanchez-Lopez. “They liked the music video so much they created another song just for that, with lyrics that encumber the narrative that I created.”

Recently, Sanchez-Lopez shot a feature titled Mahanati that tells the story India’s first female superstar, Savitri.

Savitri rose to stardom in acting, singing, dancing, and eventually directing and producing, before her personal life

fall apart. Mahanati is set to release March 29, 2018.

Sanchez-Lopez has since returned to Los Angeles and is preparing to start production on a project long in the making. The MisEducation of Bindu is a feature film that started as a short while Sanchez-Lopez was enrolled at Dodge College. He worked with Prarthana Mohan (MFA/Directing ’09) and Kay Tuxford (MFA/Screenwriting ’08) who created the story about the challenges an Indian-American girl faces as she transitions from home schooling to a public high school.

Looking back on his career thus far, Sanchez-Lopez advises current students is “to create a community for yourselves. Keep working,” he says. “Create projects with peers from Chapman University if work isn’t out there.”

To see more of Sanchez-Lopez’ work, visit http://dslcine.com

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TANNER MATTHEWS: MOVING THROUGH THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

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rain hopping across the United States, Tanner Matthews (MFA/FP ’16) accomplishes something no other filmmaker has done. The American Dreamless is his directorial debut, the first film to be shot in all 50 states, in collaboration with Dodge College alumni Lauren Brooks (MFA/FTP ’17), Nick Ramsey (MFA/CR ’16), Yumeng Chen (MFA/ ER ’16), Elizabeth Wedding (MFA/PD ’16), Leon Langford (MFA/SW ’15).

Share your career path with us – how did you get where you are now?

I think persistence and tenacity are the two strongest components leading to success in this industry. I was studying International Business in undergrad and took a 16mm film course for an elective as a way to escape the stagnation and monotony of my accounting and economics courses, and after that my life would never be the same. I was always interested in photography and music, and this was sort of a mysterious combination of both.

Soon enough I bought my own camera and was making music videos and commercials with friends. But things didn’t really change until one of my professors showed us the film Easy Rider as an early example of independent cinema. To this day, I remember sitting in that class, and a lightbulb went off.

I thought of making a feature film in which all of the action took place on a train. It would only be one location, but would be able to move throughout landscape at the same time, like Easy Rider… so I wrote a script, and called it The American Dreamless.

Tell us the story of The American Dreamless It’s a film about the journey a man faces when he comes to terms with his drug addiction on a train ride across the United States. What started as a joke, filming in all 50 states, soon became a reality. From the train ride in March, 2015, along the route of the California Zephyr, until driving down route 66 in New Mexico in August, 2017, almost 30 months of filming, we were able to

film a shot in every state of the U.S. And the film will be finished this year.

What a journey it has been!

Convinced by his best friend, the main character train-hops across the country in hopes of finding the buried treasure they talked about when they were kids.

One is self-destructive and the other is blind, neither of them expected a smalltown drifter to lead the way, especially when the only way to go is within.

The American Dreamless is about discovery. It’s about adventure. It’s about the journey. It’s about life.

What is the best advice you have received and/or what advice would you give to current students?

Do what makes you happy. It will surely bring happiness to your friends and family as well.

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APRIL ABEYTA: HELPING GIRLS TELL THEIR STORIES ON FILM

BY JON HERNANDEZ

“W

hy is it that so few films pass that very, very simple test?” asks April Abeyta (BFA/FTP ’00) referring to the Bechdel test, which measures whether a film presents female characters in ways that are sexist or represent gender stereotyping. Abeyta’s question is ever more urgent in the era of #MeToo and rising challenges to the representation of female voices and stories in film.

For Abeyta, one answer is helping even younger women and girls learn how to tell their stories through a Bay Area non-profit called Camp Reel Stories (CRS), a group that hopes to make a difference in how and how many stories of women and girls make it to the screen.

Abeyta first volunteered as a producer for the week-long camp. She oversaw a group of girls who were all 13 years of age and “super fun, super active!” The young women in the camp developed short films in a wide gamut of genres from documentaries on racial stereotyping to narratives on teenage drug use.

While volunteering she experienced first-hand the kind intentionality that

goes into the education of these young women. The camp is held together by women like Abeyta, with around 90 percent of their teachers being volunteers.

The goal of the program is to “empower young women with the skills to create their own media, to view current media critically and thoughtfully, and to aspire to leadership in their field.”

Over the past six months Abeyta has seen a surge in attention and appreciation for the program citing the #MeToo movement. Through this she hopes that CRS “becomes a component to help move the conversation forward and provide an outlet for people to do something about it.”

In just five years the program has seen 270 young women try their hand at filmmaking. They are given the opportunity to learn from industry professionals like Academy Award winner Lora Hirschberg, (Inception, Best Sound Mixing). In 2017, CRS held its inaugural Los Angeles camp with 15 girls in attendance; the group’s goal for 2018 is 30.

This year, Abeyta was asked to join the

executive board. “I was so impressed with the way they ran things,” she says, “their approach in terms of teaching media literacy as well as the technical side of the skill. The approach to let the girls just work things out on their own.

I just wanted to stay involved.”

Abeyta is continuing her work in providing a platform for women to be heard by revisiting an unfinished feature documentary about three student athletes on the basketball team at Chapman University. After the Game follows the lives of these three women over nearly 20 years from college athletics to mid-career successes. “They are all very successful women in very different ways and different industries. The common thread is that athletics has really driven them in a way that other folks haven’t been driven in their lives.”

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JON SCHNITZER: PROBING NEAR DEATH OR SCARED TO DEATH EXPERIENCES

BY JON HERNANDEZ

J

ohn Schnitzer (BFA/FTP ’01) is fascinated by things that might stop your heart—literally, or almost. Hence two of his recent projects have an otherworldly connection, one in VR and one a documentary that examines the extreme lengths people go to to scare each other on Halloween.

His VR experience, Flatline, has been showcased at VR/World New York and is available for Oculus and Vive Port headsets. As co-owner of The Brain Factory, Schnitzer has created horror attractions, VR and immersive experiences for clients such as Tim Burton, YouTube Red Studios, and TASCHEN Books, and produced 3D ghost illusions for President Obama’s 1st Halloween Party at the White House.

Schnitzer also recently released his first feature film, Haunters: The Art of the Scare, a documentary about how haunted houses for Halloween have spawned a growing subculture of extreme full-contact terror simulations.

The film is currently being streamed on Netflix.

How did you get started addressing these scary topics?

Seventeen years ago, I met someone

who had a near-death experience and his story made the hairs on my neck stand up! I wanted to make a film about it, but then I thought if people just watch this story on a screen, in a film they will just judge and dismiss this powerful experience.

I directed/produced/created/co-developed Flatline Experience, a virtual reality project that gives audiences the ability to become active participants in an actual near-death experience. I made Flatline as a VR project because it wouldn’t work any other way and to me, the only reason to produce a VR project is if it is the only way that story should be told. I believe that VR can use technology to create personal experiences that create empathy that will actually bring people closer together.

Where do you see VR headed?

VR is in a fascinating and unpredictable place right now. I hope VR continues to be used to bring us together in virtual meeting spaces (and provide) travel and adventure opportunities for people who don’t have the ability to travel, skill-based teaching for surgeons, healing for those suffering from PTSD, exposure therapy for people who suffer from extreme fears, stories that can

enhance empathy, and games that will open our minds to adventure.

What do students need to know to work in VR? Students who want to get into VR, AR and storytelling should also focus on psychology, English and history.

Understanding human nature, our past and how we communicate will give you the edge over people who have the technical skills, but nothing else. Everyone must have technical skills, but what else are you going to be an expert in that will push you over the edge and make you stand out in a crowd?

And please, understand how 3D (stereography) works and the psychological importance of spatial relationships.

Remember in VR and AR the “rule of thirds” doesn’t apply because you’re not creating the illusion of depth, you’re actually creating depth. VR isn’t about cheating; it’s about creating a reality.

It can be surreal or realistic, but you’re not filming a set, you’re creating a world in which the audience will become an active participant. Please make an experience that is worthy of the technology. If our experiences don’t blow minds, then VR will die. The future is in your hands.

FOR STUDENTS, ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF DODGE COLLEGE OF FILM AND MEDIA ARTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

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BY KEVIN HARMAN

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS 30

AMANDA RENEE KNOX (MFA/FP’17)

NIGHT CALL

NBCUniversal Short Film Festival – SEMI-FINALIST, Hamptons Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Carmel Intl. Film Festival – WINNER Best Student Short, shnit Intl. Shortfilmfestival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, DGA Student Film Awards – WINNER Jury Award Best Female Filmmaker, Filmschoolfest Munich – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Pan African Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Beaufort Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Cinequest Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Durango Indpt. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Taos Shortz Film Fest – OFFICIAL SELECTION, San Luis Obispo Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Bermuda Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Phoenix Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Vail Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION JACKSON SMITH (BFA/FP’17)

THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER

Night Call

The Chocolate

Soldier

San Diego Intl. Kids’ Film Festival – WINNER Best Kid Performance in Short, New York Immigration Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, KINEKO Children’s Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, CamerImage Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, CineMAiubit Intl. Student Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Intl. Children’s Film Festival Bangladesh – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Irvine Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Copa Shorts Film Fest – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Durango Indpt. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION DANIEL DRUMMOND (MFA/FP ’19)

A FOREMAN

Student Academy Awards – FINALIST Best Narrative Film, Valladolid Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, UCFTI Expo Film Competition – WINNER 2nd Place AHARONIT ELIOR (BFA/DA’17)

SPARK

Linoleum Intl. Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Animasyros Intl. Animation Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, World Animation Celebration – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Mezipatra Queer Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, San Jose Intl. Short Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Oxford Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Melbourne Queer Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Leeds Queer Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION

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A Foreman Spark

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ROBERT BRACKER (BFA/FP ’17)

CITIZEN

Skyline Indie Film Fest – OFFICIAL SELECTION, San Diego Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Awareness Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Orlando Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Chinese American Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Ojai Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Arpa Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Lone Star Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Beaufort Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Crossroads Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION KENDALL GOLDBERG (BFA/FP’17), ROCKY PAJARITO (BFA/SW’17), CAROLINE ROFFE (BFA/ TBJ’17), GREYSON HORST (BFA/FP’19)

DEMPSEY THE DIABETIC SUPERHERO

Student Academy Awards – SEMI-FINALIST Best Documentary Film, BendFilm Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Awareness Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Children’s Film Festival Seattle – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Maryland Intl. Kids FilmFest – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Reel Teal Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION, North Hollywood CineFest – OFFICIAL SELECTION, Cleveland Intl. Film Festival – OFFICIAL SELECTION ALEXA TUTTLE (BFA/FP’17)

INTREPID

man

Intrepid

KAPOW Intergalactic Film Festival— WINNER BEST SHORT FILM DIRECTOR and NOMINEE FOR BEST SHORT HORROR/SCI FI, Bay Area Intl. Children’s Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Boston Intl.

Kids Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Green Bay Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Lake Charles Film & Music Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Lone Star Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Providence Children’s Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, San Diego Intl. Kids Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, Super Geek Film Festival—OFFICIAL SELECTION, North Hollywood CineFest—OFFICIAL SELECTION

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DODGE COLLEGE

ALUMNI NOTES

Emily Andrus (BA/PRA ’13) is currently working at Pacific Life as a Social Media and Digital Content Producer. Plus, she got married in March of ’17!

Alan Baxter (BFA/FTP ’02) has recently signed with a TV Lit Agent at Abrams Artists Agency and won First Place at ITVFest for his pilot script Miracle Village.

Shelby Baldock (MFA/DR ’16) went on the road in March with the Piano Man Pictures Roadshow Tour in the Mid-West. The tour showcases four short films created

by Baldock (Faceless, But Remembered) and others.

James B. Cox (BFA/FP ’06) & Baruch Kaufman (BFA/FP ’05) released their film Hacked in March about a young programmer who joins forces with a group of renegade hackers to stop an artificial intelligence from reaching the outside world.

2 Hallie Lambert (BA/FTP ’01) is writing for the critically acclaimed SyFy series The Expanse, premiering its third season in April 2018. She is also writing for the tie-in graphic novel series, The Expanse: Origins, now available in print.

Andrew Huddleston (BFA/ FP ’08) is currently working as a Digital Save Operator for motion capture and digital environments on the Avatar sequels.

1 1 Jason Baumgardner (MFA/FP ’13) co-wrote Samson, based on the biblical epic of a champion chosen

by God to deliver Israel, released in theaters February 16.

Amanda Renee Knox (MFA/ DR ’17) will screen her thesis film Night Call at multiple festivals including the Bermuda International Film Festival, which is an Oscar Shorts Competition festival.

Maxwell Kosydar (BFA/CRPR ’14) is working his way up at DreamWorks Animation, currently a coordinator for theatrical and digital TV marketing.

2

Brett Melnick (BFA/TWP ’16) was a finalist in Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest. He credits lecturer Lee Marshall with, “being fundamental in pushing me to initially write the script.”

Louis Mendiola (MFA/SW ’07) is a finalist for the 2018 ATX Television Festival’s Writers Program Selections with his drama The Strange Case of Oscar Wilde.

Tansu Philip (BFA/TBJ ’16) started a new job as a Casting Assistant at CBS TV 3 Studios.

Kathleen Remington (BA/PRA ’05) has been named a partner at ICM Partners.

Remington has been with ICM, in various capacities, since 2005.

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Jon Schnitzer (BFA/FTP ’01) has a feature documentary on Netflix titled Haunters: The Art of the Scare and recently created a VR project called Flatline Experience.

The VR project gives audiences the ability

Do you have a recent accomplishment you’d like to share? Email jonherna@chapman.edu, so we can share your success with the Dodge College community.

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TES to become active participants in an actual near-death experience.

Schnitzer also appeared on VR a panel at SXSW 2018.

4 Evan Seccombe (BFA/FP ’09

and MFA/PD ’11), art director with Kreate Events, LLC., designed events for the 2018 Super Bowl Live in Minneapolis, Minn.

Rachel Skidmore (MFA/FTP ’10) is the Vice President, Emerging Platforms at Skybound Entertainment. She produced the VR film Dinner Party that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at SXSW in March.

Nicole Zwiren (MFA/FP ’10) is welcoming a new baby this spring.

Matthew Tanner (MFA/FP ’16) has finished his feature film The American Dreamless which is shot in all 50 states. The film will premiere later this year.

Sarah Thacker (MFA/FP ’13), Taylor Maxwell (MFA/FP ’13), and Ashton Avila (MFA/FP ’17) are directing original pilots for Sony PlayStation in Atlanta as part of the PlayStation Emerging Filmmakers Program.

Eric Willcockson (BA/PRA ’11) is currently working at Lionsgate for the Motion Picture Group.

4

5 Jackie! Zhou (BFA/FP ’15) won a 2018 MPSE Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - FX/Foley in Episodic Long Form for Godless – “Homecoming” (Netflix).

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5 3

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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Orange, CA Permit No. 58

One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866

UPCOMING EVENT: SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2018 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Wilson Field Chapman University

For more events, visit events.chapman.edu

Dean Bassett and the faculty of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts are proud to announce that award-winning director, writer & producer Michael Apted will give the keynote address for the 2018 Dodge College Commencement Ceremony. Apted’s return to campus follows his fall 2017 semester as the Marion Knott Distinguished Artist, in which he mentored students and shared his industry experience weekly.

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