Aspiring lmmaker hones his cra on campus

Richard Zamora Roundup Reporter

In one day on a film set he went from prop man to baby director, and the tool that set him on the path of his new career was bubbles.

“Nobody doesn’t like bubbles,” said Jimmy Wagner, former child therapist, turned director and Encore student at Pierce. “They’re like little rings of smiles.”

Wagner has worked on many projects, including the film “Baby Boom” with Diane Keaton, and the television show “Friends.”

It was on the set of “Baby Boom” that Wagner discovered he was able to calm a crying baby with bubbles long enough to shoot a scene and thus began his new career.

“The film came to a complete stop, everybody was going crazy, the director was pulling his hair out,” Wagner said. “I went up to him and I said ‘Can I try something?’ and he said ‘Anything you want.’”

Wagner ran to the prop truck and returned with bubbles, which did to modify their curriculum to meet the needs of the students transferring to a UC, it will create more competition between community colleges across California.

“What that means for us is that we need to continue our push to make sure that we are offering the right courses for our UC-bound students and that is major prep. Their major prep is what sets them apart from everyone else during the admission process,” Salter said.

One of the final things the UC Transfer Report touched on was cost. Attending a UC rather than a California State school is usually more expensive, and that has caused the number of students applying to a UC to decrease.

The idea is that the change in curriculum will encourage students to at least apply to a UC.

“Cost shouldn’t be a deciding factor when a student applies to a UC,” Salter said. “A student should apply to multiple colleges and then they can decide where to go based on cost.” the trick. Wagner was even able to blow the bubbles in such a way that he directed the baby’s gaze.

“The director calls me over and said ‘You’re fired. You’re never going to do props again. You’re going to direct the baby from now on’,’’ Wagner said.

Wagner is currently working on a short series modeled after a “Baby Snooks”, a character played by Fannie Brice, who was a wellknown comedienne of the 30’s through the 50’s. The series has five episodes up on YouTube with ten

Russell joined the Pierce College staff in 1984, and in 1985 he became the director of the Pierce College Weather Station. The weather station at Pierce College has been in operation for over sixty years and is recognized by the National Weather Service. With help from students and staff, Russell obtained grants for rare sensors to record data for obtaining the most accurate statistics.

Russell taught courses in geography, meteorology and environmental studies, and currently he was teaching Geography 1 and Geography 3. He had been a part of the Los Angeles Community College District for over thirty years, according to the email from Burke.

Russell is survived by his two sons, Blair and Blake, and his granddaughter. Memorial will be held on Saturday, June 7. To R.S.V.P more still to shoot. Wagner’s goal is to reach 30,000 hits in order to gain the financing and freedom to produce his other projects.

“I figured maybe we could redo it and give it a new millennium twist,” Wagner said. “And that would be to use relevancy of today with jokes and things that were current.”

“I was going for the older generation, maybe people who are 40 and up,” Wagner said.

[See DIRECTOR , pg. 5]