I2, pg 8 (dragged) by Rocky

ARTS

8 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION

MARCH 5, 2015

EC history professor is the creator of the Long Beach Independent Film Festival

Celine West Arts Editor @ECCUnionCeline

Several minutes after class is dismissed, not one person is ready to leave. A few people begin to rise from their chairs and walk toward the door, but most stay behind, form a line, and wait to talk with their history professor. After an hour lecture, it is common for students to linger, then follow Daniel Walker down the hall to his office where they can have a longer conversation with him. Walker, a history professor, is the founding director of the Long Beach Independent Film Festival. “I work as a documentary filmmaker,” Walker said. “I try to tell stories that are true and beautiful. I hope what I do will inspire people and move people to act.” With an undergraduate degree in psychology and a Ph.D in history, Walker does not have a formal background in art. “I was being more of a producer, making spaces for others so others could perform, but I wanted to do my own vision,” he said. “I started to tell my own stories. There have been things tied to my life.” When Walker started to work with Ken Bernstein, whose work he says is important to him, he wanted to find a way to mesh his love for history and the power of art. He now runs a program at USC called the “Gospel History Music Project.” He said that they have been going around for 10 years with a film camera and photographers, interviewing and documenting and preserving gospel music so that people can have access to this art form. “It was working on that project at USC that opened me up because it put me in this world of working with cameras and everything,” he

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Daniel Walker, a history professor, is the founding director of the Long Beach Independent Film Festival. said. “It made me do something that has a story to it.” Walker said that since he was working with camera people, lights, and sound, he felt that he could begin do an original project that enabled him to tell a story. “So when I did decide I wanted to do this, I started to make “When Roosters Crow,” he said. “I got lucky that there was all this film available of him (Daniel Scarborough) and the people granted me the access to have it so then I felt an obligation to tell the story.” “When Roosters Crow” is about professor, dancer and choreographer Daniel Scarborough, who later died of AIDS, Walker said. “He is an amazing human being in addition to being a crazy professor and a teacher of dance that would take regular people with no dance experience, and mold them in one semester,” he said.

“Their first time on TV, they won an Emmy.” When Walker first started in filmmaking, he realized that a lot of people at the film festivals didn’t know anything about business. “Because of all of the stuff I’ve done in my life, I understand how to leverage a brand, how you create your own reality,” he said. “A lot of people thought they had a film and that’s it.” Walker explained that the reason why the Long Beach Independent Film Festival has a huge educational component is so that young filmmakers learn how to make things happen. “We have a college career fair and it also has this film, music and media conference. They need to know more than ‘lights, camera, action,’” Walker said. “I don’t see anyone else as serious about the educational component as what

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mine has. Mine is about hands on stuff you can learn how to do.” Hamoun Dolatshahi, 21, communications major, said that when he was a volunteer at the film festival, Walker told him to learn from the experience. Dolatshahi was then presented with the opportunity to host a question and answer session between the director and the audience. “I was holding up the mic and I was learning what I should and shouldn’t do,” Dolatshahi said. “That was a great experience. He gave me the experience that I needed.” Dolatshahi said that people came away from the film festival very satisfied. He said it was because of the policy of Walker and that he makes sure people have fun. “I think what works for him is his energy,” Jarrett Gillett, 31, film major, said. “He’s able to captivate

an audience with his energy.” Walker explained that some things can become very stressful when organizing the film festival and it can feel like sink or swim. “I had to raise $22,000 in four days,” he said. “If it didn’t happen, it was over. There were days when I am like, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Walker said that people came away from the Long Beach Independent Film Festival last year saying it was the best film festival they ever went. Film festivals often play on chaos, he said, but his film festival was well organized. “I think it was the hospitality of the volunteers and the quality of the movies. They were very high quality films,” he said, “Every film played on time, there were no glitches.” Students at El Camino helped him review films, Walker said. One of the films, “The Dam Keeper,” that they played in the classroom and gave their thumbs up to ended up being nominated for an Academy Award. “That was cool. That’s the ‘Dam Keeper,’” he said. “It’s about bullying, people making fun of this pig and he decides not to keep the water out. He takes out a certain group of people and then he stops the dam.” When screening the films, Walker said that he figures out what overall effect he wants for the festival and then he aims to create a balanced and educational experience. “My job is to curate the process, so if you’re coming in for five days then, ‘What’s your experience?’” he said. “For me, the big thing about film is film brings people together, so I believe that if people come to together and talk to each other, good things happen. My job is to pick the film that creates the conversations.”

The Scene The Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra performs The Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra will be performing at EC on Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. in the Marsee Auditorium. Tickets for this performance are $20.

The Tectonic Theatre Project puts on “The Laramie Project” The members of the Tectonic Theatre Project are putting on a performance of “The Laramie Project” on Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m. To purchase tickets call 1-800-832-ARTS

Kenny Loggins Performs at The PV Norris Theatre The PV Norris Theatre will be having musical artist Kenny Loggins on March 21 at 8 p.m.. Tickets can be purchased online or over the phone. The contact number is 310.544.0403 x221.

Nathan Stark, operatic bass singer will perform Operatic bass singer Nathan Stark will be performing at EC on Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m. in Marsee Auditorium. Tickets are $24 and can be purchased by calling 1-800832-ARTS.

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