IN THE NEWS...
CSUN Receives $1M Pledge From Anonymous Donor to Honor Entertainment Industry Alum MediaContact: Carmen Ramos Chandler
The gift will be used to create the Scott M. Weiss Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Scott M. Weiss Memorial Scholarship Endowment in honor of a cinema and television arts alumnus and entertainment industry professional who was killed in an automobile accident in July 2008. Cal State Northridge has received a $1 million pledge to honor alum Scott M. Weiss who died in 2008. Cal State Northridge has received a $1 million pledge to honor alum Scott M. Weiss who died in 2008. “This gift is not only generous, but inspiring,” Willey said. “Scott Weiss’ memory will be both an encouragement and a standard for a talented, creative and enterprising student to cross the bridge from school to his or her professional life. The gift truly is wonderful.” Scott M. Weiss Scholarships will be awarded to cinema and television arts students who meet the university’s financial need requirements and demonstrate promise in their major measured by their passion, commitment, creativity and effort. A recipient must be at least a sophomore and maintain a 2.5 or higher grade point average. The first scholarship is expected to be awarded later this year. Karen Kearns, associate dean of CSUN’s Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communications, had Weiss as a student in fall 2000. “Scott was in my single-camera television class,” she said. “He and his group created a wonderful, five-minute piece called ‘Silver Lining.’ It was about a little girl who was hit by a car and killed. Her organs were donated and the family met the little girl who received their daughter’s heart. It was very touching. It also was the first time one of our television projects won a CSU Media Arts award. Scott was the editor on that team. “He was a great student. He was funny and he worked really well with his group,” Kearns recalled. “He just added so much to the team and its ability to create this wonderful story.” Kearns said she was “touched” that an endowment for cinema and television arts students was created in his honor. “It is so difficult to think that a student this young has left us,” she said. “Yet, his legacy will live on in the work of these other students he is able to help.” Scott Weiss transferred to Northridge in 1999 after having completed his general education requirements at Pierce and Valley Colleges. He enrolled in what was then the Radio-Television-Film Department with an eye on a career in the entertainment industry. During his final year at the university, Weiss obtained a much sought-after internship with a post-production company, earning credits toward his major at the same time. When he graduated in 2001, the company offered him a one-year contract to edit film coverage of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. In 2003, Weiss was hired by RIOT, a Santa Monica-based post-production company, to work exclusively on the company’s contract with the Fox Broadcasting Company. His editing skills were used to create promos for upcoming movies on the FX cable channel. Pleased with his work, Fox hired Weiss as an in-house editor in 2006 when it ended its contract with RIOT. Two years later, on July 12, 2008, Weiss was killed in a automobile accident. He was 32. In memory of Scott, two $5,000 awards are available in 2010The CTVA faculty from all options will nominate students for the Scott Weiss Memorial Scholarship based on a student’s strong potential for success in his or her chosen field of interest. The best candidates are those who have blossomed at CSUN and have found focus and direction through their work in the Cinema and Television Arts Department. The intention of the award is to both reward and assist a student with a monetary gift that insures that the student is able to complete in his or her degree. Class Level Academic Achievement Students do not apply for this scholarship. Candidates are nominated by members of the CTVA faculty who have observed the talent, professionalism, and personal development of the students nominated. |
CSUN Students Take Top Honors at the 2009 CSU Media Arts FestivalMedia Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler (NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 1st, 2009) ― The festival’s top honor-the Best of Show Rosebud Award-went to Northridge students Joseph Umana and Shirley Kim for their short film, The Sounds of Silence. The film also earned a First Place Rosebud Award in the experimental category. For their creative efforts, Umana and Kim will share cash awards of $1,000 for the Best in Show and $500 for the First Place Award. Joseph Umana, who graduates this December with a degree in cinema and television arts, also received a First Place Rosebud Award in the short screenplay category for his screenplay of The Sounds of Silence. This recognition comes with a $500 cash award. Umana, 21, of West Hollywood, said he and Kim were honored to receive the festival’s top prize. “It was really cool,” he said. Kim, 26, of Long Beach, agreed, saying it was “thrilling” to win the Rosebud Award. “We worked really hard on the film. It took us almost a year to make it,” said Kim, who graduated in May with her degree in cinema and television arts. “We started this in our screenwriting class, where Joey talked about his idea and I knew it would work, and we went from there. The support and encouragement from the university has been wonderful, and we’re very grateful for that.” Umana said he was hoping to tell a “different story, something that was large and weird and very visual” when he came up with the concept for The Sounds of Silence. The film, which has little dialogue, is the story of a young deaf boy who learns to overcome his disability and communicate through the art of mime. Umana said he was influenced in part by CSUN’s vibrant deaf student community. Cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas, who heads the university’s film option, said he was not surprised that The Sounds of Silence took top honors at the CSU Media Arts Festival. “This is probably one of the most unique and innovative films to come out of our program in a long time,” Thomas said. “The film is very much a culmination of all they have learned not only in production classes, but in their theory and film history courses. They have taken what they have learned and really built upon it. This is not a dialogue-driven piece, it’s a very visual piece. People forget film is a visual art, not talking heads.” The following cinema and television arts students also received awards and recognition for their films: • Brian Halpoff, director, and Kira Foltz, producer, won second place recognition for their narrative entry Undying Love. • David Jones, director, and Connor Tracy, producer, took third place honors for their animation film, Phoenix. • Billiamarie Robinson received third place recognition for her television entry, Outdoor Adventure. • Kahea Mathison won third place in the short screenplay division with her entry, Smokehouse. Each of the three Rosebud Awards received by Umana and Kim earned CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts a $250 cash prize. The CSU Media Arts Festival allows students in the California State University system the opportunity to be in professional competition. This gives students the necessary skills for transition between producing films, video and interactive media in college classes to related industries. Visit www.mediaartsfestival.org for a full listing of all winners and place awards. The festival operates under the umbrella of CSU Summer Arts, www.csusummerarts.org. |
ATTENTION!CTVA film production students/graduatesSubmissions for 2010 Senior Film ShowcaseAll CTVA 452 films completed in the last 2 years are eligible for the showcase.The showcase will be held Wednesday May 5th, 2010 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood. Submit 3 DVD copies of the film (fine cut w/ temporary mixed sound) to Michael Bryant in the equipment room, Manzanita Hall 191 by 3 PM Friday, February 26th, 2010. You must also fill out a short application form available at the CTVA website www.ctva.csun.edu. To qualify the film must be in post production and near ready for the negative cutting or digital intermediate process. A 35mm release print will be needed for the showcase. All submissions will be viewed by an independent jury who will select the 2010 Showcase participants. If your film is selected you will need to submit ASAP on CD B&W still photos from the film as well as a 3 sentence Log Line. You will also need to submit the Cast List as well as the Crew List of the CTVA students involved (main crew members only, i.e. producer, director, sound, editor, cinematographer). You must list a contact number for each main crew member. Please have this material ready because there will not be much time after the selection is made (around March 5th). Questions may be directed to Professor Nate Thomas, Film Production Option Head, in MZ 320 or nate.thomas@csun.edu or at 818-677-3162. Sr. Showcase Submission Form (.doc file) |
Great News during trying economic times!
|
  |
|
|
Temma Willey, chair of Cal State Northridge’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts, announced today that the university has received a $1 million pledge from an anonymous donor who asked that the money be used for scholarships for students in her department.
(Aug. 11, 2009) The Department of Cinema and Television Arts Film Production Option received $60,000 for production fellowships for senior film project students for the 2009- 2010 academic year from the prestigious Hollywood Foreign Press Association known internationally for their Golden Globe Awards. Another $26,000 was awarded to help mount the Annual Senior Film Showcase slated for May 2010 and to upgrade the ADR/Foley facility. The directors of the senior film projects have the distinction of being named "Hollywood Foreign Press Fellows" a distinction usually reserved for graduate students. Golden Globe nominee Evan Rachel Wood announced the award to CSUN at the HFPA's Annual Installation and Grants Luncheon held August 11th at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Other celebrities in attendance included Warren Beatty, Rose McGowan, Jordana Brewster, Hugh Dancy, Carla Gugino, Rex Lee, Eva Longoria Parker, Dylan McDermott, Chris Pine, Jason Reitman Emmy Rossum, and Kerry Washington. Professor Nate Thomas, Film Production Option Head, and Karen Kearns, Associate Dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, represented CSUN at the event. The CTVA Department has a long standing relationship with the HFPA which started in 1996. Senior film production students also edit in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Senior Film Edit Suite and will prepare sound design Fall ‘09 in the state-of-the-art Hollywood Foreign Press Association Film Sound Mix Studio recently upgraded by the HFPA.
Noted Film Director Donald Petrie Will Be Artist in Residence
"