Stark at 25 - USC School of Cinematic Artscinema.usc.edu/assets/001/5025.pdf · Academic Honors...

S U M M E R 2 0 0 5

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

Declaration of Independence

Stark at 25We’ve Only Just Begun!By Meredith Goodwin

R ay Stark and Art Murphy won’t be there when the Peter Stark Producing Program holds its 25th

anniversary reunion celebration on October 1. But their spirits will be present when 25 years of

successful Stark Program graduates come together to celebrate what is inarguably the premier

producing program in the academic and film world.

Producer Andrew Licht ’81 (The Cable Guy, Waterworld), one of the first class of Stark graduates, has been

tapped to produce the festivities under the guidance of Lawrence Thurman, who has directed the program

since 1991. (Details will be coming soon, so stay tuned to http://www.cntvalumni.net)

As entertainment insiders have long known, “Starkies” are entrenched throughout the industry on both the

creative and business sides. Some, like Polly Cohen (Senior Vice President, Warner Bros.), Robert Greenblatt

(President of Entertainment, Showtime), Peter Kang (Vice President, 20th Century Fox), and James Whitaker

(President of Production, Imagine), are executives at major companies. Some, like Evan Katz (24) and John

Wells (ER, The West Wing), are writer-producers in televi-

sion. Some, like Neal Moritz (XXX, The Fast and the

Furious) and Stacey Sher (Erin Brockovich, Pulp Fiction), are

producing feature films. And others, like Emmy-winning

sound editor Thierry Couturier (The X-Files), have gone on

to great success in what some might consider non-traditional

Starkie fields.

Above: Ray Stark surrounded by an early group of “Starkies” circa 1989Below: Jay Roach at the 2005 commencement ceremony

(continued on page 2)


T he School’s Academy Award winners aren’t

the only ones who’ve been basking in the

celebrity spotlight recently. Rapturous

applause greeted legendary critical studies professor

Drew Casper in March as he received the Associates

Award for Excellence in Teaching during the USC

Academic Honors Convocation.

Before, during, and after the elegant ceremony, Casper

was surrounded by legions of admiring friends and

fans, including USC President Steven B. Sample, the

evening’s emcee. “What a love-fest for Drew!” one

awed spectator was heard to utter.

Casper is the first cinema-television faculty member

to receive this prestigious award, which is the highest

accolade the USC faculty bestows on its members for

outstanding teaching. Casper was presented with a

beribboned medal, a formal citation hand inscribed

on vellum, and a check for $5,000.

In selecting Casper from a highly competitive field of

nominees, the award committee cited the “extent of


What’s Inside3 Scribe Support

Writing students beat the odds with help fromOperation Win

6 In the Right MoodAnimation Chair Kathy Smith receives prestigiousUSC honor for Indefinable Moods

7 Going GlobalLooking at the world through cinema with AssistantProfessor Priya Jaikumar

12 Lost and FoundAlumnus Javier Grillo-Marxuach on getting Lostand finding success

14 The Look of LoveAudiences are falling in love with the passionate seniors of Backseat Bingo

15 Picture ThisClose encounters with Tom Hanks, Michael Moore,Bruce Rosenblum, and John Wells

A ddressing a sea of eager faces packing the

Shrine Auditorium for this year’s com-

mencement ceremony, veteran independ-

ent filmmaker Saul Zaentz gave the class of ’05 a

bittersweet send-off, lauding them for finishing their

studies, but cautioning them about potential pitfalls

on the path ahead.

“Upon your graduation, many of you are saying ‘free

at last, free at last.’ Not so. Not so,” mused the avun-

cular producer, wagging his index finger at the crowd.

“You alone will keep yourselves responsible for all you

must do to be even partially free as a human and as

a professional.”

Making the GradeDrew Casper Receives Major Teaching AwardBy Meredith Goodwin

By John Zollinger, M.F.A ’02

2 | in motion fall 2004

In Print and Online

Cultivating Pasadena: From Roses

to Redevelopment

Interactive DVD-ROM

Marsha Kinder, Executive Producer

Rosemary Comella, Creative Director

The Danube Exodus: Rippling

Currents of the River

Traveling Installation

Marsha Kinder, Executive Producer

Drug Wars: The Polit ical Economy

of Narcotics

University of Minnesota Press, 2004

By Curtis Marez

The Game Localization Handbook

Charles River Media, 2004

By Heather Maxwell Chandler

How to Build a Great Screenplay

St. Martin’s Press, 2004

By David Howard

The Movie Business Book

(Third Edition)

Simon and Schuster, 2004

Jason E. Squire, Editor

Three Winters in the Sun: Einstein

in California

Interactive DVD-ROM

Marsha Kinder, Writer and Producer

Kristy Kang, Creative Director

Vectors: Journal of Culture and

Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular

www.annenberg.edu/vectors

Tara McPherson, Editor

2| in motion summer 2005

Indeed, The New York Times ran a major story about the enormous success of just one graduat-

ing class (1994). Alumni have received every major industry accolade, including the Best Picture

Oscar (producer Edward Saxon, for Silence of the Lambs, in 1991). And some don’t even wait to

graduate before scoring their first success.

“My friend’s cell phone went off in the middle of class during our first year in the program,”

recalled John August ’94. “She answers it and tells everybody, ‘Al Gough and Miles Millar just

sold their script for $1 million!’”

“It’s very difficult after selling a script to come back to class!” admitted Millar. But they did, and

the duo continues to make show-business history: Gough and Millar (both ’94) wrote the original

story for Spider Man 2 — the third-highest-grossing movie worldwide in 2004 — and created the

hit television series Smallville.

Two legendary men, working behind the scenes as all good producers do, provided the vision

and leadership that launched the Peter Stark Producing Program. It was the brainchild of cele-

brated film critic and reporter Art Murphy, whose USC graduate course on the economics of

the motion picture business was so popular during the mid-1970s that he was urged to create an

entirely new program — the first of its kind in the nation — to train film and television pro-

ducers and executives about the business side of their business.

Several studios provided seed money for the fledgling program, but it really took off in 1979

when Murphy received a phone call from one of the biggest producers in town — the late and

great Ray Stark. He and his wife, Fran, made the then-extraordinary gift of $1 million, and a

grateful Murphy named the program in honor of the Starks’ late son, Peter.

The Starks subsequently endowed the Fran and Ray Stark Chair for the Study of American Film,

which is held by the program’s current director, Lawrence Turman. Turman has an extensive body

of work as a motion picture and television producer (he produced The Graduate) and serves on

the board of the producer’s branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Stark at 25

Cultivating Pasadena: From Roses to Redevelopment

The Danube Exodus: Rippling Currents of the River

(continued from page 1)

Art Murphy

Lawrence Thurman

summer 2005 in motion | 3

Frank Biondi, Jr.John CalleyBarry DillerLee Gabler

David GeffenBrian Grazer

Brad GreyJeffrey Katzenberg

Alan Levine George LucasDon Mattrick

William M. Mechanic

Barry Meyer Sidney Poitier Frank Price

Barney Rosenzweig Scott Sassa

Steven Spielberg John WellsJim Wiatt

Paul Junger WittDavid L. Wolper Robert Zemeckis

Laura Ziskin

Peter Benedek Alan Berger

Stuart Bloomberg Jon Feltheimer

Lee Gabler Ted Harbert Sam HaskellTony Jonas

Kerry McCluggage Leslie Moonves

Rod PerthFrank Price Peter RothScott Sassa

Herb ScannellScott Stone

Toper Taylor John Wells

Paul Junger Witt

BOARD OF COUNCILORS TELEVISION ADVISORY COUNCIL

“The Stark Program not only has played an important role

in the development of the USC School of Cinema-

Television, but its unique — and sometimes daring —

approach to teaching the art of producing has grown into a

new educational paradigm,” said Dean Elizabeth Daley.

“The worlds of academia and entertainment are indebted to

Ray Stark for making this program a reality.”

Early Stark Program graduates recall Murphy as a no-non-

sense former Navy lieutenant who ran the program with an

iron fist. “He started screaming at us like we were midship-

men, and I thought this was the biggest mistake I’d ever

made in my life,” recalled John Wells ’82. “But it ended up

being a terrific experience for me because we really learned

from people, and met people, and did things that I never

thought I’d have an opportunity to do.”

What makes the Peter Stark Producing Program so excep-

tional is that it is the first — and most admired — stand-

alone producing program in the world. Other university pro-

ducing programs have tried to model themselves on the Stark

Program, but none have been as successful as the original. In

addition, as is the case with most of the School’s faculty, vir-

tually all Stark Program professors are working professionals.

“We had amazing professors and guest speakers,” recalled

Stacey Sher ’85, “because Art felt it was important for us to

interact with people who were doing the jobs, who under-

stood the reality of the film business, who understood how

hard it was to get something made well — get it written,

budgeted, and marketed well. We were constantly exposed

to people at the top of their game.”

Murphy’s famous tough-love approach has continued

through the years as well. Today, Stark students march

lock-step to a program designed by Turman. Peter Kang ’96

describes his experiences in the program under Turman’s

direction as “like having gone through boot camp.”

“We do work them to death,” admitted Kathy Fogg, associ-

ate director of the Stark Program. “I always tell students,

‘If you can imagine yourself doing anything else with your

life, do it!’”

It’s an intense experience, to be sure. “The Stark Program

was like they were casting The Real World and put 25 extro-

verts together in a room to see who would survive,” said

August. “I was completely terrified of most of them at first.”

It’s ideal training for the real world. In the words of Damon

Lee ’94, “Every day is like a 100-yard dash. And I start ten

yards ahead, because of the Stark Program.” That’s a com-

mon sentiment, judging by the praise heaped upon the

program by generations of Stark graduates.

Their enthusiasm is returned by Turman, who noted, “My

friends and show biz pals continually congratulate me on

‘giving back.’ They don’t understand or appreciate how

much I’m (actually) ‘getting.’”

Operation Win Scores BigBy Elizabeth Randall. M.F.A. ’05

T he debut of the new Operation Win program was a screenwriting-contest coup for writing division alumni, whose work made a huge impression on organizers of the Austin Film Festival and the Walt

Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellowship Program.

The prestigious Disney/ABC program named four USC alumni to its illustrious ranks. Jonathan Howard, M.F.A. ’04

represents Operation Win as one of 11 Disney/ABC television fellows, while Whitney Anderson, M.F.A. ’04; John

Carr, M.F.A. ’04; and Damian Saul-Romay, M.F.A. ’04 fill three of the program’s four available film spots.

“The showing of our writers in the

Disney/ABC Fellowship Program

has been nothing short of phenom-

enal,” said Howard A. Rodman,

chair of the Division of Writing for

Screen and Television.

Operation Win claimed another

notable triumph when Tim

Croteau, M.F.A. ’04; and David

Stassen, M.F.A. ’04 placed as final-

ists in the celebrated Austin Film

Festival with their script

Lumberjack Jones.

Operation Win offers administra-

tive and financial support to thesis

students who submit their work to

contests and fellowship programs.

Created to promote the exceptional

work of writing division students,

Operation Win has already fulfilled

the promise of its name.

“The lectures, screenings, and round table events are wonderfully informative, but the real reason to fly all the way to

Austin is the networking,” said Croteau about his film-festival experience. “In the four days I was there, I spoke with

several Academy Award–winning writers about their craft.”

Likewise, the School’s Disney/ABC fellows enjoy great networking benefits. “We are meeting with professionals from

Disney and all over the industry almost every day,” said Saul-Romay.

“Everyone at Disney, from assistants to high-level executives, has made it clear that their door is open to us, and that’s

really exciting,” noted Anderson, whose script, Psychic 101, tells the story of four Ivy League students who are desper-

ate to raise $100,000 after a class psychology experiment goes awry.

Carr emphasized that fellows are paired with executives best suited to developing their scripts. “It’s a wonderful

opportunity to grow and sustain strong relationships with the people best positioned to help us in our careers.” His

fellowship-winning script, The Great Blondin, tells the (mostly) true story of a world-famous 19th century tightrope

walker whose bravery inspires a timid manager to overcome his fear of life and win the heart of the woman he loves.

“My professors encouraged me to run wild with my particular style and voice,” said Carr. “And this is exactly what

the powers at Disney enjoyed about my submission.”

Saul-Romay was taken by surprise when his submission, 24 Hours Ago, a dark tale about a doctor who has the worst

day of his life, earned him a Disney/ABC fellowship. “I didn’t think I had a chance. Fortunately, Operation Win and

the folks at Disney proved me wrong.”

Looking ahead, Rodman sees a bright future for Operation Win. “We look forward to building upon these successes

and developing the strongest and most robust structures possible, so that our students’ work can find its best footing

in the outside world.”

New Disney /ABC fellows Damian Saul-Romay, Whitney Anderson, John Carr, and Jonathan Howard

B eneath a bright blue canopy of cloudless sky,more than 10,000 members of the Class of2004 — along with some 40,000 beaming par-

ents, friends, and family members — celebrated theUniversity of Southern California’s 121st Commencement

on Friday, May 14.

The USC School of Cinema-Television’s mid-afternoonsatellite commencement ceremony was held at the ShrineAuditorium, its longtime home. Said Sonny Calderon, whoreceived his M.F.A. from the Division of Writing for Screenand Television that day, “Having it [graduation] at the

Shrine — which is gorgeous — somehow feels like you’re

being initiated into the Hollywood community (even

though we’re not — yet).”

The festivities began on a high note, with a special screen-ing of the School’s new 75th anniversary documentary,

Honoring the Past/Creating the Future. Written and directedby Tiller Russell (‘01) and produced by Jill Aske (‘01), thedocumentary deftly traces the evolution of the School over

75 years through the use of a witty musical score and theskillful blending of rare archival footage and recent photo-

graphs and interviews.

Dean Elizabeth Daley reminded graduates that they are

linked to this illustrious lineage, which dates back to thedawn of the “talkie” era when Douglas Fairbanks Sr., the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ first

president, urged USC to add film studies to its curriculum.From that pivotal moment, there was no looking back for

7-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom told graduatesto embrace the unexpected: “Knowing what’s going to happennext is boring in the movies, and it’s boring in life.”

4 | in motion fall 2004

“

Shows on the Air

8 Simple Rules About One Thing Michael Bostick,

Executive Producer

24 Evan Katz, Co-Executive Producer

Alias Meighan Offield, Associate Producer

Arrested Development Brian Grazer and Ron Howard,

Executive Producers; Lisa Parsons, Staff Writer

Boston Legal Bob Breech, Consulting Producer

CSI: Miami Steven Maeda, Writer-Producer

Desperate Housewives Charles Pratt Jr., Consulting Producer

E.R. John Wells, Executive Producer

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Derek Westervelt,

Coordinating Producer

Fear Factor Matt Kunitz, Executive Producer

The George Lopez Show Robert Borden, Executive Producer

Grey’s Anatomy Shonda Rhimes, Executive Producer

House Bryan Singer, Executive Producer

Las Vegas Michael Berns, Co-Executive Producer

l i fe as we know it Stu Bloomberg and Gabe Sachs,

Executive Producers

Lost Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Supervising Producer

Medium Ronald L. Schwary, Executive Producer

Monk Randy Zisk, Executive Producer-Director

The O.C. Doug Liman and Josh Schwartz, Executive Producers

Smallvi l le Greg Beeman, Al Gough and Miles Millar,

Executive Producers; Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, Producers;

Todd Slavkin, Producer

Third Watch John Wells, Executive Producer

Veronica Mars Dan Etheridge, Co-Producer

The West Wing John Wells, Executive Producer

4 | in motion summer 2005

recognition and support given to [Casper] by both faculty and students who unanimously

highlighted his ‘transformative’ and ‘life-changing’ impact on his students…His many letters

of support repeatedly note his passion for knowledge and his love of learning; his deep

commitment to teaching and his devotion to the life of the mind; his consistent focus on

student learning…”

“Drew Casper is one of our best-known and best-loved professors,” said Dean Elizabeth Daley.

“He has gained national renown for his ability to animate large undergraduate classes, and

he is widely considered to be a pioneer in creating the model for introductory film classes.

Students clearly thrive under his tutelage.”

Many generations of cinema-television students have packed into the Eileen Norris Theatre

Complex’s Frank Sinatra Hall each week to watch Casper perform his teaching magic. “Drew

had powers no one else had — powers to enthrall, entertain, open vistas for students,”

recalled Carrie Kirshman, a critical studies student in the mid-1980s. “He was just a power-

ful force. He taught me about film, whereas other people taught me about theories that you

apply to film. I took every course he offered while I was at USC.”

“Drew is a legendary teacher,” noted Tara McPherson, chair of the Division of Critical

Studies. “He has an extraordinary ability to make course materials come alive for students

and to engage each of them on a personal and individual level. They consistently hail his

courses as life changing. We’re very lucky to have him on our faculty.”

Stalking through his large lecture classes, Casper calls to mind someone touched by the gods,

climbing over rows of seats to confront a student with a piercing question, sparring with a

student unwise enough to arrive late for class, or suddenly launching into song and dance to

clarify an obscure point.

“You never want to miss a class,” said Jeremy Berg, M.A. ’05, who has been Casper’s student,

teaching assistant, and course reader. “You just have to be there, to see who he’ll pull up on

stage this time to dance the Hoochi Koochi with him.”

Jonathon Komack-Martin, B.A. ’88, agreed: “He’s so damn amusing! His classes are like

theater. I actually take my dates to Norris Theatre to see Drew perform!”

But there’s far more than just fun and games in a Casper course. “He went deeper into

the subject matter than any other professor I had,” said Peter Ventrella, M.A. ’94. “His

knowledge was so vast it was inspiring. He’ll do anything to convey the flame of his passion

for films, and he takes it as a personal offense if you’re not as excited about the subject

matter as he is.”

Everyone who has seen Casper teach cites his exceptional passion. Christopher Cooling,

M.A. ’99 and a critical studies Ph.D. candidate, mused on the link between Casper’s love of

the subject matter of cinema and his love for the calling of teaching. “What most impresses

me about Drew Casper,” he said, “is that these are one and the same passion — watching

movies would be unthinkable without knowing that he will be able to discuss them with his

students in lecture, and his joy for teaching is itself a direct extension of his joy for this most

vibrant of art forms.”

Casper, who has held the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Chair for the Study of American Film

since it was established in 1998, was first hailed for his teaching three decades ago. Delta Kappa

Alpha bestowed its award for teaching excellence on Casper when he was a new critical studies

instructor in the early 1970s, shortly after he earned his Ph.D. in Communication Arts at USC.

In 1991, the USC chapter of the Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society “tapped” him

for excellence in teaching. Last year, President Sample acknowledged Casper’s teaching prowess

Making the Grade(continued from page 1)

Drew Casper

TH E

WEST WING


by inviting him to speak at USC’s Board of Trustees confer-

ence (Casper’s presentation, “Fate of the Art: Teaching Film,”

was reportedly the highlight of the trustees’ weekend).

When asked what makes him such an extraordinary educa-

tor, Casper replied simply that “the Lord gave me this

talent.” He is quick to give credit to his grammar school

teachers as well. “The Sisters of St. Casimir were my first

teaching models,” he said. “They showed me how to do it.

To this day, I am indebted to my first-grade teacher, Sister

Gemma, and also to my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Helen

Eremick.” He has taken care to remain close to both of

these cherished mentors who, now in their 80s, continue to

visit Casper during the Christmas holidays.

Casper went on to study with the Jesuits and was ordained

a Jesuit priest. This education helped to crystallize his view

of teaching as a form of ministry. “Talking passionately

about films in class becomes a vehicle we use to reach out to

each other in terms of emotions and where we are in our

lives,” he said. “It’s like going to mass in the nourishment of

spirit it provides. I know I’m not traveling alone when I

teach film — it’s a time when people come together, when

mind meets mind, and heart meets heart as well.”

This love for his subject — and for his students — may be

why even the most disengaged students find themselves

responding to Casper’s enthusiasm. Lisa Majewski, B.A.

’96 and M.A. ’98, was a teaching assistant and course

reader for Casper. “At the start of a class, you’d often see

students slumped down in their seats,” she said. “But after

they experienced the energy and passion of a Drew Casper

class, they’d be sitting straight up in their seats and waving

their hands to be called on.”

Komack-Martin agreed, “To many students, college is

about seeing how little work you can do, and how many

times you can miss class,” he said. “But it’s just impossible

to be in a Drew Casper class and not stay focused on the

subject. He always manages to inspire the uninspired.”

“To call him a teacher seems too reductive of a title,” said

Robert Buerkle, M.A. ’03. “He needs a term much larger

than that. He needs a term that encompasses the passion,

the theater, the emotion, and the love contained in each of

his classes. But for lack of such a term, I’ll stick to my per-

sonal favorite: the Drew Casper experience.”

Buerkle explained, “As his teaching assistant, I’ve been

witness to Drew Casper behind the scenes, watched him

prepare for the opening curtain (metaphorically speaking),

and seen him getting psyched up just as intently as the

most theatrical of performers. And that preparation comes

across in the two-hour sermons that follow, as he main-

tains his animated and energetic demeanor throughout,

sharply fluctuating between frenetic highs and solemn

lows, and always keeping the students unsure of what to

expect next.”

Without a doubt, intensity permeates Casper, whether

he’s in or out of the classroom. “There’s simply no sepa-

ration of work and leisure for the man,” said Cooling.

“His commitment to his work fuels his play, and his love

of that play energizes his work. This, more than any-

thing, is what I think his students most fundamentally

respond to in the experience of his classes, whether they

realize it consciously or not. They’re being instructed not

only in terms of a curriculum, but also in how to live

their lives as fully and as richly as possible.”

It’s a lesson that many generations have taken to heart.

“Over the years, I’ve interacted with thousands and thou-

sands of students,” Casper said, “seeing them energized,

inspired, and involved because they have learned to look

at what they see in a new way. This is the heart of what I

do, what keeps me delighted with my work, what keeps

me preparing for the next class, and the next. It is my

belief that teaching validates my being.”

It does indeed, Drew, it truly does.

Academy AwardsCaleb Deschanel, CinematographerThe Passion of the ChristAchievement in Cinematography

Taylor Hackford, Director and ProducerRayAchievement in DirectingBest Motion Picture

Tom Johnson, Re-recording MixerThe Polar ExpressAchievement in Sound Mixing

Jeffrey Katzenberg, ProducerShark TaleBest Animated Feature Film

Jeffrey Katzenberg, ProducerShrek 2Best Animated Feature Film

ACE EddiesTerilyn ShropshireRedemptionMini-Series or Motion Picture for TV

William StichThe SopranosOne-Hour TV Series

ADGHenry BumsteadMillion Dollar BabyProduction Design/Contemporary Film

ASCCaleb DeschanelThe Passion of the ChristFeature Film

Robbie Greenberg*Iron Jawed AngelsTV Movie/Miniseries/Pilot for Basic or Pay TV

Nathan Hope*CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationEpisodic TV Series

Leonard Maltin*ASC Lifetime Achievement Award

Richard Moore*ASC President’s Award

DGATaylor HackfordRayFeature Film

Jeremy KaganCrown HeightsChildren’s Program

Golden GlobesBrian Grazer, Producer24Best TV Series–Drama

Brian Grazer, ProducerArrested DevelopmentBest TV Series–Musical or Comedy

Robert Greenblatt, ProducerAmerican FamilyBest Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV

Brad Grey, ProducerThe SopranosBest TV Series–Drama

Javier Grillo-Marxuach, ProducerLostBest TV Series–Drama

Taylor Hackford, DirectorRayBest Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy

Ron Howard, Producer24Best TV Series–Drama

Ron Howard, ProducerArrested DevelopmentBest TV Series–Musical or Comedy

Evan Katz, Producer24Best TV Series–Drama

Charles Pratt, Jr., Producer*Desperate HousewivesBest TV Series–Musical or Comedy

Walter Salles, DirectorThe Motorcycle DiariesBest Foreign Language Film

Matthew Weiner, ProducerThe SopranosBest TV Series–Drama

MPSE Golden ReelsRichard AndersonShark TaleSound Editing in an Animated Film

David BondelevitchA Separate PeaceMusic Editing in Long-Form Television

Tom JohnsonThe Polar ExpressSound Editing in an Animated Film

Jeffrey KatzenbergShark TaleSound Editing in an Animated Film

Jeffrey KatzenbergShrek 2Sound Editing in an Animated Film

George Lucas*Inaugural MPSE Filmmaker’s Award

Chuck MichaelTeam America World PoliceSound Editing in an Animated Film

Gary Rydstrom*MPSE Career Achievement Award

Robert ZemeckisThe Polar ExpressSound Editing in an Animated Film

NAACP Image AwardsDavid Geffen, ProducerAmerican Idol IIIOutstanding Variety Series or Special

Taylor Hackford, Director*Genius: A Night for Ray CharlesOutstanding Variety Series or Special

Taylor Hackford, Director*RayOutstanding Motion Picture

Jeremy Kagan, DirectorCrown HeightsOutstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, orDramatic Special

Terilyn Shropshire, EditorRedemptionOutstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, orDramatic Special

John Wells, ProducerEROutstanding Drama Series

PGALaura Ziskin*David O. Selznick Achievement Award

John Wells*David Susskind Achievement Award

Jeffrey Katzenberg*Milestone Award

Matthew Weiner*The SopranosNorman Felton Producer of the Year Award

VESRobert Zemeckis*Lifetime Achievement Award

WGABryan Fuller“Pilot”WonderfallsEpisodic Comedy

John Furia Jr. *Honorary Service Award

John McLaughlinPenn & Teller Bullshit!Comedy/Variety Series

Casandra Morgan*Guiding LightDaytime Serial

Star Price Penn & Teller Bullshit!Comedy/Variety Series

For more information, visitwww.CNTValumni.net

Congratulations to anyone we may havemissed. If we overlooked you, please contact us at [email protected].

*Award Recipient

Congratulations to our friends and alumni on their successes this past awards season.

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Celebrating the Indefinableby Jacqueline Angiuli

A n inspiring and innovative artistic tour de force, Indefinable Moods was created

by Kathy Smith, chair and associate professor of the Division of Animation andDigital Arts, to “explore symbols and landscapes in nature and link these

to the psychological hopes, fears, and desires that exist in every culture.”

This remarkable multidimensional animated work has screened at — and been honored

by — film festivals and art exhibitions throughout the world, including the 2002 USA Film

Festival (Best Animated Short), the 2002 Convergence Art Festival (Best Animated Film),

and the 2001 Rhode Island Film Festival (first-place prize in the Experimental Category).

And Indefinable Moods was accorded yet another prestigious commendation when Smith was

presented with a Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award at USC’s 24th Annual Academic

Honors Convocation in March 2005.

The touchstone for academic and research excellence at USC, the Academic Honors

Convocation brings together members of the university community in a celebration of stu-

dents and professors whose outstanding achievements have brought distinction to USC and

contributed to the advancement of knowledge. Said USC President Steven B. Sample of the

evening’s honorees: “They are active contributors to what is taught, thought, and practiced

in their fields of study, and their creativity, their discoveries, and their dedication to academic

and research excellence enhances USC’s stature as one of the most influential and productive

universities in the world.”

Professor Edward Finegan presented the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Awards,

which specifically recognize faculty for “scholarly, scientific, or creative works which can

make a contribution of the highest order to their respective disciplines.” Phi Kappa Phi was

impressed not only by the wit and beauty of Indefinable Moods, but also by its “complex and

haunting combination of digitized oil paintings and music.” Smith was one of only four

USC faculty members selected to receive the Phi Kappa Phi honor this year.

6| in motion summer 2005

Camden dream sequence — Indefinable Moods, created by Kathy Smith

Tornado sequence — Indefinable Moods, created by Kathy Smith

Faculty FocusPriya Jaikumar

P riya Jaikumar was working in advertising and

broadcast journalism in India when her grow-

ing interest in the social frameworks of media

led her to Northwestern University’s Department of

Radio/Television/Film. She completed her Ph.D. in Film

Studies in 1999. From 1999 to 2002,

Priya worked as an assistant professor

of film in the English Department at

Syracuse University, teaching courses

and seminars on film history, film

theory, cinema and the nation state,

and identity in cinema. She received

her department’s undergraduate

teaching award in 2002. A recognized

expert in the areas of British cinema,

Indian cinema, film aesthetics, film policy, theories of post-

colonialism, globalization, and transnational state and cul-

tural formations, Priya now is in her third year teaching

graduate seminars and undergraduate courses in the

Division of Critical Studies at the USC School of Cinema-

Television. She has published critical essays in a variety of

publications, including Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly,

The Moving Image, Screen, and World Literature Today, and

in anthologies like Hollywood Abroad. She is currently

working on issues of regional identity and cultural labor in

Indian cinema. Her book Cinema at the End of Empire:

Britain and India, 1927–1947 will be published by Duke

University Press in 2006.

Can you tell us a little about the undergraduate

Honors Seminar course (“Thinking Globally”)

that you taught last spring?

I wanted to think about globalization, but not in the tradi-

tional top-down way of corporations looking for markets.

That’s part of it, in terms of Hollywood looking for other

markets and the transnational nature of the film industry

today. But I also wanted to look at other cinemas’ responses

to global events, to the things that make the world global

today. One of them is capitalism. But there are other kinds

of global exchange. The question of how the interlinked

experiences of the civil rights movement in the U.S. and

decolonization movements around the world affected films,

for instance. These are connections that make us think of

the world as a place in which an event in any one place has

consequences for another location, or inspires other move-

ments, and I think when you see films from different coun-

tries you are opened up to that network of imagination.

One of the things I do in all my classes is to use a kind of

triangulated method that brings in historical and theoretical

approaches, as well as the formal elements of filmmaking.

Film is such a specific form, so you have to be able to

appreciate sound and images and editing, and put that

O ver the past 30 years the United States has

undergone perhaps one of the most profound

periods of social evolution in its history. The

roles of “majority” and “minority” are in total flux, and

with that change comes a total rethinking of what it

means to be an “American.” Cinema — both the art form

and the School — are in a unique position to influence

that change, says Associate Professor Curtis Marez, who

has gone from a childhood in California’s vast Central

Valley to being a leading voice in Chicano and Latino

studies. The Berkeley-trained Ph.D. arrived at USC in

2003. His first book, Drug Wars: Race, Rebellion and

Modernity, which deals with how media portray the drug

trade and how that in turn influences public policy, came

out in 2004. He’s currently at work on a second project,

tentatively titled Virtual Chicanos.

Two years ago you made a major career jump,

leaving UC Santa Cruz for the Southland.

How has that worked out?

Marez: It’s been wonderful and a little surprising. When

I was at Berkeley the T-shirts at the football games would

say “University of Spoiled Children,” so my image of USC

was different than it turned out to be. I was pleasantly sur-

prised. I knew about the quality of the institution, but I

was surprised by the diversity of students from all sorts of

different backgrounds. Professionally, it’s also been a

unique opportunity. As a critical studies academic, I was

used to just talking to other academics about things on

that track. But here at USC, it’s particularly exciting to be

able to talk to new colleagues in other divisions of the

Cinema School.

You teach with those colleagues on occasion.

What comes from such collaboration?

Marez: We bring different, but complementary things to

the class. Last year I taught with Doe Mayer from produc-

tion. One of the things that I appreciated is that she had a

real hands-on understanding of film and media making.

She raised questions about the relationship between ethics

and film and media form that were coming from a very

different perspective than mine as a critic. I’d make these

“big-picture” observations, but Doe would often look at

them from a more basic perspective. She would remind us

that real people make movies.

Why do you feel it’s

important to investigate

Latino studies in the

Cinema School?

Marez: I don’t think we can

assume anymore that film and

media simply reflect the world

around us. They shape the world

around us. One of the things that

I argued in Drug Wars was that the media doesn’t just

reflect or represent important policy issues like the war on

drugs, but actually shapes the war on drugs. What I meant

by that is while most people in the U.S. don’t have any

direct experience with drug traffic or drug enforcement,

they can often recall scenarios, images, scenes from films

and television shows. The media really help bring a lot of

the issues to people’s imaginative horizons and provides

them with the resources they use to make sense out of

their political realities.

by Jacqueline Angiuli

Curtis MarezBy John Zollinger


Thank You!On behalf of the USC School of Cinema-Television, I would like to thank the many alumni and friends who responded to

last year’s annual appeal. Your contributions to the USC School of Cinema-Television’s 75th Anniversary Fund. Your gen-

erous support is deeply appreciated and will help secure the future of the country’s first — and most celebrated — edu-

cational program for film, television, and new media. With your continued involvement and enthusiasm, there can be no

doubt that our next 75 years will be just as amazing as our first 75.

To read the complete interview with Curtis Marez,

please log on to http://www-cntv.usc.edu/facultynews

To read the complete interview with Priya Jaikumar,

please log on to http://www-cntv.usc.edu/facultynews

together with thinking about ideology and social, cultural,

and economic issues, and connect it all to the particular

historical context of the film.

Why did you decide to leave the journalism

profession to study film?

Print media has a long history in India. So what I trained

in initially was journalism and advertising because I was

always interested in media but, at that point in India,

there was no kind of theoretical course — it was more

practice-oriented. I was fascinated by my field, but in

addition to wanting to cover the stories I was covering,

I also wanted to write about what social frameworks

allowed these kinds of stories to be told. I wanted more of

a challenge — to think about the politics, the ideology

behind it. And so, while I was working for television,

I also applied to graduate school at the same time.

After I earned my Ph.D., I went to Syracuse to work in an

English department that was teaching film. I think the

plus of it was that I had to make cinema relevant to

another discipline, so it kept me honest in a way — I was

talking about why it’s important to study this medium.

But, on the other hand, I really wanted to be in a film

program with the infrastructure and support to teach cin-

ema, and to have a common vocabulary of analysis, which

is why the job at USC is exactly what I was looking for.

1950–1969Harvey Deneroff ’65, will be the new chair of illus-

tration at the Savannah College of Art and Design

David Foster ’53, has signed a deal to turn the life of

Olympic downhill skier Picabo Street into a feature film

Taylor Hackford ’68, will produce the series E-Ring

for NBC George Lucas ’66, received a Lifetime

Achievement Award from the American Film Institute

and the inaugural Filmmaker’s Award from the Motion

Picture Sound Editors Walter Murch ’67, will be

the editor on Universal Pictures’ Jarhead

1970–1979Stu Bloomberg ’77, is executive producer of the

ABC series life as we know it Andy Friendly ’73,

has been named president of the Hollywood Radio and

TV Society Brian Grazer ’74, will produce an unti-

tled romantic comedy for Imagine Entertainment and will

produce the feature Vivaldi Robbie Greenberg, ASC,

received an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in the

cable movie competition for Iron Jawed Angels (HBO)

J. Mitchell Johnson ’75, received the Santa Fe Film

Festival’s Best Southwest Film award for World without

Waves, which he wrote and directed Paul Maibaum ’75,

was director of photography on the A&E movie The

Brooke Ellison Story and is the director of photography

on the NBC mid-season series Crazy for You Kerry

McCluggage ’76, will produce an hour-long TV

drama based on the book Misdemeanor Man Charles

Pratt ’78, is one of the producers of the ABC series

Desperate Housewives Scott Stone ’78, will serve as an

executive producer for the show Extreme Justice Miles

Hood Swarthout ’73, won the Spur Award for his

new novel The Sergeant’s Lady Robert Zemeckis ’73,

is developing the latest draft of Jonathan Franzen’s book

The Corrections with an eye toward directing the film, and

will produce the feature The Reaping for Warner Bros.

1980–1989Gregg Araki ’85, wrote and directed the feature

Mysterious Skin Todd Black ’82, will produce the fea-

ture Chad Schmidt for Escape Artists Trey Callaway

’89, is executive producer of a half-hour anthology skein

for Fox TV Studios Heather Chandler ’85, pro-

duced the Xbox version of Ghost Recon 2 and authored

The Game Localization Handbook Karen Croner ’87,

is writing the features Tulia, Daughter of the Queen of

Sheba, and Dexterity, and producing her script The Tribes

of Palos Verdes Tim Doyle ’87, is an executive produc-

er on the ABC series Jake in Progress Bob Ducsay ’86

and Stephen Sommers ’93, will produce the fea-

tures Argonauts (Ducsay also will edit) for DreamWorks

and Airborn for Universal Studios Paul Feig ’84, will

write and direct the feature Star Girl Gordon Gray

’86, will produce Invincible for Disney-based Mayhem

Pictures David Goyer ’88, will produce the feature

Fall, will direct the English-language remake of The

Invisible for Spyglass Entertainment and DreamWorks,

and will produce and direct the feature adaptation of the

story of the DC Comics hero The Flash Lee Haxall

’81, won an Emmy for editing the pilot episode of the

Fox series Arrested Development Lynn Hendee ’81,

will produce The Tutor for Phoenix Pictures Michael

Lehmann ’85, will direct the comedy Mary Warner

for Arclight Films Neal Moritz ’85, will produce

the horror feature Prom Night for Original Films and,

along with Ori Marmur ’93, will produce the spy

thriller The Executioner’s Game for Columbia Pictures

Bob Osher ’81, is an executive producer on the

Bravo series Project Greenlight John Ottman ’88,

composed the music for the Sony Pictures Classics fea-

ture Imaginary Heroes Wayne Powers ’83 and

Donna Powers ’84, are writing the script for the

sequel to Paramount Pictures’ The Italian Job

Michael Rymer ’85, directed the USA series

Battlestar Galactica Gabe Sachs ’84, will write the

script for the remake of the 1984 college comedy

Revenge of the Nerds and is co-creator/executive producer

of the ABC series life as we know it Peter Segal ’84,

will direct the comedy Dealbreaker for Paramount

Stacey Sher ’85, will produce a feature based on the

upcoming book No True Glory: The Battle for Fallujah

Bryan Singer ’89, is executive producer of the Fox

series House, will executive produce the feature The

Triangle for SCI FI Channel, and will develop and direct

a feature based on the article U Want Me 2 Kill Him

Suzanne Todd ’86 and Jennifer Todd ’87, will

produce All You Need Is Love for Revolution Studios

1990–1999Jon Bokenkamp ’95, will adapt the short story

Night and Day You Are the One for Bobker/Kruger

Films Brumby Boylston ’95, recently launched

National Television, a design group that produces ani-

Alumni Quick Takes


Miles Hood Swarthout ’73

Heather Chandler ’85

Wayne Powers ’93

J. Mitchell Johnson ’75

Drain” from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) Rian

Johnson ’96, wrote and directed the feature Brick

Damon Lee ’94, is anchoring his Deacon

Entertainment at Focus Features by inking a first look

pact Garrett Lerner ’95, was co-executive producer

of the NBC series LAX Steve Loh, ’98, is producing

the indie feature Pope Dreams Ori Marmur ’93 and

Neal Moritz ’85 will produce the spy thriller The

Executioner’s Game for Columbia Pictures Don

Murphy ’98, will produce the feature Sleepless Knights

for DreamWorks Jack Orman ’93, will write the

script for the feature The Code Nick Pustay ’95, has

been hired by Fortress Entertainment to adapt Elizabeth

Swado’s Dreamtective Ben Queen ’96, is writing the

script for the Warner Bros. feature Slanted and

Enchanted Herbert Ratner ’96, wrote the script for

the feature Mr. Lucky Mark Gibson ’94 and Philip

Halprin ’93, will write the script for a comedy feature

that is being developed for Snoop Dogg Jason

Shuman ’96, will produce the features The Burrowers

and Mr. Lucky John Singleton ’90, directed the

revenge tale Four Brothers and also produced the urban

pic Hustle & Flow, which was acquired by Paramount

Motion Picture Group for $16 million in a multi-pic deal

Stephen Sommers ’93, and Bob Ducsay ’86,

will produce the features Argonauts for DreamWorks and

Airborn for Universal Studios James Vanderbilt ’99,

has signed a deal to adapt former counterterrorism czar

Richard A. Clarke’s book Against All Enemies: Inside

America’s War on Terror Clay Walker ’94, produced

the Plan B Productions documentary The Cole Nobody

Knows, based on Freddy Cole’s life and music

mation for a variety of media Michael Caldwell

’90, produced the feature Hard Candy for Vulcan

Productions Steven Cantor ’95, is producing the

HBO series Family Bonds Ronnie Christensen ’94,

wrote the script for the horror feature Smoke Polly

Cohen ’95, brought the script for License to Wed to

Warner Bros. Productions and will supervise production of

a film based on the article U Want Me 2 Kill Him

Matthew Ehlers ’92, has been commissioned by Made

Up North Productions to write the screenplay for Jump

Trevor Engelson ’98, and Nick Osbourne ’97,

will produce the romantic comedy License to Wed Gary

Fleder ’93, is a director on the ABC series Blind Justice

Russell Friend ’95, is co-executive producer of the

NBC series LAX Samantha Goodman ’92 and

Andrew Stern ’92, wrote the script for the

Paramount feature Dealbreaker Luke Greenfield ’94,

has signed separate film and TV pacts with Regency

Enterprises and 20th Century Fox TV Gerald

Haynes ’97, wrote and directed the short film

Hysteria, which was accepted into the 2005 Pan African

Film Festival Patrick Hogan ’98, wrote and direct-

ed the indie feature Pope Dreams Nathan Hope ’95,

received an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in the

episodic series competition for the segment “Down the

2000–PresentWhitney Anderson ’04, John Carr ’04,

Jonathan Howard ’04, and Damian Saul-

Romay ’04, were awarded Disney/ABC writing

fellowships Aaron Coleman ’02, penned the lyrics

for Imelda, a new stage musical about the former first

lady of the Philippines Greg DeCuir ’01, wrote the

script for the feature Big Time Freaks Josh

Greenberg ’00, will write the script for the new

adventure comedy Delaware McCloud Ben Haber ’00,

will co-produce All You Need Is Love Chad

Michael ’03, wrote and directed the new feature

The Writer Jennifer Nieves ’02, has joined Penn

Station Entertainment as director of development

Lisa Parsons ’01, has been hired as a staff writer for

the Fox series Arrested Development Ian Richter ’02,

is a producer on the Cartoon Network series Hot Wheels

AcceleRacers Brad Webber ’02, won the Step Up

Film Festival’s grand prize for best drama short for his

film Still Life

Current StudentsMike Brinker, Vincent Diamante, Todd

Furmanski, Erik Nelson, and Glenn Song

created Dyadin, a two-player adventure game that was

selected as a winner at the 2005 Independent Games

Festival Student Showcase, the country’s most prestigious

game competition for students Hazel Meeks has been

selected for the New York International Independent

Film and Video Festival 2005 for her short film

Sometimes, Seriously, Never


Aaron Coleman ’02

Jon Bokenkamp ’95

Josh Greenberg ’00

Lisa Parsons ’01

Great Moments1. Sidney Poitier and Leonard Maltin at the 466 screening of

the 1967 schoolroom drama To Sir, With Love

2. Oscar-winning producers Arnold and Anne Kopelson with

the staff of CU@USC (the live, nightly interview program

on Trojan Vision Television): Andrew Sevanian, Elizabeth

Newman, Lisha Yakub, and Michael Hoy (left to right)

3. Students Jill Siegel and Joe Frankel flank writer-actor Eugene

Levy (Best in Show), who participated in the Zaki Gordon

Speaker Series, hosted by the Division of Writing for Film

and Television

6. Jay Roach talks with audience members after a screening

of Meet the Fockers, the finale of the 75th Anniversary

Screening Series

7. Writer-producer-director-animator Bill Plympton

(Hair High) with Professor Christine Panushka

8. Rebecca Kearney, vice president of marketing at

United Artists, with a 466 student after the screening

of the documentary The Yes Men

9. Legendary animator Ray Harryhausen with one of

his original puppets from the film Jason and the

Argonauts (1963)

3

6

1

4

7

2

5

8

9

4. Alumna Stacey Sher, M.F.A. ’85, and

Michael Shamberg discuss the role of a

producer with Leonard Maltin

5. Jason Squire (left), instructor of Cinema

Practice, with writer-director Alexander

Payne (Sideways), who talked about the rig-

ors and structure of movie making during

a session of CTPR 386 (Art and Industry

of Theatrical Film)



Declaration ofIndependence

First Class!Graduating Interactive M.F.A.s

Mark Cinema Milestone

By John Zollinger, M.F.A. ’02

T he USC School of Cinema-Television made

history once again this spring when six stu-

dents from the Division of Interactive Media

ascended the proscenium at the Shrine Auditorium to

receive the first degrees in Interactive Media ever

conferred by USC.

As the newly minted M.F.A.s collected their diplomas,

the ceremony underscored the tremendous growth of

the discipline, which over the past eight years has

evolved from a handful of classes to a full-fledged

division with an endowed faculty chair, state-of-the-art

labs, and a reputation as one of the nation’s preeminent

interactive programs.

“This is a tremendous moment for the students and for

the division,” said division Chair Scott Fisher. “The stu-

dents worked incredibly hard over the past three years

to turn their visions into reality. And in doing so, they

played a vital role in developing the program itself.”

From Virtual to RealityIn the 1990s, the confluence of increased computing

power, greater connectivity, and ample capital for invest-

ment transformed interactive media — games, museum

installations, immersive training environments, and

mobile applications — from a set of niche interests into

an economic powerhouse.

Early on, leaders of the School of Cinema-Television

recognized this trend and the demand it would create for

professionally trained personnel. Although they were

venturing into uncharted academic territory, faculty and

students pressed ahead, applying the time-tested philoso-

phy that underpins the School’s five other divisions.

“The goal of this School is not to turn out students who

are merely specialists in a particular technology,” said

Dean Elizabeth Daley. “Rather, by exposing students to

all facets of the discipline, our intention is to nurture

thinkers and creators who have a solid understanding of

their field and a critical perspective on how it fits into

the larger realm of society and culture.”

That foundation has served the Division of Interactive

Media well during a time of exponential progress.

What began in 1997 as a single track in the production

(continued from page 1)

Drawing on nearly 60 years of music and film experi-

ence, including being the driving force behind Academy

Award winners like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,

Amadeus, and The English Patient, Zaentz peppered

students, faculty, and family members with quotes and

observations he has culled throughout his lifetime.

Introduced by Frank Price, a USC trustee and chair of

the School’s Board of Councilors, as “an independent,

hands-on visionary with a rare knack for bringing com-

plex, epic stories to the big screen,” Zaentz pulled no

punches when it came to describing the industry many

in the room will soon be entering.

“The most damning trait of all the studios is they are

like flies. Flies eat honey or excrement with equal

appetite and the studios make their pictures the same

way,” said Zaentz to a roar of laughter. “The more layers

of so-called decision makers, the more you may be

assured that disaster will not be left to chance.”

Zaentz began his career in the Bay Area as a record dis-

tributor and later became owner of Fantasy Records, the

first company to record Dave Brubeck, Lenny Bruce,

and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Success in the record

trade funded his interest in films and enabled him to

start the Saul Zaentz Film Center in Berkeley. In addi-

tion to the Oscars his films have racked up, he was the

recipient in 1996 of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts

and Sciences’ prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial

Award “For Consistently High Quality of Motion

Picture Production.”

As members of the graduating class transition from

school to a trade known for chasing the latest craze,

Zaentz encouraged them to remain true to their own

voice. “Whatever you believe in has a much better

chance of happening than something you think is what

they want. Never — and I use a strong word — never go

in with something that’s what you think the audience

wants to hear or see.”

For Michael Brinker, who was part of the first group to

graduate from the Division of Interactive Media (see

First Class!, at right), the film-school experience was all

about finding that voice.

“I’ve finally come to a point in my academic career, as

well as my life, where I’ve found the thing I want to do,

which revolves around game design and game produc-

tion,” Brinker said. “It’s been a wild ride and I’m

confident I’ve found that one love,” he continued.

This year’s commencement exercises held special mean-

ing not only for newly minted graduates like Brinker,

but also for veteran cinema-television hands Jay Roach

and Robert Zemeckis.

Roach, who earned his M.F.A. in 1986, received the

Mary Pickford Outstanding Alumnus Award, which

is bestowed upon alumni who have made an indelible

impact on the entertainment industry. Past honorees

include William Fraker, Conrad L. Hall, Alan Ladd Jr.,

Michelle Manning, Walter Murch, Gary Rydstrom,

Stacey Sher, David L. Wolper, Robert Zemeckis, and

Laura Ziskin.

“The other honorees overcame tremendous obstacles

to create fantastic epic films that changed the world,”

said Roach, director of comic hits such as the Austin

Powers series and Meet the Parents. “I spent six days

and hundreds of thousands of dollars flushing a dog

down a toilet,” he added, referencing his blockbuster

Meet the Fockers.

Earlier in the day, the university conferred an honorary

doctorate upon Zemeckis, director of The Polar Express,

Forrest Gump, and the Back to the Future series. The

degree was given in recognition of his innovative use of

technology to take storytelling to dazzling new heights,

his contributions to the education of the next generation

of filmmakers, and his loyalty to USC. Zemeckis spear-

headed the multi-million dollar drive that resulted in the

construction of the digital arts center that bears his name.

The class of 2005 — 435 members strong — received a

total of 271 undergraduate degrees, 158 master’s degrees,

and 6 doctorate degrees.


Michael Brinker, William Carter, Todd Furmanski, KurtMacDonald, Tripp Millican and Stephanie Weinstein, theDivision of Interactive Media’s first graduating class, toastsa historic moment.

Independent filmmaker Saul Zaentz gives a bettersweeet send-off to the class of ’05

JAVIER GRILLO-MARXUACH

After earning his master’s degree from the Division of

Writing for Screen and Television in 1993, Javier Grillo-

Marxuach worked as a writer-producer on a number of TV

dramas. With stints on such shows as Boomtown, The

Pretender, and Charmed, he has demonstrated a great deal

of versatility, as well as the ability to let his own voice shine

within the parameters of network series television. Grillo-

Marxuach may not be a household name yet, but the

success of this year’s smash hit Lost has given him some

well-deserved recognition. (Just don’t ask him to reveal

any of the island’s secrets.)

Why is television so appealing now for writers

like yourself?

I think it’s very easy to feel that features are the sexier arena.

The profile is very high and it’s a very glamorous world.

Television is a place where individual writers can really

establish a voice and create a larger body of work faster.

You develop your skills a lot faster because you’re writing

in a much more consistent pattern, and it’s a much more

writer-friendly world than features.

The limitation that you have as a television writer is that,

unless you create your own series, you are working in some-

one else’s universe. I don’t think one is better or worse, but

I know a lot of writers who have written a dozen features

that haven’t gotten produced. The one thing about televi-

sion is that the great majority of what I have written has

been produced. I get to see it on its feet, and a month later

I’m writing another thing. And you’re constantly moving

and constantly pushing at the limitations. That’s why I find

it more attractive.

You started out as an executive. Can you talk

about that transition from network executive

to network writer?

I had a master’s degree from USC in screenwriting, so my

focus was not to become an executive. But you know when

the graduate screenwriting program ends and you graduate,

they send out a letter of the synopses to all the agencies?

The script list?

Yes, the script list. I had written a $120-million action

movie for a 50-year-old Puerto Rican actor. Who I guess at

the time would have been Raul Julia. Then he died…so,

that didn’t exactly set the world on fire ... I was working at

Kinko’s and trying to figure out what I was going to do

with my life, what I was going to write next, and becoming

very frustrated. And I got the opportunity to interview for

this [executive] job with NBC, through USC actually…It

began as something that I thought, “Wow, this will be a

good way to know a piece of the business and have a posi-

tion inside.” And after I took that job, I felt like it was the

place to be for a writer. I really enjoyed talking to TV writ-

ers, and working on the development of pilots and things

like that. That job was kind of like my second master’s

degree. It was very specifically a master’s degree in televi-

sion, and how the TV industry works.

I was involved in … a show called Seaquest. The executive

producer took a liking to me, or maybe he just didn’t want

to get notes from me anymore — I’m not sure which one it

was — and he offered me a job. The hardest part was get-

ting the job at the network, which was a three-month

interview process.

Going back to USC, were there any particular

professors or classes that really had an impact

on you?

Absolutely. I was fortunate to be there when Frank Daniel

was teaching — I’m sure he continues to be a legend in the

department. David Howard, who was head of the depart-

ment and my thesis advisor, was tremendously supportive,

not just of my work, but of the idiosyncratic pockets of my

vision. He had a real passion for [writing] and was just a

great teacher of the theory of screenwriting.

When you go into the screenwriting program and you take

Nina Foch’s class, that’s also going to make an impression.

She’s an extremely powerful person who has a very definite

point of view, and the things you learn from her you’re

going to continue to use throughout your career.

Without slipping into hyperbole, I use the things I learned

from USC on a day-to-day basis. They’re the tools of story

analysis and story creation that formed the foundation for

what I do.

So now you’re on a show, you’re working, and

you have to execute someone else’s vision of the

show. How are you able to manage that while

you’re finding your voice and demonstrating

something distinct about your writing?

If you can’t check your ego at the door, you probably don’t

belong in television. Which seems contrary to popular

opinion, because a lot of people believe that all writers are

egomaniacal. But when you are a paid writer or writer/

producer on someone else’s television show, you are going

to try to fulfill their vision. You have to find within yourself

the way to manifest your own creativity while fulfilling

their vision. That’s a creative challenge that not everybody

may want to take.

For me, it’s a very fulfilling thing to go in and write a script

that is in the voice of Damon [Lindelof, co-creator and

producer of Lost ] or J.J. [Abrams, co-creator and producer

of Lost ] that still has my own personal stamp on it. That’s

when you are truly successful as a television producer,

because that’s what we do. If that’s something that you can’t

reconcile with, then you’re probably better off writing fea-

tures or doing something that will allow you to have more

of that idiosyncratic voice.

I think that what happens in a TV show is, if you come in

slowly through the margins, your voice starts to seep into

the creative process. A show begins by being someone else’s

show, but if you’re able to successfully contribute to that

show it becomes, not your show by any means, but a staff

show. The mark of a well-run, well-designed show is that it

accommodates a lot of different viewpoints within the

greater structure. And the creativity really falls into the cat-

egory of…writing a haiku: I need to have this many lines, I

need to have this many paragraphs. Can I do that and still

give it my own personal identity?

Illustrious Alumnus


Alumnus Javier Grillo-Marxuach is a writer and supervising producer on the smash TV show Lost

by Justin Wilson, M.F.A. ’98

When you first started Lost, did you have a

feeling the show would be as big as a hit as

it is now?

I try not to think about it in those terms. I thought we were

working on a noble endeavor and one that was very experi-

mental because it was filmed very quickly. I was brought in

before the pilot script was finished as part of a four-writer

think-tank, to come up with ideas for what the series should

become, based on the pilot. And out of that think-tank a lot

of stuff came up: character back stories, ideas for develop-

ment of the show, what’s on the island. Never in a million

years would I have guessed that it would be the hit that it is.

Partially because I just thought, “Let’s make it good and see

if it sticks.”

On Lost, is there a “bible” that you refer to so

that each of the writers knows where the show

is going?

At the very early stages of the show, we sat down and brain-

stormed for two months while the pilot was being filmed.

J.J. and Damon knew certain things that they wanted. We

knew what the island was — very clearly — and we knew

what the monsters were. Within the rubric of that, we knew

that certain things have to happen —that they’re going to

build a raft, that the pregnant girl has to give birth. Once

you have certain things in the macro [plan] of the show, you

start putting up signposts that you can follow. That’s how

Lost is being created.

J.J. and Damon created a vision, and from that we move to

what is going to happen over the season. Then you sort of

work your way out from the big picture to that smaller pic-

ture, and the more signposts you throw up at each level, the

more you know where you are going. It gets interesting: You

draw yourself a map, follow it and you give yourself enough

gray area so that if an actor’s really good and you want to

write an expanded part for him, you can do that. If some-

thing happens — if someone has a great inspiration as one

of the writers, you say, “Wow, let’s use that” and then you

modify where you’re going on the journey to that. You can

take a detour if you’re driving cross-country and you know

you have to stop here, here and here. That frees you up to

say, “You know what? The world’s biggest ball of twine is

over here. Let’s get off on this exit and go see the world’s

biggest ball of twine and then let’s drive back to Denver,

which is where we have to be by episode 12.” You can’t go

into a show like this and make it up as you go along. But if

you have the vision, then you have the freedom to play with

it more and still know where you need to get to.

Aren’t there are a lot of questions from fans

about where Lost is going?

Yeah, there are. You try to answer one, and then maybe for

one you answer you throw out a couple more. Some of them

are questions that we can’t answer. Telling you what the

island is, is like having David and Maddie [from the ’80s TV

show Moonlighting] hook up. The moment you know what

the island is, the show will lose a lot of its interest because all

of a sudden you go, “Oh, well, that’s what it is, now we

know.” But within that, there are all sorts of secrets and mys-

teries and things that we can plant and then pay off.

To read the complete interview with Javier Grillo-

Marxuach, please log on to www.cntvalumni.net.

division with adjunct faculty ballooned in 2002 into an independent division, offering an intensive

three-year course of study in which M.F.A. students gain exposure to the full spectrum of interactive expe-

riences, from mobile media to immersive media to game design. In addition, an undergraduate degree

program in Interactive Entertainment has just been approved by the university’s curriculum committee for

the division to begin in Fall of 2005. (The division also offers an undergraduate minor in Video Game

Design and Management, presented in conjunction with the Viterbi School of Engineering.)

In 2002, Fisher assumed the division chair, bringing

with him an extensive background as a media artist

and interaction designer whose experience stretches

from government to industry to academia. Since his

arrival, the faculty has grown even further to include

eight professors and eight adjunct professors, as well

as two staff members.

“The M.F.A. brought the caliber up,” said Chris Swain, who started as a part-time instructor in 1999

and became a full-time assistant professor in 2004. “We had real faculty, real organization, and students

who actively sought us out,” he added.

This climate of experimentation was aided immensely by the broad swath of expertise Carter and his

classmates brought to the program, said Visiting Associate Research Professor Perry Hoberman. “We

have people with backgrounds in computer science, cinema, theater, arts, music,” Hoberman noted.

“They’re from all over the place and with the kinds of projects they are doing, they have to draw on the

types of experience they and their colleagues have in many disciplines.”

Critical MassThe division received a major boost in 2004 when Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s leading interactive

entertainment software company, made a multimillion dollar investment in the future of interactive

media education at the USC School of Cinema-Television.

The donation supports the development of the division’s gaming track, officially named the Electronic

Arts Interactive Entertainment Program, as well as the Electronic Arts Endowed Faculty Chair, which

is a rotating position held for one to two years by leading figures in interactive entertainment. Bing

Gordon, EA co-founder, chief creative officer, and executive vice president, assumed the first seat

earlier this year.

Advances in programs, faculty, and funding were matched over the past three years by an equally robust

physical expansion. The Interactive Media Lab and the Immersive Media Lab are both situated in the

cinema-television complex; the Mobile Media Lab is in the Annenberg Center; and the Electronic Arts

Game Innovation Lab and the Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML) are housed in the Robert Zemeckis Center

for Digital Arts.

With its cutting-edge technology, the EA Game Innovation Lab serves as a research space and think tank

where new concepts in game design, play, and usability are developed, prototyped and play-tested. The lab

features an array of equipment, from PCs sporting high-end graphics cards, to a usability room set up

with one-way mirrors and video cameras that let researchers and developers monitor how players interact

with games.

The adjoining ZML classroom features seamless, wrap-around video projection screens on three of the

room’s walls, creating a space for second- and third-year students to develop and display their work. This

spring, the room hosted the inaugural session of the “Pass Through” exhibition. The event, which will be

held each year before commencement, showcases the graduating class’s thesis projects, which this year

included mobile media and games, as well as experiential and immersive installations.

The Next LevelFor the new graduates, the future looks promising. “It’s a burgeoning industry and it’s only going to get

more interesting,” said Carter, who had four job interviews in the weeks prior to commencement.

Likewise, the division’s future seems just as promising, with the official launch of a bachelor’s degree

program this fall, continued updates to the facilities and equipment, and the expansion of the cross-

disciplinary programs that the division has already initiated with other schools and departments at

USC and beyond.

“Interactive Media — and by that I mean both the field and the division — are at a pivotal moment,

much like the Internet was in the early ’90s,” Fisher said. “I couldn’t even begin to tell you what things

will look like three years from now, but I do know these grads and the ones who follow will have a hand

in determining that future,” he added.


First Class!(continued from page 11)

W hen Ruth moved into Sid’s apartment complex, the 82-year-old widowerfound love. And his granddaughter, Liz Blazer, M.F.A. ’03, found theinspiration to create her acclaimed animated documentary, Backseat

Bingo, which premiered at the School of Cinema-Television’s annual First Look FilmFestival in the fall of 2004.

Sid, deeply despondent after losing his wife of 60 years, was “instantly transformed” by his

love affair with Ruth, said Liz. “Hair grew out of the top of his head for the first time in a

half century,” she recalls. “My grandfather giggled, danced, and wrote love letters.”

Liz was struck by how the vitality of Sid and Ruth’s relationship seemed to stand in stark

contrast to most assumptions about older people and romance, so she set out to make a

film that would explore the intimate lives of senior citizens.

“I asked around for months, searching for a group of passionate seniors who were willing

to talk about sex,” said Liz. “I finally found Robert, a 93-year-old composer who intro-

duced me to his clique of fabulous friends. They were excited about being interviewed

and quite candid, knowing that the final film would be animated.”

Liz, the sole animator, director, and producer of Backseat Bingo, chose to make a docu-

mentary featuring animated characters, knowing it would help audiences shed their

preconceptions about aging and focus on the actual message about companionship and

the universality of romantic longing. “I wanted to show these folks in the most wise, vital,

and compassionate way that I could — literally, animated,” she explained.

The completed project — a “cut-out film” that was created by scanning watercolor draw-

ings, fabrics, and printed textures and using Photoshop and After Effects for assembly and

animation — earned Liz not only a master’s degree from the School’s Division of

Animation and Digital Arts, but also an avalanche of accolades from across the country

and around the globe. Film-festival audiences from California to Croatia have embraced

this insightful, imaginative five-minute masterpiece, and Animation Magazine, the HBO

Backseat BingoAhead of the Filmmaking CurveBy Jacqueline Angiuli


Comedy Arts Festival, and the International Documentary Association are just a few of

the many organizations that awarded Backseat Bingo their highest honors.

The enthusiastic response probably shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. More than

20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 years or older by 2030, and the first baby

boomers will reach the age of 60 in 2006. This means that an unprecedented number of

Americans are trying to understand the evolving role of older persons in society — just as

Liz Blazer sensed when she saw Ruth and Sid’s relationship beginning to unfold.

But Liz emphasized that it was the education she received at the USC School of

Cinema-Television that enabled her to turn her artistic instincts into film reality.

“What excited me most about the program initially was that USC offered the opportunity

to study animation within the context of the film school, instead of as a segregated anima-

tion department in an art school,” she noted. “The School of Cinema-Television is excep-

tional because of its philosophical commitment to teaching not only the technical tools of

the trade, but also critical thinking and — most important — the art of storytelling.”

The success of Backseat Bingo has encouraged Liz to continue to explore the intersection

of the animation and documentary genres. She is currently working on a short —

Fitting Room Confidential is the working title — that will address the issues surrounding

female self-image by illustrating the “humorous, compassionate, often silly, and some-

times painful interactions” that occur in the hidden worlds of the dressing rooms of dis-

count clothing stores.

“Liz Blazer is a wonderful spirit and a true humanitarian,” said Kathy Smith, chair of

the Division of Animation and Digital Arts. “Her work is imbued with a sensitivity and

maturity that comes from having elderly parents and a sincere interest in the fragility of

life and the transience of existence,” Smith observed, adding, “She never fails to find

some sense of emotion or humor in even the smallest moment.”

Seniors talk about love and intimacy in the animated documentary Backseat Bingo

I t was “déjà vu all over again” when a capacity

crowd filled Frank Sinatra Hall in the Norris

Theatre Complex on May 15 to enjoy prerelease

screenings of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,

courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox.

As Dean Elizabeth Daley noted, “A smaller collection of

guests assembled at the very same venue back in 1977 to

watch a special screening of the first Star Wars movie, so

we are very honored that George [Lucas] agreed to let us

screen the finale to this landmark series here as well.”

Thanks to the digital file server provided by Avica

Technology and the digital projector already donated to

the School and installed in Norris Theatre/Sinatra Hall by

corporate partner Christie’s, guests saw Episode III the way

George Lucas wanted it to be seen — completely digitally.

And the USC audience cherished every magical

moment. Alumni, faculty, students, and friends greeted

the first notes of John Williams’s score with eager

applause, cheered for their Jedi heroes during the spec-

tacular battle scenes, and offered a thundering ovation as

the credits rolled.

Another highlight of the afternoon was an appearance

by alumnus Ben Burtt ’75, the sound designer on all of

the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films and picture editor

on Episodes I, II, and III. Burtt joined the festivities to

participate in a question-and-answer session with

Associate Professor Norman Hollyn, head of the

School’s editing track.

Burtt talked about the care taken by the filmmakers to

connect the threads between all the Star Wars films in the

final installment, adding that “they are very enjoyable

threads to follow.”

Recounting his experiences working on Episode III, Burtt

said that there was “a tremendous amount of … experi-

mentation going on in the editing room.” The prolific

Burtt — he also created the voice of E.T. — went on to

encourage aspiring filmmakers to get a broad education

but also to “become an expert in several things so you

have a developed point of view.”

Sith’s Digital Dazzle

Ben Burtt ’75, Academy Award nominee and longtimeGeorge Lucas collaborator, discusses his role as a film editorand sound designer on Star Wars: Episode III — Revengeof the Sith

USC Is in the “Flow”at Sundance ’05By Justin Wilson, M.F.A. ’98

B raving streets choked with snow

banks and throngs of festival-goers,

more than 200 alumni, students,

faculty, and friends joined the School of

Cinema-Television’s annual cocktail party at

Café Terigo to celebrate the 20-plus USC-affili-

ated projects that were presented at this year’s

Sundance and Slamdance film festivals.

The January event — sponsored by Avid,

Moviefone, and Stella Artois — drew a record

crowd, all of whom were buzzing about the award-winning fiction features Hustle & Flow

(produced by John Singleton, B.A. ’90) and Brick (written and directed by Rian Johnson, B.A.

’96), as well as the documentary The Fall of Fujimori (directed by alumna Ellen Perry).

As in years past, short films proved an excellent way for current students like Ari Sandel

(writer-director of the musical West Bank Story) and Michael Hoy (producer of the Slamdance

entry Lower East Side Stories) to participate in the Park City festivities.

Sandel summed up his experience as a first-time filmmaker by saying, “The difference between

going to Sundance and showing a film at Sundance is that going as an observer is more fun,

but showing a film is more exciting. That’s because the chaos and crazy schedules combined

with all of the constant networking takes its toll, but when you are presenting a film the stakes

are higher. The experience was a real success for me and the film.”

David Greenspan, M.F.A. ’01, director of the new feature comedy Mall Cop, is a Park City veter-

an, having participated in Slamdance four years ago as the writer-director of the Palme d’Or–win-

ning short Beancake. “I ran into a number of other USC alumni and students at Slamdance,” said

Greenspan, describing the collegial environment at Park

City. “I met Kori Bunds, a current 546 director, whose

508 was in Slamdance. We shared USC war stories and

bonded. I did feel like part of the family.”

Hoy seconded this notion, saying, “In a funny way,

Park City started to feel like a home away from home.

The Trojan presence at Sundance and Slamdance,

whether students or alumni, filmmakers or supporters,

was so strong and it really solidified for me why I go to

USC. There are so many students and alumni from ’SC who have a determination to make an

impact on the world and so many of them are actually doing it. It really made the film world

feel even smaller than it already does. It’s just really great when you can mention something

like 290 or 310, and people actually know what you’re talking about!

Adds Kim Ray, M.F.A. ’04, co-writer of West Bank Story, “Sundance is what you make of it,

whether you’re a participant or have something in the festival … It’s fun to be there with a

group of USC people because you’re never at a loss for what to do at any hour of the day.”

The USC cocktail party was particularly enjoyable, she said, because “You’re in a room filled

with people who not only have things they worked on in the festival but are also working on

new projects. It’s really exciting.”

I n February, the inimitable Tom Hanks took the podium in Frank Sinatra

Hall — much to the delight of the capacity crowd of students who hadgathered there to hear their idol share his perspectives on the role and impact

of non–fiction filmmaking. Hanks showed clips from such esteemed film andtelevision projects as Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, andKen Burns’ The Civil War, and reflected that the most enduring films all have“the three Es” — they entertain, enlighten, and educate. A lively question-

and-answer session, moderated by Associate Dean of Academic AffairsMichael Renov and Professor Mark Harris, concluded this remarkable two-hour program.

Mixing with Moore

Hanks Gets Real

T housands flooded McCarthy Quad last October for an outdoor

screening — featuring exclusive unreleased footage — of MichaelMoore’s Palme d’Or–winning documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Hosted by theSchool of Cinema–Television and the USC Program Board, this uniqueevent drew students from across campus, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder towatch the now-legendary film and lob questions at its controversial creator,Michael Moore. The university-wide screening and question-and-answer ses-sion were preceded by a reception attended by the Academy Award–winningfilmmaker and a small group of faculty and students.

WB Hosts Students

W hen Josh Schwartz, creator of the smash-hit television series TheO.C., and Bruce Rosenblum, executive vice president of Warner

Bros. Television Group, hosted a lunch for 18 cinema-television students onthe WB lot in March, club sandwiches weren’t the only things on the menu.

Students relished the opportunity to learn about the realities of a televisioncareer firsthand from two of the giants in the business. The luncheon wasthe second in a successful new quarterly series organized by Rosenblum anddesigned to connect students interested in careers in television with successful alumni in the field. Rosenblum and film and television impresario

John Wells, M.F.A. ’82, hosted the inaugural luncheon event in January.

Alumni Ravi Malhotra, Ashley Jordan, KimRay, and Donovan Eberling at Sundance ’05

Michael Phillips, senior production designer at AvidTechnology, Nelson Cragg, M.F.A.’03, and DeanDaley at the School of Cinema-Television's annualSundance reception


America Online, the world’s leading interactive services company, and the USC

School of Cinema-Television recently joined forces, launching an initiative that

will take online content and entertainment to exhilarating new heights in the coming years.

The partnership got off to a picture-perfect start this April

when Moviefone, a division of AOL, helped underwrite the

School’s First Look Film Festival and hosted the festival’s

opening-night celebration. Moviefone will continue to sup-

port First Look — and furnish new platforms for

showcasing student work — as part of a multifaceted AOL-

USC agreement.

Stay tuned for more details about this exciting partnership!

AOL Annoucement

Steven Yee (general manager ofAOL Movies), alumnus JonTurteltaub, and Larry Auerbach at the April First Look Festival

Summer Program Heats UpBy Duke Underwood

A cademic ambition doesn’t tend to run very high in the summer, when the

siren song of cool ocean breezes lures so many people away from cities andcollege campuses. But for the determined band of film, television, and new media

enthusiasts who enroll in the USC School of Cinema-Television’s renownedSummer Program, the opportunity to hoist heavy camera kits and work in dark-ened editing rooms will prove to be a much bigger draw than any sandy stretch of beach. And this year, in addition to offering an ever-growing catalogue of classes

to USC students and the general public, the Summer Program is hosting a series ofone-of-a-kind events.

In collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, Filmmaking,

Italian Style — a new production course and the Los Angeles incarnation of the

popular filmmaking course offered in 2002 and 2003 at Cinecittà Studios in

Rome — will bring legendary screen siren Claudia Cardinale to the USC campus.

Cardinale and her work will be honored on July 28 at a special event in the

Norris Theatre Complex’s Frank Sinatra Hall.

The Summer Program will also welcome television industry figures who will

participate in stimulating panel discussions about award-winning television. Paul

Feig, B.A. ’84, creator of Freaks and Geeks and director of Arrested Development,

and Robert B. Weide, Emmy Award–winning director and co-executive producer

of Curb Your Enthusiasm, are among the creative leaders slated to appear.

Other Summer Program participants include visual effects trailblazer Ray

Harryhausen (Clash of the Titans) and Italian actress and director Asia Argento

(Last Days).

On July 20 and 21, the Summer Program will collaborate with the Austrian

Consulate and Instituto Luce in Rome to present a two-evening look at propa-

ganda films, both documentary and narrative, that were produced in Italy and

Austria between the two world wars.

Please log on to www.uscsummerfilm.com for more details and updates. If you

would like to receive information about special events, send your e-mail address

to [email protected].

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

SCHOOL OF

CINEMA

TELEVISION

SUMMER 2005

Dean Elizabeth M. Daley

Associate Dean,External Relations Marlene Loadvine

Editor/Writer Jacqueline Angiuli

Contributors Jessica Brownell, Meredith Goodwin, Cindy Villaseñor Iwanaga, Elizabeth Randall, Ann Spurgeon, Duke Underwood, Justin Wilson,John Zollinger

Researchers Abraham George, Lindsay Trapnell

Design Leslie Baker Graphic Design

Copy Editor Lisa Killen

Contributing Photographers AOLDan AvilaHao GuRandall Michelson,Elizabeth RandallAlberto Rodriguez/Alan Berliner StudiosAnn SpurgeonLindsay Trapnell

University of Southern California School of Cinema-TelevisionGeorge Lucas Building, Room 209 Los Angeles, California 90089-2211www.usc.edu/schools/cntv

Address service requested

NONPROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE PAID

GLENDALE, CAPERMIT NO.1233

The Write StuffBy Jacqueline Angiuli

T here they were —an exiled warrior, an

eccentric circus family, a former bad-

minton champ, an agoraphobic school-

teacher, a Goth-wannabe, and a pony named

Twinkles — all gathered together on a warm

spring evening inside the Four Seasons

Hotel’s elegant Beverly Hills Ballroom.

Of course, to most casual observers the

expansive, light-filled room held only several

rows of small round tables, 50 or so smartly

dressed writing students from the School of

Cinema-Television, and about three dozen

entertainment industry representatives. But

this was First Pitch, the annual student-run

event that introduces USC’s latest crop of

screenwriters to industry decision-makers by

way of an evening of rapid-fire storytelling.

So characters of all kinds filled the space,

creatively conjured by graduating M.F.A.

and B.F.A. students who hoped that long

weeks of fine-tuning screenplays and rehears-

First Pitch 2005 Director Hayley Terris Feldman ’05with alumni Josh Schwartz ’99 (left), and JamesVanderbilt ’99 (right)

ing pitches would result in script requests or

representation.

Hosts — and cinema-television alumni —

Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C.) and

James Vanderbilt (writer of Basic and The

Rundown) were invited by First Pitch 2005

Director Hayley Terris Feldman ’05 to “throw

out the first pitch” (by ringing the bell signal-

ing the beginning of the first five-minute

round). Then students took their places oppo-

site representatives from such entertainment

heavy-hitters as CAA, Endeavor, Fox, FUSE,

ICM, Paradigm, Sony Pictures, UTA, Warner

Bros., and William Morris.

The format is a bit like speed-dating, with

students allotted five minutes each to discuss

their scripts with invited agents, managers,

and creative executives, who are positioned at

separate tables around the room.

“We see this as our screenwriting debutant

ball,” said Terris Feldman. “We walked into

that ballroom not as 52 aspiring screen

writers, but as 52 professional screenwriters.”

The results have been astounding. Students

are taking meetings and gaining representa-

tion; script requests are up more than 30 per-

cent over last year; and the responses are still

pouring in.

Now that’s a happy ending

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