MSU Media & Theatre Arts Alumni News

SHARON KLEINGARTNER ENJOYING RETIREMENT

From Grant Axton’s LA Survival
Guide (go to http://mta.montana.edu/alumni/docs/LAGuide.html for full version)
Grant Axton, a 1993 graduate, now a
producer with the TV show Blind
Date, offers some honest advice
about the traumatic transition from
the Gallatin Valley to the Greater LA
area.

Q: Do I need a car?
A: YES

Q: How much money should I have
when I move?
A: $5,000 to $6,000

Q: Where do I live?
A: Close to the industry

Q: How do I find an apartment?
A: Hit the streets

Q: What should I look for when
finding an apartment?
A: Use logic and be smart

Q: Should I do an internship?
A: Yes

Q: How do I find my first job?
A: Attack finding a job as if finding
a job was your job. Stay on track
Open your mind to new possibilities

Q: What time commitment should I
give myself to get established in LA?
A: 3 to 5 years

Q: What tools are most helpful to me
during my first year in Hollywood?
• Thomas Brother's Map
• Cell phone with a local number
• Computer
• Connect with other MSU alumni on Tribe.net.

Don't get discouraged!

ALUMNI CALL SHEET

-Grant Axton ('93), Line Producer for the show Mega Movers, announces the show will kickoff on Tuesday April 18th, at 10pm on the History Channel. The History Channel will be presenting “Mega Movers: Moving the Impossible” on Sunday, May 7th from 8-10pm

-Paul Hillman (’05), has recently received the $4,000 cash prize from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at the College Television Awards.

-A teen-drama TV series called JUST FOR KICKS with several episodes edited by Shane Ross (’96), recently began airing Sunday at 7PM on Nickelodeon. "The first four episodes are edited by my buddy Greg, but then after that my shows kick in."

LET US KNOW. If you have any news about:
-accomplishments
-weddings
-births
-deaths
-moves
-projects
-successes
-news
-jobs
-internship possibilities
-ETC

Please email Jeanette at jeanette@montana.edu.

L to R: Jim Martin, Peter Fonda, Drew Masters, Dennis Aig,  Bob Ebinger (in back), Lindsay Brayden, Allison Whitmer, Lurene Leidholt.

Recent MTA Network events

- Panel of eight recent graduates who are working in film in the Bozeman area.
- Appealing for a second Super16mm SRII camera package to supplement the workload of the upper-division camera packages. - Screening last years Academy Award winning student films.
- A mass-audition for talent for any university projects.
- Sponsor of the Canned Film Festival (the screening event for Junior narrative films) and the Tracy Awards (the screening event and award ceremony for Senior films).

Junior Lindsay Brayden is the MTA Network president for the 2005/2006 academic year. Lindsay serves as student representative on the MTA Department equipment committee and the Option committee. Lindsay currently interns with the Montana Film and Television Advisory Council.

NEW CURRICULUM: CHANGES

• Freshman year:
  - Film in America
  - Aesthetics of Film Production
  - Theatre and Mass Media
  
  
• Sophomore year:
  - Editing is now completely taught with Final Cut Pro.
  - Scenic Design has been changed to Production Design.
  - The other courses in Acting, Cinematography, Light Tech and Design, Writing, Sound and Directing remain the same.
  
  
• Junior year:
  - World Cinema
  - Production: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Stage
  - Theory: Whiteness/Masculinity in Cinema, Compare Critical Approaches, or Film Criticism.
  
  
• Senior year:
  - 472C and 474 concurrently to fulfill the five thesis credits.

All students are required to take 9 elective credits as well.

These changes were made for several reasons. 1) to free up faculty work load, 2) to allow students more opportunities outside of the MTA major 3) to more evenly distribute the amount of course work given to juniors over both semesters and to make the class sections more manageable, and 4) to give some much needed relief to the incredible strain on equipment.

Hopefully these changes will succeed in each of the above endeavors while giving students more freedom to explore classes beyond the major without sacrificing the content.

FILM HUMOR: Actual English subtitles used in films from Hong Kong

• I am darn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.
• Same old rules: no eyes, no groin.
• Darn, I'll burn you into a BBQ chicken.
• Take my advice, or I'll spank you.
• Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?
• Quiet or I'll blow your throat up.
• I'll fire aimlessly if you don't come out!
• You daring lousy guy.
• Beat him out of recognizable shape!
• Yah-hah, evil spider woman! I have captured you by the short rabbits and can now deliver you violently to your doctor for a thorough extermination.
• I have been scared silly too much lately.
• I got knife scars more than the number of your leg's hair!
• Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.
• You always use violence. I should've ordered glutinous rice chicken.

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Dear friends,

Hello to all of you, wherever your adventures may have taken you since your days in Bozeman. It is always exciting for us to hear of your many successes and to keep track of where you are and how you are doing. As you may well have guessed, things in Bozeman are as busy and frantic as they have ever been. We continue to attract an extraordinarily talented and committed group of students and the faculty work is being recognized at the highest levels of the profession. We have been working diligently of late to tweak the curriculum a bit in order to reduce faculty loads to more manageable levels and to give our students more options in scheduling as well as an increased opportunity to take a class or two outside the major. We are very excited about the potential and can't wait to get going on this next fall.

Although the road to getting our new Black Box Theater has been a bit bumpy (it has been bid twice and came in well over estimates both times) it does appear as if it will finally become a reality. It is bidding again soon and we expect word soon on a construction schedule and an estimated completion date. It will be a very exciting space in which to work, particularly since we are incorporating the teaching of acting and directing for the stage and for the camera in a way that is more intertwined than ever. The intimate performance space should be ideal for making the transition from live performance to camera much easier. (continued on the next page)

If you are ever in Bozeman, we hope that you will stop in and say hello. If the timing is right, I would love to give you a tour of the new facility. Or, coincide your visit with the Tracy Awards in the spring and be as impressed as we are at the quality of our student work which seems to get better and better with each passing year. In any event, please stay in touch. We love to hear from you.

Joel Jahnke

RECENT GRADUATE INTERNS WITH KAMINSKY

The spring of 2005 was very eventful for MSU alum Owen Hooker. May saw his graduation from the Department of Media and Theatre Arts, and just two months earlier, he finished an internship on the blockbuster Steven Spielberg production, The War of the Worlds (2005).

Owen worked as a Cinematography intern under renowned multi Oscar-winning director of photography, Janusz Kaminski. Kaminski has won the acclaimed Academy Award twice, once for Schindler’s List (1993) and yet again for 1998’s, Saving Private Ryan.

RECENT GRAD A HATCH GROUNDBREAKER

Chris Mangano, a 2005 graduate of MSU, successfully entered his film in several festivals, including Bozeman’s new Hatch Audiovisual Arts Festival. “The best part about Hatch was that the film festival is based around the idea of mentorship, allowing the groundbreakers one on one time with different producers, writers and directors,” says Mangano. Chris was the only groundbreaker from the Northwest and enjoyed the unique time with peers from all around the globe that Hatch provided.

Chris has temporarily filled in as the Equipment Manager for MPVT and MFA checkout at MSU. This summer, he will be co-teaching a class with Professor Stephanie Campbell and making a short film with another 2005 graduate of the department. In mid-July, he plans to make the leap to LA and pursue a career in the industry.

MONTANA FILM AND TELEVISION TAX INCENTIVES

Following one of the slowest years in history for film and television production in the state, Montana passed the Big Sky on the Big Screen Act. The tax incentive legislation for film, TV and commercial productions offers a 12% rebate on hired Montana labor and applies an 8% rebate to qualified expenditures. This includes hotel and lodging, production equipment rental, fuel costs, expendables, lumber/construction materials, vehicle rentals, and food expenditures. 

Check it out at http://montanafilm.com/

ALUMNI RECEPTION HUGE SUCCESS

Alumni literally poured in to the MTA Alumni Reception held on March 11, 2006 at the La Parque Hotel in West Hollywood. The 100+ turnout was above and beyond expectations. Every decade of the program was represented and intermingled, creating a lively and positive atmosphere that carried on late into the night. With great food, fabulous company and spirited conversation, the Hotel staff finally closed the roof to break up the party-goers. The alums were joined by several Montana-based professionals including Peter Fonda, Bob Ebinger, Rob Story, and Allison Whitmer. The student LA trip led by Paul Monaco coincided with the reception as well, giving students the opportunity to network with alums.

DAVID SCHEERER MOVES TO HUMBOLT STATE

Tenured Professor and Co-Director of the Graduate Film Program, David Scheerer, recently announced his plans for a career change that will lead him away from Bozeman and the Media and Theatre Arts Department. The Department of Theatre, Film, and Dance at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California is his destination – in particular,

David has been a favorite professor and mentor to students at MSU since he arrived at the department in 1995. Along with his work at MSU, he has directed and produced an abundance of professional work – in particular a feature fiction film set for distribution later this year, and a documentary on Robert Flaherty. His departure is bittersweet, but he looks forward to the smaller school, which will allow him to teach in a more intimate setting. A full interview with David will be posted on the MSU Alumni website.

As a department, we are very sad to be losing David, but we wish him happiness and success.

JOEL JAHNKE RESIGNS FROM CHAIR

As the first year of a three-year term draws to a close, Chairman of the Media and Theatre Arts Department Joel Jahnke has announced his decision to resign. He started teaching theatre for the department in 1976, when there were only four faculty members, and has hence seen the department flourish. He states the Chair duties were encroaching upon his ability to effectively teach classes as well as coordinate “Montana Shakespeare in the Parks” – two passions he is unwilling to sacrifice. He feels the department has extraordinary potential but is not reaching it systematically. He is in favor of a Department Head in lieu of a Chairman to “captain the ship”. A Department Head form of governance will replace the current rotating Chair system, which relies upon a faculty member to serve as chair of the Photo, Film, Theatre, and Graduate programs in addition to their academic and professional responsibilities/ambitions. Furthermore, he believes a Department Head will relieve the current faculty of a large burden as well as facilitate the pursuit of grants and other funding, utilize alumni for weekend workshops, seek internship opportunities for students, etc. “There is a whole bunch I wanted to do and never had the time to do it,” Joel says, continuing on to explain that a Department Head can more effectively focus on the student and faculty needs. Students hope that it will usher in the return of advanced classes to the options offered in the curriculum, which have dissipated as the faculty workloads have prohibited the scheduling of electives. Joel said the best thing students can do for the department is to practice patience through this transitional phase. Walter Metz will be stepping in as an interim department head while a search committee will look for a permanent department head candidate.

Newsletter created and distributed by the MTA Department and 

Visit the MTA Alumni website at http://mta.montana.edu/alumni/

Editor: Lindsay Brayden 
Administrative Support: Jeanette Goodwin
Faculty Advisor: Dennis Aig
Tech support: Cager Thompson

Department of Media and Theatre Arts MSU-Bozeman 
P.O. 173350
Bozeman, MT 59717-3350

Comments or complaints?: please email Jeanette Goodwin at jeanette@montana.edu