María Elena de las Carreras, a lecturer in CTVA since 1999, has been involved in two projects funded by the Getty Institute, part of the Southern California-wide program Pacific Standard Time: Latin America in Los Angeles (PST LA/LA), running until the end of the year. 

She has been one of the curator of the film series “Recuerdos de un cine en español: Latin American Cinema in Los Angeles – 1930-1960”, a showcase of Mexican, Argentine and Cuban cinema; and a researcher and occasional interviewer for the Visual History Program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:  “From Latin America to Hollywood: Latino Film Culture in Los Angeles, 1967-2017”, a series of interviews with Latin American and Latino notable figures, and a screening program at the Samuel Goldwyn and Linwood Dunn theaters, in Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

The websites for these projects give an overview of their programs, schedules and access to their archived materials:

• UCLA fall series:  https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/latinamericanfilm
• ACADEMY: http://oscars.org/events
   https://pstlala.oscars.org/interviews/

/also available on iTunes and on-demand

reposted from Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/news/chris-messina-abigail-spencer-sweet-life-1201984916/)

Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s romantic dramedy “The Sweet Life” (written by Jared Rappaport, CTVA screenwriting professor) has been acquired for digital release by The Orchard on April 11, Variety has learned exclusively.

Mockingbird Pictures has also announced the movie, directed by Rob Spera from a Jared Rappaport script, will have a limited theatrical release from Tugg in March with a portion of the proceeds going to suicide prevention groups. “The Sweet Life” is the story of two lost souls who embark on a road trip from Chicago to San Francisco in order to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge together — but find that plan getting complicated by falling in love with each other.

Tugg is a web-based platform that allows fans and content owners to play films in local theaters and community venues.

Kevin Iwashina and Adam Galen handled the sale on behalf of Preferred Content. WestEnd Films previously acquired international rights and is showing the film to buyers at the  European Film Market in Berlin.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY | May 17, 2017 

Read Variety article

California State University, Northridge has been ranked among the top 30 film schools worldwide in Variety’s April 25 issue.

The entertainment trade magazine listed CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts as one of 2017’s “Stellar Film Schools.” The elite group also included the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, the London Film School and New York University, among other prestigious institutions. The publication featured CSUN on similar lists in 2015 and 2016, and “The Hollywood Reporter” has included the university on its lists of best film schools in previous years.

Jon Stahl, chair of the Department of Cinema and Television Arts, said he is honored to see CSUN’s merits receive consistent acknowledgment.

“I’m incredibly proud that we continue to be ranked among the best film and television schools in the world,” Stahl said. “When we’re included among such elite programs, it validates the work we do and what our students do, and gives us more incentive to push forward and become even better.”

The department offers undergraduate programs focusing on entertainment media management, film production, media theory and criticism, multimedia production, screenwriting and television production, as well as a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting program. Stahl attributed the department’s accolades to its highly qualified faculty and ambitious students.

“Our inclusion [on ‘Variety’’s list] is a testament to the fantastic work that our faculty does,” he said. “We have award-winning directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, editors and sound specialists who bring professional experience and great wisdom to our students, and that enables them to do the fantastic work they’ve been creating.

“Our students are out in the world exhibiting their work in festivals and competitions, and they’re winning awards against students from top graduate programs,” he continued. “[CSUN] students are accomplishing at the undergraduate level what a lot of the competition is accomplishing at the graduate level.”

Stahl said one of the keys to CSUN’s “growing reputation as a great film and television school” lies in the department’s flexibility. The faculty constantly adapt their curricula to include the latest developments and technology, which recently have included virtual and augmented-reality devices, he said.

“As the entertainment industry continues to evolve, so will our program. That way, our students will always be prepared,” he said. “It would be easy to become complacent now that we’ve been receiving wonderful accolades, but none of us want to take them for granted. We want to continue doing what’s best for the students.”

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts, housed in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, has an international reputation for producing dedicated and talented entertainment industry professionals who recognize the value of hard work as they learn and continue to perfect their crafts. The department’s alumni work in all aspects of entertainment media, from writing, producing and directing to manning cameras and having the final say in which projects are made.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Like many children growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, Klim Shipenko was fascinated by outer space. But, unlike his peers, he wasn’t fascinated by the stars or the planets — he was captivated by “the unsolved mystery of space,” he said.“[My] imagination was drawing images of what might be there, beyond the black mass.

“I remember me and all my friends wanted to be cosmonauts [the Russian word for astronauts],” added Shipenko, who grew up in Moscow, Russia. “I never became a spaceman, but I did make a movie about them.”

Since moving to Los Angeles and graduating from California State University, Northridge, Shipenko ’04 (Cinema and Television Arts – Film) has directed and written screenplays for six feature films in different genres, including a romantic comedy called Love or Not, a drama titled The Nerd’s Confession and a mystery called Who am I?

Shipenko, who has moved back to Russia since graduation from CSUN, has directed six feature-length films, including romantic comedies and mysteries. Photo courtesy of Klim Shipenko.

 His most recent film, Salyut-7, is a Russian space thriller whose production values Variety recently compared to big-budget space films such as Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. However, the budget for Salyut-7 was 400 million rubles, or $13 million — less than one-fourth of Apollo 13‘s budget and less than one-eighth of Gravity‘s.

Shipenko’s film explores the tumultuous journey of Soyuz T-13, a spaceship manned by commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov and flight engineer Viktor Savinykh, as well as the effects of their trip on their friends and family. Salyut-7 is not yet available in the United States, Shipenko said, but he and his worldwide sales agent, Indie Sales, are hoping to screen the film in the U.S. later in 2018.

Soyuz is a real-life Russian series of spacecraft. In the 1980s, the goal of Soyuz T-13, one of the spacecrafts, was to dock and repair a space station named Salyut-7 — the film’s namesake — a feat which never before had been accomplished. By the time the Soyuz T-13 cosmonauts reached Salyut-7, the ship had multiple complications: broken solar panels, a destroyed water heater and a dead electrical system. Despite the state of Salyut-7, the cosmonauts successfully docked and repaired the “dead” space station in June 1985.

In 1999, Shipenko came to California during his senior year of high school to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. As part of an international student program, Shipenko was placed with a family in La Crescenta, just northeast of Burbank, and studied at Crescenta Valley High School.

“In high school, I was interested in [being a director and filmmaker],” Shipenko said. “There weren’t that many classes in film, so I did all sorts of art classes: theatre, communications, journalism.”

After high school, the aspiring filmmaker chose to stay in LA to continue studying film and directing. He enrolled at Glendale Community College, transferred to CSUN in 2002 and received an inspiring education from several professors in the Department of Cinema and Television Arts (CTVA), he said.

“I remember [film professor] Nate Thomas very well,” Shipenko said. “He was teaching producing, I think, and lectured in some other subjects as well. I liked Nate a lot. I also liked John Schultheiss — he was head of the department when I was there. His lectures were very interesting. I took film theory and film history with him, among many other classes. The professors at CSUN … motivated me to work more and to work harder.”

Thomas, an Emmy award-winning CTVA professor, remembered Shipenko very well and said that he stood out for multiple reasons.

“What I remember most about Klim was that he wasn’t just bright and talented, but he was experimental and innovative in nature,” Thomas said. “That was a quality I hadn’t seen in many students prior to him. Klim also took every opportunity for growth and development available to him here.

“With a new state-of-the-art facility and new ‘film tools’ to play with, CSUN was the perfect place to grow for Klim,” he continued. “I have had hundreds and hundreds of students in my 29-year tenure at CSUN. Klim is among the most memorable.”

To watch the trailer for Salyut-7, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8BBTHmq9wc. 

 

Reposted from CSUN TODAY | http://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/community/csun-alumna-wins-prestigious-young-entrepreneur-award/

Reposted from http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-jordyn-palos-persona-pr-hollywood/

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordyn Palos.

Named one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders” by Variety in 2015, Jordyn, founder of Persona PR, launched the company in 2010 and has established Persona as one of the most dedicated and hands-on independent PR firms in the entertainment industry today. With offices in Los Angeles and New York City, Persona has grown from a dozen clients that followed Jordyn when she left her previous PR job, to over 100 clients in the talent, music, branded lifestyle, non-profit and corporate space. Persona PR’s client list includes a select group of award-winning actors from film and television, New York Times bestselling authors, various experts in the beauty and lifestyle space, comedians, production companies and a handful of musicians.

Born and raised in Southern California, Jordyn obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Radio, Television and Film with an emphasis in Electronic Media Management from California State University Northridge. Her educational experience has provided a background vital to navigating the PR world and ever-changing digital arena: electronic media systems, media management, media message design, audience analysis, mass communication research, international broadcasting, new media and more. During her senior year of college (2006), Jordyn took an internship with an LA-based entertainment public relations firm and worked for that company for four years before launching Persona PR out of her apartment.

Before finding her true calling as a publicist and business owner, Jordyn worked as a Marketing Associate for Ashley Furniture and in the music industry as a stylist (working with Tyga, Paramore, and Panic! At The Disco, to name a few). While her business and clients are two of her greatest passions, Jordyn is also a wife and mom and loves to spend time with her family. She is also a supporter of the American Diabetes Association (as several people in her life are Type 1 diabetics) and the Bumble Bee Foundation, a local organization that provides relief to families who have children suffering from cancer.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Launching your own business and working day in and day out to make it successful is a tremendous challenge, however, it has been so worth it. I have been extremely fortunate to be surrounded by people who have supported me and my business. The biggest challenges have probably been figuring out how to grow (and grow smart) and learning to not take things personally. One of my mantras has been to work hard in silence and let your success be your noise. Sometimes, I have to take a step back and see how much my business has evolved from 2010 to 2018 and realize that I have done some great work, and have an incredible team working alongside me every day. I am always pushing to be the best and that hunger for perfection can be a struggle for me when I need to stop, breathe and realize that we are doing great work.

Persona PR – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As one of the most reputable PR firms to emerge in the entertainment business in the past decade, Persona PR has become known for being on the forefront of new advances in media nationally and internationally. From traditional public relations campaigns to digital strategy, branding and marketing, we make it our commitment to stay constantly informed in an ever-changing industry. Persona PR has three divisions, the first being our Talent division which includes award-winning accomplished actors in film, television and theater, writers, directors, producers, musicians, and production companies. We have also worked alongside national and international bestselling authors, spearheading book campaigns and taking them to the New York Times and national bestsellers list.

Also housed under our talent division are athletes, corporations, non-profit organizations, lifestyle experts and fashion clientele. Connect is our second division and one of our newest ventures – it is where digital & social media marketing lives at our firm. Whether it be to increase exposure of a new film, amplify a book release via blogger channels, connect actor and philanthropic opportunity, our digital and social media division is the most innovative of its kind in the entertainment industry. Our third division, Profiles by Persona PR is where visual art is brought to life. Our relationships with top photographers throughout the world, studios, elite hair and makeup artists, stylists and their agencies, provide us with the tools to produce in-house photo shoots for editorial images and content that are unlike any other firm.

The synergy between our three divisions is a key factor in bringing our campaigns to life. Whether it is a Golden Globes Award campaign, launching a 20,000-square foot art installation in downtown Los Angeles, or partnering our clients with the right brands for social media activations, talent, connect and profiles work synonymously with one another. We believe that what makes us different is our core values – delivering results that exceed expectations, every single day. Our company culture is deeply rooted in the belief that teamwork is essential to bringing long lasting, purposeful publicity and digital campaigns to life. Through the process of working alongside our clients, we strive tirelessly to think outside of the box, be innovative in our strategies and work with a creative mind, passionate heart and positive spirit.

Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
Public relations and marketing are changing vastly from year to year. The business I am in today is a completely different climate than what was important and meaningful in 2010 when I launched the firm. It’s not just our jobs that are evolving, you see it in the media as well with magazines shifting to all-digital coverage, social media teams being added left and right, even major broadcast outlets moving to Facebook live streams vs. actual television segments as that’s where viewers are living now. We constantly have to be informed and in the know with what is happening on the social media and digital front, paying attention to the shift in media outlets as they too are having to fluctuate with where the audience is going to consume content. We are also in the golden age of television, my firm represents leads on some of the top series on television today (and streaming services) and it’s so intriguing to see the caliber of press that an actor on an award-winning HULU or Netflix series can get vs. a film – when film used to be the end all be all for a career. It has been incredible to watch the rise of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon over the past few years – and I am sure we will see more of that with Apple and Facebook launching their original content in the coming months. It’s the wild west out there – and we are just working hard to stay up on it all!

Contact Info:

• Address: Persona PR 6255 Sunset Blvd Suite 705 Los Angeles, CA 90028; Persona PR 401 Park Ave. South Suite 10-045 New York, NY 10016
• Website: www.persona-pr.com
• Phone: (310) 601-2734
• Email: 
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/personapr
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/personapr
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/personapr

Reposted from CSUN TODAY | http://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/arts-and-culture/csun-showcase-to-throw-spotlight-on-hollywoods-future-filmmakers/

The five filmmakers selected for California State University, Northridge’s 28th annual Senior Film Showcase are women, and their stories reflect the rich diversity of perspectives that make up America.

The public is invited to explore these cinematic tales and preview the talents of the next generation of filmmakers on Wednesday, May 2, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Senior Film Showcase, which concludes years of study for the university’s senior-level film students, is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, located at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The evening’s host will be acclaimed actor, comedian, writer and film director Robert Townsend.

Cinema and Television Arts professor Nate Thomas, head of CSUN’s film option, said the talents of the five filmmakers that will be on display at the showcase should dispel any misconceptions about the ability of women to tell a good story on film.

“These are talented people who have voices and stories that need to be heard,” Thomas said. “May 2 marks the first public presentation of their work, and I know the response is going to be positive. Though it’s always bittersweet to see our students graduate — you become attached during the time they study in your classes — I am looking forward to the years to come, when I will sit in a movie theater and proudly see the names of these young filmmakers on the screen.”

All five of the filmmakers have the distinction of being Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellows.

The following films will be featured in the showcase:

• “Amal,” directed by Dilek Ince, tells the story of an American volunteer doctor who witnesses a tragic event that leaves a young Syrian girl without a family. The doctor adopts the girl and hopes to bring her home, but problems arise when a travel ban is placed on Syrians coming to the United States.
• “Divided,” directed by Jessica Freund, takes place in 1953 North Korea. During the final moments of the Korean war, two sisters attempt to escape captivity in North Korea to reunite with family and find freedom south of the 38th
• “Side Swiped,” directed by Natalie Meza, is about two social media-obsessed millennials who go on their first Tinder date. But when they find out they’ve stalked each other online, the date turns into a battle of wits and insults.
• “Peace By Piece,” directed by Stevi Ward, is the story of a college basketball star who discovers her mother has cancer, and must choose between her dream and mending her tattered relationship with her mother.
• “Take My Hand,” directed by Lauren Gullion, is the story of Lorelai, who, after moving her grandmother into an assisted living facility, discovers an unfinished piece of music the two began writing years earlier. With her grandmother battling Alzheimer’s disease, Lorelai tries to finish the piece before her grandmother’s memory is lost forever.

The showcase’s host, Townsend, is best known for directing “Hollywood Shuffle,” “The Five Heartbeats,” “The Meteor Man” and “Eddie Murphy Raw.” “Eddie Murphy Raw,” released in 1987, is still the No. 1 theatrical stand-up film of all time, making $50.5 million at the box office worldwide.

Townsend created and produced two variety show series, “Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime” for HBO and “Townsend Television” for Fox. He created and starred in the WB Network’s sitcom “The Parent Hood,” which ran for four seasons. He also starred opposite Denzel Washington in the film “The Mighty Quinn.” Townsend, who spends time mentoring CSUN film students, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from CSUN in 2015.

For more information about the showcase, call CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts at (818) 677-3192.

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts has an international reputation for producing dedicated and talented entertainment industry professionals who recognize the value of hard work as they learn and continue to perfect their crafts. The department currently enrolls nearly 1,700 undergraduates and 30 students in its graduate screenwriting program. Its alumni work in all aspects of entertainment media, from writing, producing and directing to manning cameras and having the final say in what project is made. The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have regularly ranked CSUN among the top universities in the country for cinema and television arts education.

JUDGE JULIAN BECK MEMORIAL AWARD

Elvira Mukhametova

DAVID LEVY GRADUATE 

SCREENWRITING SCHOLARSHIP

Jasmine Perry

Paul Kiszonas

RICHARD M. NEUSTADT / MATTHEW S. BERENY 

NEW VISTA SCHOLARSHIP

Lara Aslanian

ABRAHAM L. POLONSKY 

GRADUATE AWARD IN SCREENWRITING 

Martin Lang

ABRAHAM L. POLONSKY 

UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN CRITICAL WRITING 

Gretchen Ratcliff Sawyer

ABRAHAM L. POLONSKY 

UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN SCREENWRITING 

Carson Campman 

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN 

MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Shari Coleman

JAY ROPER MEMORIAL 

TELEVISION PRODUCTION SCHOLARSHIP 

Samantha Ditto

JPF FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP  

Andriana Parisi

Shari Coleman

CARSON SCHREIBER FILM/TELEVISION/MEDIA 

HISTORY SCHOLARSHIP

Patricia Mullen

Samantha Diaz

CARSON SCHREIBER 

INTERACTIVE MEDIA SCHOLARSHIP

Brittani Ingram

DAVID S. SOMERVILLE MEMORIAL 

MEDIA RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP

Mahal Sourgose

SCOTT M. WEISS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Steve Martínez-Castañeda

DR. JUDITH MARLANE 

CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Ruth Hanson

CSUN ARTS COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP 

Lourdes Illingworth

Martin Lang

Ruth Hanson

Maci Ulan Garcia

Riley Beres

MARY BAYRAMIAN ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Ruben Fuentes

Kara Swenson

WOMEN IN FILM SCHOLARSHIP

Grace Roebuck

MARC S. YOBS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Nicolo Requiestas

Derek Mari

Alexandria Smolen

DEAN’S AWARD FOR 

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT & SERVICES 

Audrey Saca—CTVA Freshman

Lourdes Illingworth—CTVA Senior

Melinda Simpson—CTVA Graduate Student

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

California State University, Northridge film professor Nate Thomas has earned a second regional Emmy Award nomination for a television public service announcement (PSA) campaign he directed and produced for the FBI on cybercrimes.

The three 30-second spots — on ransomware, business email compromise and intellectual property theft — were nominated for an Emmy in the PSA (single spot or campaign) category. The winners will be announced at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ annual Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards Gala, scheduled for June 16 in Rancho Mirage.

“To know that your creative work is important and impactful for society is one thing, but it is another thing to have that work deemed excellent and worthwhile by your industry peers,” said Thomas, who won an Emmy in 2014 for a FBI PSA campaign on intellectual property theft. “That is always heartening.”

The project was done through Thomas’ production company, which specializes in making PSAs, what he calls “doing social work using film and other media.” Thomas shares the nomination with actor/director Tim Russ, who co-produced the spots.

Working with federal law enforcement officials and assisted by a team that included CSUN students and faculty, Thomas created a series of 30-second ads to educate the public about cybercrimes. The ads first aired regionally and now appear on television stations across the country.

Thomas said the number of cybercrimes is growing, and it is important to educate the public about the threats.

“Ransomware — the use of a virus to encrypt important files and documents until a ransom is paid — has grown into a significant threat to not only U.S. businesses, but individuals as well,” he said. “Business email compromise is a type of payment fraud that involves the compromise of legitimate business email accounts for the purpose of conducting an unauthorized wire transfer. Intellectual property theft involves robbing people or companies of their ideas, inventions and creative expressions known as ‘intellectual property,’ which is everything from trade secrets and proprietary products to movies, music and software.

“All of these are serious threats to Americans and their businesses, yet a lot people don’t take them seriously, or don’t realize how vulnerable they are to becoming victims of these crimes,” he said. 

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Entertainment trade publication VARIETY has again recognized California State University, Northridge as one of the best film schools in the world.

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts (CTVA) in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication was one of 40 schools around the world to make Variety’s list, “Entertainment Education Report: The Best Film Schools in 2018.”

The elite group also included AFI Conservatory, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York Film Academy and New York University, among other prestigious institutions.

Variety, which has consistently praised CSUN’s film program, this year cited the CSUN Cinematheque, the 130-seat motion picture theater, the only venue of its kind in the San Fernando Valley.

CSUN alumni work across every facet of the television and film industries. Alumni can be found in doing different jobs such as: production, directing, editing, screenwriting, acting and special effects.

CSUN’s film program consistently earns industry recognition. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) — international journalists based in Southern California who cover Hollywood and host the annual Golden Globe Awards® — recently awarded the school a $2 million grant as an investment in the diverse voices of future filmmakers. In response to the donation, last year CSUN dedicated the west wing of Manzanita Hall to the HFPA.

Two CSUN film student projects — from Martin Ibarra and Daniel Yonathan — were semifinalists in the 44th annual Student Academy Awards. Last year, CTVA student Taylor Salan’s film Vestige made the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ short list for its Student Film Awards.

AAPD is proud to announce the recipients of the 2018 NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarship! In 2018, AAPD was able to offer eight (8) NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarships to second year associate students; undergraduate sophomores, juniors, and seniors; and graduate students with disabilities pursuing communications or media-related degrees thanks to the generous support of NBCUniversal.

MFA in Screenwriting alumna Lara Ameen is a screenwriter, genre fiction writer, disability activist, and PhD student in Education with an emphasis in Disability Studies at Chapman University. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley in Film Studies with a minor in Disability Studies. She has given lectures and presented on panels with prominent actors, writers, and showrunners about disability representation in the media at American University, Chapman University, CalArts, CSUN, and UCLA. Her scripts have placed in Screencraft’s Bahamas Screenwriters Residency Program, the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, and the Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition. Passionate about intersectional disability representation, she writes TV drama pilots, short film scripts, and paranormal fantasy novellas about queer disabled characters who save the world. In the future, she hopes to publish a series of fantasy novels and become a showrunner for a successful supernatural/sci-fi/fantasy TV drama series that features a diverse cast of disabled characters portrayed by disabled actors.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Nate Thomas, head of the film production option in the California State University, Northridge Department of Cinema and Television Arts, was honored this month by the National Congress of Black Women Los Angeles Chapter (NCBW-LAC) with its “Good Brother’s Award” at the organization’s 9th Annual Luncheon.

Thomas was one of nine people of color honored by the NCBW-LAC at the luncheon. The nonprofit honored him for being the first African-American film production program head at a California State University, as well his career achievements in the industry and position as a respected faculty mentor to a sizable group of industry influencers who were his protégés.

“I’ve been honored before with winning an Emmy in 2014 for my work with the FBI, and four years later I was nominated again. [Now] this, to be honored by my peers is wonderful,” Thomas said. “It’s really special to be with a body of successful people of color, and to be among women of color is wonderful.”

Along with Thomas, the NCBW-LAC honored Rep. Karen Bass, a congresswoman representing California’s 37th District; Tasha Cerda, the first African-American female mayor of Gardena; Judge Kevin Ross, host of the nationally syndicated TV court show Judge Ross; and several others.

The event took place Aug. 18 at Juanita McDonald Carson Community Center in Carson.

NCBW-LAC is a nonprofit dedicated to the educational, political and cultural development of African-American women and youth. From 2016-18, NCBW-LAC awarded 35 scholarships to college-bound students totaling $19,600. The LA chapter is a member of the National Congress of Black Women, an organization founded in 1984 by the late Hon. Shirley Chisholm. For more information, visit www.nationalcongressbw.org or www.ncbwinclac.org.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has awarded California State University, Northridge $60,000 to support the university’s film students.

The gift was announced at the association’s annual star-studded grants banquet, held Aug. 9 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Among those in attendance were Alfonso Cuaron, Alfre Woodard, Amber Heard, Ben Hardy, Billy Porter, Charlize Theron, Cody Fern, Connie Britton, Dakota Fanning, John Cho, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Regina King and Steve Carell.  William H. Macy served as the evening’s host.

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has become a steadfast partner to CSUN’s film program,” said cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas, head of CSUN’s film production option, who attended the event with CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison. “Over the years, they have been strong supporters of all aspects of what we do. The HFPA gets who our students are, and respects the diverse voices those students are bringing to tables all across the entertainment industry.  Their continual support helps to ensure the creative talents behind those voices have an opportunity to be heard.” 

In 2015, HFPA gave CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts $2 million to support students, including the creation of a Hollywood Foreign Press Association scholars program, and to enhance technology.

HFPA, which is made up of international journalists who report on the entertainment industry and hosts the Golden Globe Awards each year, handed out a total of $3.25 million in grants at the Aug. 9 banquet to a variety of entertainment-related and charitable organizations. The donations were for a wide range of projects, including film preservation, higher education, training and mentoring, and the promotion of cultural exchange through film.

CSUN’s relationship with the association dates back to 1996. In addition to the $2 million gift, HFPA grants over the years have supported student film projects and helped keep CSUN’s film program current with the latest technology. Students edit in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Senior Film Edit Suite on campus, and they work on sound design in a state-of-the-art sound mix facility made possible by a grant from the association.

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts, housed in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communications, has an international reputation for producing dedicated and talented entertainment industry professionals who recognize the value of hard work as they learn and continue to perfect their crafts. The department currently enrolls abut 1,550 undergraduate students and 30 students in its graduate screenwriting program. Its alumni work in all aspects of entertainment media, from writing, producing and directing to manning cameras and having the final say in what project is made. The entertainment trade magazines Variety and The Hollywood Reporter regularly list CSUN as one of the top film programs in the world.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

California State University, Northridge’s fall Cinematheque series will pay homage to women’s contributions in television, film and other media.

The series includes 11 films, chosen by media theory professor Frances Gateward, that highlight an important time in television and film when women were underrepresented in the industry.

“Too often, the contributions of women to film and other forms of popular culture are overlooked,” said Gateward. “I chose classic and contemporary films that would be important for both film students and general audiences to see, because they offer different perspectives and even radical aesthetics, often transforming the ideologies of so-called masculine genres.”

The series will include work by Hollywood’s early prominent women directors and screenwriters. Genres will vary, from thrillers to romantic comedies and even horror.

In addition to the films, a distinct group of women media creators will be present on separate nights during the course of the series. Presenters include Claudia Puig, president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Carla Renata from the African American Film Critics Association and Meher Tatna, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Additionally, renowned women in animation also will be part of the panel. They include Shawna Mills, known for her work at Dreamworks, Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network, as well as Sidney Clifton, known for her work on the “Black Panther” animated series and “Hellboy.”

There also will be a night dedicated to the women of cinema and television at CSUN, where instructors in the department will show their work as filmmakers and content creators. The panel includes film production professor Karen Dee Carpenter, screenwriting professor Alexis Krasilovsky, multimedia production professor Elizabeth Leister, Department Chair Thelma Vickroy and cinema and television arts professor Dianah Wynter.

“Many film departments do not have full-time faculty who are still producing and making work,” said Gateward. “The night’s a chance for the students to see their faculty in a different way.”

CSUN’s Cinematheque series is free and open to the public every Wednesday night beginning Sept. 5 in the Elaine and Alan Armer Screening Room in Manzanita Hall.

Manzanita Hall is located near the southwest corner of the campus near Nordhoff Street and Darby Avenue. For information on the series visit https://www.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/cinema-television-arts/cinematheque-schedule.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

The entertainment industry is in California State University, Northridge’s own backyard — CSUN’s location is one of the university’s greatest assets for aspiring filmmakers, screenwriters, actors and directors. This month, CSUN’s top-rated Department of Cinema and Television Arts (CTVA) brought industry professionals to campus for the Entertainment Industry Institute symposium.

The department hosted a lineup of speakers and workshops on Saturday, Sept. 22. Several industry leaders, many of whom are CSUN alumni, appeared at Manzanita Hall for a day full of valuable industry insights, skills-based training, entertaining anecdotes and essential advice. CTVA students learned firsthand from media executives how to successfully enter and advance in the competitive field of entertainment.

The symposium is a bi-annual event held for over a decade at corporate venues in Los Angeles such as the Kodak Theater, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and CBS Studio Center. This is the first year the event was hosted at CSUN, making the resources more readily available to students.

“[The event] really provided students with an opportunity to meet industry professionals with a huge career, learn how they got there and where they think the future is heading,” said Thelma Vickroy, CTVA department chair. “The value to the students and even the faculty is continual learning and development. You have to do that as a professional and as a student to really get out there and to see what’s happening in the industry.”

In the “Pitch to Screen: Production Process Panel,” guest speakers included Matadors Michael Grillo, executive producer for Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Donald Petrie, a producer of films including Miss Congeniality and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days; and Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming and network publicity for Crown Media Family Networks. The panel in CSUN’s Elaine and Alan Armer Screening Room was moderated by Nate Thomas, professor and film production option head for CTVA.

“One of Dean Dan Hosken’s priorities for the Mike Curb College is deepening our engagement with the entertainment industry,” said Michael Ryan, senior director of development for CSUN’s Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication. “We’ve been supporting the CTVA department’s efforts and will continue to do so to aid in the growth of this program.”

For more information about CSUN’s Entertainment Industry Institute, visit: https://www.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/2018-entertainment-industry-institute-symposium

Prof. Alexis Krasilovsky's first novel, "Sex and the Cyborg Goddess" has received the IRWIN Award (Industry Recognition of Writers in the News) from Book Publicists of Southern California for "Best #MeToo Novel of the Year."

The IRWIN Award, named for Book Publicists of Southern California founder Irwin Zucker, was introduced in 1995 as a way to formally and publicly recognize BPSC members who conduct the best book sales/ promotion campaigns. Honorees share with the BPSC audience the steps they took that led to the success of their book promotion campaigns.

Sex and the Cyborg Goddess is a novel about Ana Fried, who arrives at Yale brimming with self-confidence just as it’s going co-ed. It’s 1969 (-- the same year Hillary Clinton entered Yale Law). Straight outta Scarsdale, Ana has the beauty and brains to make it big. But Ana’s an idiot when in comes to men. Believing in sexual freedom, she keeps a modern-day pillow book about her Yale lovers until her professor torches her writing in front of the class. In an era of Black Panther rallies and anti-Vietnam protests, Ana joins forces with an African-American classmate named Diane to address the racism and sexism of society and Yale. But when sexual assault upstages Ana’s graduation, she hits the road in a beat-up Chevy, hoping to find Diane, who has since dropped out.

Down South, while documenting the blues, Ana meets a musician who’s the polar opposite of what would please her social-climbing mother. She makes beautiful music with Andy until he’s arrested for drugs. She flees to California, then Germany, New York, and India, struggling to break the glass ceiling as a filmmaker while fighting her addiction to loving the wrong men. Unable to keep a day job or a man, she escapes to India, hoping for spiritual transcendence. In her backpack is a camera to film the goddesses of India. She’s finally determined to break through as a filmmaker on her own.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Dilek Ince knew in middle school that she wanted to be a storyteller when she grew up. By high school, she knew she wanted to tell her stories through film. Once she graduated, Ince packed a solitary suitcase, boarded a plane in her native Turkey and headed to Los Angeles – the land where movies are made.

Ince, who graduated from California State University, Northridge in August with a bachelor’s degree in film, took a huge step forward today in cementing her career as a filmmaker. The Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards has given Ince’s senior film project, “Amal,” its Jury Award in the category of Outstanding Women Student Filmmakers.

“I am so happy, and stunned that I am receiving this award,” Ince said. “It’s an honor to receive such an award from the DGA. It is great to be recognized as a female filmmaker.

“I come from a family of lawyers, and they thought I was crazy to come here on my own, not knowing anyone, to pursue my dream to become a filmmaker,” she continued. “Maybe this will help them understand that there is a reason I am in Los Angeles, and that my dreams aren’t so crazy after all.”

Cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas, head of CSUN’s film program, said Ince’s award was well deserved.

“I always have my eye on the students when they are making their senior film projects,” Thomas said. “We have some really good students, and you know that they are going to make it in this industry. But every once in a while a student will stand out. Dilek is one of those students. You just know that not only is she going to succeed, but she is going to change the world with her art.”

“Amal,” which was written and directed by Ince, tells the story of an American volunteer doctor who witnesses a tragic event that leaves a 7-year-old Syrian girl without a family. The doctor adopts the girl and hopes to bring her home to the United States, but problems arise when a travel ban is placed on Syrians just as the pair arrive in America.

Ince found inspiration for her film in news reports about war.

“Every time I watch the news, my eyes are always drawn to the kids,” she said. “I wanted to show how war affects the children. There are so many children in the world who have lost their families, their homes, everything, including their childhood. They have to become adults at a very young age. They have no choice. No one talks about that. I feel the children are forgotten.”

Ince said among the first things she did when she arrived in Los Angeles 10 years ago was to learn English.

“My dream was to become a director who writes her own scripts, and to do that I had to learn the language because I was going to be the best screenwriter I could be,” she said.

Ince learned English, took extension classes at UCLA, enrolled in classes at Santa Monica College and worked on screenplays and other small film projects on the side. When she was ready to formally study filmmaking, she applied to and was accepted into several universities, including a couple of University of California campuses and New York University.

“But I had heard about CSUN,” she said. “I took a tour of CSUN and its film program. I wanted to study in the best film program, and that was Cal State Northridge.”

She transferred to CSUN as an international student in 2016.

Only five student projects are selected each year to take part in CSUN’s annual Senior Film Showcase. Ince said she was determined to be among those chosen. Students who want to have a project considered have to take a screenwriting class. The instructor warned the students to avoid writing projects that involved subjects that might prove difficult to film, such as hospitals, airports and children.

“My project had all three,” she said, laughing. “I had to decide if I wanted to follow the conventions, or tell the story I wanted to tell. I chose to tell my story.”

Ince, who currently works as a technical director for a film company, said winning the DGA award is an affirmation that she is doing what she was meant to do. She intends to continue to pursue her dreams of writing and directing her own movies.

She added that the experience of coming to the United States by herself as an international student who, at first, did not know English was a challenge, but has taught her that she has the strength to succeed regardless of the obstacles. She said it has also provided her with a perspective that influences how she sees the world as a filmmaker.

“When you live in one country, you think that’s the way the world is,” she said. “Then you go to another country or a place like Los Angeles, which has so many different people with different languages and experiences, and you realize that the world is so much bigger and more interesting. I learn something new every day, and as I learn more, I keep growing as an artist.”

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Dressed sharply in a suit and tie at six in the morning, he attempted to wait patiently for a life-changing moment. In under an hour, the cameras, the lights and the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people will be on him.

This was California State University, Northridge alum Thomas Orlina ‘11 (Cinema and Television Arts) moments before an unforgettable interview with CNN Philippines at the Worldwide Corporate Center, Metro Manila, last February.

In the interview, Orlina discussed his YouTube docuseries entitled Your Time with Thomas, which he uses as a platform to not only creatively express himself, but also to inspire others. It has also been featured on Fox 11 News, NBC News, MSN.com and Focus TV, and reaches thousands of viewers around the world.

When Orlina first started, he didn’t know just how far pursuing his passions might take him. “I got really excited when I got my first view!” he said. He has since come a long way, with all his original content now reaching about 30,000 people globally.

The series follows Orlina as he travels around his hometown of Los Angeles and — his “second home” — Las Vegas. In it he shares aspects of his life, including his love for fashion, life within a Filipino family and coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. At the end of each of the eight episodes, he also includes a takeaway segment meant to “encourage viewers to live their best life.”

The idea to produce his own personal content began in spring 2017, when Orlina  decided he “wanted to take matters into [his] own hands.” Having experience working for companies like, TMZ, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment and as an entertainment host for the online network AfterBuzz TV, Orlina is constantly surrounded by creative people that inspired him to make something that will allow him to “explore [his] own creativity.”

He put together a team and started filming around Los Angeles. The first episode was uploaded on YouTube that summer. 

Since Your Time with Thomas’ initial release, Orlina developed two spinoff series based on the original show, The Shuffle and The Experience, both of which are also in an eight-episode format. The new shows allow him to stretch his reach to audiences outside the continent.

In Your Time with Thomas: The Shuffle, Orlina takes advantage of his digital platform. Through social media — specifically, Snapchat and Instagram — he asks viewers to send him questions through video. After collating a number of fan videos, he answers those questions in the episodes. The project highlights Orlina’s global audience, having featured faces of fans from various parts of the United States, the Philippines, England, Sweden, Hong Kong and Jamaica.

Your Time with Thomas: The Experience gives viewers a glimpse of Orlina’s adventures around the Philippine archipelago, including the beaches of Boracay and Palawan islands, and breezy mountain ridges of Tagaytay.  It’s on the fourth episode, “International News Story,” that Orlina brings viewers behind the scenes of his CNN interview as he visits Manila.

The Experience raises the bar for Orlina. Launched with Manila Up! TV Entertainment, the show has been aired on local television stations, including KXLA in Los Angeles and Asian Culture Television (ACTV) in Las Vegas. The entire season is now available on Orlina’s YouTube channel.

The shows are part of what Orlina hopes will help create his own brand — one that not only satisfies his nature as a working entrepreneur, but also a recognizable name for people who need someone to relate to.

As a person of color and a member of the LGBTQ community, Orlina aspires to represent the minority groups he is a part of. The LGBTQ news publication The Advocate wrote a feature about his advocacy within the community. On episode two of Your Time with Thomas, “Time to Come Out,” he shared his story of coming out as gay to his friends and family. He came out his parents through a letter, and they accepted him.

“I felt so relaxed and so happy that it was over,” he said. The episode was dedicated to people still struggling with sexual or gender identity. “The purpose behind the episode was to tell those people, ‘you’re not alone.'”

He especially wants to represent Filipinos in the United States through his visibility in mainstream media. “The voice [of the Filipino community] has been small. I’d love to be the one to change that,” he said.

Given the positive developments to his career over the past few months, Orlina called 2018 his best year yet, and is looking forward to what 2019 may bring.

“There are a lot of exciting things to come in 2019,” said Orlina.”I have a new show I’ve been working on that I think many different people around the world are going to connect with. It’s a new concept I created and has a brand new format.”

Orlina credited part of his success to his experience in CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts. He said working on productions within the program allowed him to make lasting connections and build trusting relationships.

“I’m still friends with the people I met at CSUN!” he said.

Orlina hopes his journey — working in media companies all the way to creating his own content — can inspire courageous artistry in others.

“Take creative risks. Trust in yourself and create what you want to create, and don’t hold back based on other people’s opinions,” he said. “Even if you get a hundred rejections, don’t give up on what you’re doing and don’t second-guess yourself. Keep doing it.”

To watch Thomas Orlina’s work, visit his YouTube channel at YourTimeWithThomas. You can also visit his website at www.thomasorlina.com.

Reposted from CSUN TODAY

Film has always provided a lens through which people can explore new worlds and cultures. The films that make up California State University, Northridge’s spring Cinematheque series offer the public a chance to experience the diverse, artistic expressions of Latin culture through the eyes of its filmmakers.

The series, “LatinAuteur,” spans several genres — dark comedy, thriller, drama, musical and fantasy, as well as feminist and queer cinema — and brings to CSUN’s Elaine and Alan Armer Screening Room a number of works rarely seen on the big screen.

“These are films that I don’t think a lot of young people know of,” said film professor Dianah Wynter, curator of the series. “I was teaching a class on classic filmmakers and one on aesthetics when I decided to add two films by director Gregory Nava, ‘El Norte’ and ‘My Family.’ The impact on the students was palpable. That’s when I realized that it’s time for us to do film series in Spanish.”

Wynter, a veteran television and film director, partnered with assistant professor of televisionAlessandro Jacchia, a veteran television producer in Europe, to create the “LatinAuteur” series. Among the works they chose are films by Luis Buñuel, Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Julie Taymor  and Patricia Martinez de Velazco.

The unifying theme of the series is “freedom of expression,” Wynter said.

Associate curator Jacchia noted that many of the filmmakers had to find creative ways to make the movies they wanted in light of government officials who didn’t always support unfettered artistic expression. Jacchia pointed to Spanish filmmaker Saura as an example.

“He had been trying to make subtle films of protest, filled with symbolism that hopefully escaped the notice of the authorities,” he said.

Wynter said the films chosen for “LatinAuteur” explore freedom of expression “both in terms of narrative discourse and in the historical context in which many of them were made.”

CSUN’s Cinematheque series is free and open the public every Wednesday night from now through May 15 in the Elaine and Alan Armer Screening Room, room 100, in Manzanita Hall. Manzanita Hall is located near the southwest corner of the campus near Nordhoff Street and Darby Avenue. The screenings begin at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, Feb. 13, Cinematheque will screen Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s “Tacones Lejanos (High Heels),” the story of a woman who returns home after 15 years to discover her daughter has married one of her mother’s ex-lovers.

“Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus)” will screen Feb. 20. The film, by director Marcel Camus, depicts the romantic Greek myth of Ovid’s Orpheus and Eurydice, as retold against the backdrop of Rio de Janeiro’s wild, intoxicating Carnival.

The CSUN Cinematheque is an innovative, year-round film screening program housed in the Elaine and Alan Armer Screening Room, a state-of-the-art 130-seat motion picture theater on the CSUN campus. The only event of its kind in the San Fernando Valley, the Cinematheque presents thematically designed retrospective classic films as well as aesthetically significant contemporary releases in conjunction with appearances of featured guest artists for lectures and panel discussions.

For a complete list of the “LatinAurteur” films and screening dates or more information about the Cinematheque series, visit movies.csun.edu.