Author Archives: Jake Tracer

For many young filmmakers trying to catch their first big break, the hardest part is getting known. “That’s what it’s all about, getting your name out there and getting your work out there,” said Peter Hunziker, a UCLA undergraduate film student. Hunziker, now a story editor for Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel and just one […]

“Levity” contains a lot of moods, but the film’s title is rarely one of them. Even Ed Solomon, the film’s writer and director, attests to that. “It’s about a guilty man who makes a horrible mistake inexplicably,” Solomon said. “The central character is kind of a ghost who floats through the film.” In the film, […]

After performing across the world since the release of Ry Cooder’s “Buena Vista Social Club” album in 1996, Ibrahim Ferrer is finally starting to look old. Singing mainly songs from his recently released album “Buenos Hermanos” in a concert on Tuesday night in Royce Hall, Ferrer showed signs of aging not seen in concerts of […]

As a film student, Wayne Byrd wanted to educate others through his films. Now as a teacher, he’s still trying to do the same thing. Stressing an importance of life education through film, Byrd, a 2002 masters of fine arts graduate from the directing program of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, will present […]

In 1999, British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha bought a new pair of sneakers in a Los Angeles shoe store. Through an ongoing promotional deal, the shoes came with a free ticket to the Women’s World Cup. Since professional women’s soccer doesn’t exist in England on the large scale it does in the United States, she decided […]

Marina Goldovskaya likes to tell a story about a conversation she had while filming her 1992 documentary “Shattered Mirror.” While waiting in a three-to-four hour line at a Moscow gas station, she began filming as part of her video diary. A man in a car near her rolled down his window and asked her what […]

More than a year before September 11, 2001, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 1877, tried to organize the LAX security workforce to get more training. “They were making minimum wage with only four hours of training, and they were screening the bags,” said Karla Zombro, an organizer on the campaign and a UCLA […]