As a visual medium, film is adept at crossing borders to tell stories. It makes sense, then, that students of film are equally capable of crossing borders to tell stories of their own. A number of graduating undergraduate film students have come from other countries to study at UCLA. In some ways, these students have […]
Author Archives: Nick Rudman
Student short films may go on-demand
Shorttakes, which takes place tonight for the 13th time, is an established UCLA tradition. But don’t think the on-campus film festival is the same after all these years. This year marks some important changes for the annual highlight of Campus Events’ film division. The event will still showcase the artistic output of college students, but […]
A big opportunity for small shops
Some might think of this upcoming weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books as a sanctuary for independent booksellers, a two-day respite from stressful competition from large chains such as Borders or Barnes & Noble ““ in short, a time when the independents can finally get the exposure they are mostly denied. However, those two […]
Silent Bob speaks
Famed comedian Jack Benny was known for his notoriously self-deprecating humor. It’s appropriate, then, that a recipient of an award named after Benny might resort to similar strategies. “This takes the place of the Oscar I’ll never get,” said Kevin Smith, writer and director of such films as “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Chasing Amy,” and winner […]
Out of the past
After spending the better part of a decade trying to get his first feature film produced, Rian Johnson has some advice for aspiring filmmakers. “It’s just a matter of sticking around,” he said. “If you can stick around for seven years, and you’ve got something that you keep pushing, eventually people will let you make […]
Shifting Focus
Richard Kline has been a cinematographer longer than most UCLA students have been alive ““ long enough to remember a time when artistic innovation was not as appreciated in the film industry as it is now. “When I started out, studios had total control of everything, and heads of department would cite what they did […]
Outlook: Sunny
Cathy Schulman does not hesitate to say which film festival she prefers over all others. “There’s nothing I love more than Sundance,” said Schulman, who teaches in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s producers program. “I always feel hopeful that my films will premiere there, first and foremost.” Schulman, a longtime film producer […]