A Word from our Chair

When I joined the Department of Film and Electronic Arts five years ago, I was as impressed by its tenacious spirit as I was its rich tradition. So many outstanding people had begun their careers in our classrooms and studios over the decades, and so many fine educators had trained them. The challenge facing the faculty now was how to best help the Department keep pace with the rapidly changing needs and technologies of the marketplace. In the process, we have secured increased funding for equipment, facilities and scholarships, recruited accomplished new faculty, and enhanced our relationship with the industry by frequently bringing Hollywood professionals to campus.

I am pleased to say that the results have been nothing less than spectacular.

In addition to supervising record numbers of students in valuable Los Angeles studio internships, we have seen our majors regularly take home more awards from the highly competitive Cal Arts Media Festival than those from any other school. Brian Fischer won four of the five top awards in 2003. He also received a grant from Kodak to produce a 35 mm film, "Fellini's Donut," which was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Cynthia Aguirre received the 2005 Kodak Cinematography Award. Marlowe Greenlee, Michelle Gevoian, and Junya Sakino won 1st Place Awards in 2006, while Best In Show honors went to Angie Piccirillo. This year Cuauhtzin Gutierrez and Connor O'Brien won 1st Place for Music Video; Kazuki Hirata, Chris Rock, and Jacqueline Kitt swept the top three awards, respectively, for Experimental Video; May Fecteau was a double winner for Documentary; and for Narrative Film Gabe Yeh, Gabriel Michael and Maceo Greenberg took 3rd, 4th, and 5th Place, respectively.

Furthermore, executives at Sony Media have featured our student films in Sony's Sundance Film Festival exhibit for the past two years. Marlaine Reiner, Richard Lee, Carlos Santillan and Anthony Perez received this honor in 2006. Anthony Perez was selected again in 2007, along with Austin Chavira and Rob Mestas. In addition to screenings of their films, our students participated on industry craft panels sponsored by Sony.

FEA majors are also on the cutting edge of new short films for the Internet. Ifilm currently has two of our films in the top ten nationally, in terms of hits. And John Castro's "The Debut" was distributed on DVD by Sony Pictures.

Another strength of the program is our strong Hollywood alumni base. Guy Bee has been the Director of Photography for such series as "ER" and "Wanted." John Dykstra won an Oscar for Special Effects for "Star Wars" and another for "Spiderman 2." Mark Steven Johnson wrote "Grumpy Old Men" and was Writer-Director of "Daredevil" and "Ghost Rider." Rod Pulido directed "The Flip Side" and was the first Filipino American filmmaker to be accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. Stu Rosen earned ten Los Angeles Emmy's, mainly for his work in children's television, and is now a member of our adjunct faculty. Ron Simonson is a noted Visual Effects Supervisor and Director of Photography with credits that include "Angels In America" and "Air Force One". Jonathan Lawton wrote "Pretty Woman" and "Under Seige". David Twohy wrote "The Fugitive" and was Writer-Director of "Terminal Velocity," "Pitch Black," and "The Chronicles of Riddick." Masanobu Takayanagi was Director of Photography for the Chilean film "Pretending" and Second Unit D.P. for the Oscar nominated "Babel." Gerson and Carina Sanginitto have created many short films, one of which was recently featured at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

And, of course, Steven Spielberg has more credits than we can list here.

It takes a strong faculty to help talented students become successful in their careers. Our teachers include both professionals from the industry and research scholars who analyze cinema using the tools of critical theory. I invite you to go to their individual pages to see their accomplishments. They are supported by a large contingent of part-time lecturers, an Academic Coordinator, and dedicated technical team.

In Film and Electronic Arts we try to provide our undergraduate and graduate students with the kind of one on one experience in a collaborative environment that encourages their creative and intellectual potential.

I will look forward to seeing you on campus soon. Or, as we like to say at CSU Long Beach, "see you at the Beach!"

Sincerely,

Craig Smith
Chair, Film & Electronic Arts