ACM SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARD WINNERS TAKE A BOW

ACM is dishing out $8,000 in scholarships and awards as the semester draws to a close. Our $1,000 SCREENWRITING AWARD winners, sponsored by the Grace Abernathy Fund are:

Tommy Chock, Seong Whang, and Julian Gilliam. A special $500 Honorable Mention award goes to Francisca Maia. Winners will use their awards to produce their scripts for the screen.

Further applause to Tommy Chock, who was also awarded a prestigious UH undergraduate research award to fund his film, ICE PALACE. It's a strong script, and now will have even stronger production values. Way to go, Tommy.

ACM also awarded two Hawai‘i Association of Broadcasters scholarship awards of $2500 to Brian Makanoa, and $2000 to James Hall. HAB has generously funded these faculty-designated scholarships for many years to deserving media production students.

ACM STUDENTS & FILMS GO INTERNATIONAL

Six ACM students have been invited to screen their films at the Shanghai International Film Festival next month in an inaugural project organized by Asst. Prof. Anne Misawa. Called SMART (for Student Media Art) Exchange, SIFF will select ACM student films to be shown in the annual June festival in China, and the Hawai‘i International Film Festival will select Shanghai University student films to be screened here in October.

Our first ACM students and their films to be invited to China for a June 20 screening are:

Seong Whang (director) and Jeremiah Tayao (producer): ELEVATION
Ty Sanga (director) and Julian Gilliam (producer): PLASTIC LEIS
Jay Hubert: STILL, and a second film, TUNNELS
Kaliko Palmiera: Steve Ma'i'i.

All films have been featured at HIFF in 2004 and 2005.

ACM FESTIVAL WINNERS

ACM student films and filmmakers continue to take honors in festivals near and far. Seong Whang's ELEVATION won Best Picture at the HPU Shorts on the Rocks festival. Jay Hubert's TUNNELS was awarded the top prize (Music – Short) in the Short Subject Film and Video category at the Houston Worldfest International Film Festival.

Jay has also received a scholarship to study for two semesters at the Beijing Film Academy.

REMINDER #1: CERTIFICATION WORKSHOP REQUIRED FOR ACM 310, 455

Students enrolled for ACM 310 – Cinematic Narrative Production, or ACM 455 – Indigenous Filmmaking – must complete a certification workshop in camera and editing. We've partnered with Pacific New Media to offer the all-day workshops. The first will be August 19. Enroll through Outreach College (LO8433). The fee is $100. For more information, see the PNM Summer 2006 Catalog or call up <www.outreach.hawaii.edu/pnm>.

ALSO – ACM 310 is a pre-requisite for ACM 405 – Documentary Production.

REMINDER #2: ACM REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJORS

New requirements for admission to, and completion of, the ACM major are posted on our website at <www.hawaii.edu/acm>. Click on “Academic Program.” The same information will be in the 2006-2007 UHM Catalog. The Fall 2006 Schedule of Courses is available, too.

NEW COURSES FOR 2007

ACM has been approved to roll out two new courses in 2007: Cinematography (ACM 312) and Visual Effects (ACM 325). Both have been offered (or will be offered in Fall) as “Topics” or “Seminar” courses. Starting in Spring, they'll be a permanent part of our curriculum.  

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION SEEKS ENTRIES

June 9 is the deadline to submit a college-made documentary to The David L. Wolper Student Documentary Awards. There is a $1,000 cash prize, plus $1,000 worth of film stock from Kodak. Visit <www.documentary.org> for details.

STUDY DOCUMENTARY, EARN 1 CREDIT

ACM students can earn 1 credit of ACM 390, Workshop in Creative Media, by enrolling for DIRECTING THE DOCUMENTARY, a Pacific New Media class to be held Saturday and Sunday, May 27-28, from 9 am to 4 pm each day in Sakamaki C103. Documentary filmmaker Sam Green will lead the workshop, which consists of a lively combination of lecture and discussion with screenings of clips from the instructor's films and other documentaries as illustration. Special emphasis is placed on researching a project, fundraising, conducting interviews, working with archival footage, and successful strategies for bringing a project to fruition. While the workshop fee is normally $200, students enrolling for ACM 390 credit pay only $146!! Enroll through Outreach College (Register for LO8495).

Sam Green's most recent feature-length film, THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, tells the story of a group of radical young women and men who tried to violently overthrow the US government during the late 1960s and ‘70s. There will be a free screening May 26 at 7 pm in the Yukioshi Room, Krauss 012.

FACULTY NEWS

Your ACM faculty will be spending the summer on their own film productions and other projects. They've also been busy making presentations hither and yon. Prof. Wimal Dissanayake made presentations on “Soap Operas Matter” to Rotary Clubs in Kaneohe and Kailua. Prof. Tom Brislin described the origins and growth of ACM in a presentation on Films Schools for the 21st Century at the Broadcast Education Association national conference. The title was “Indigenous Filmmaking, Digital Toolbelts and Superman Returns.”

Speaking of SUPERMAN RETURNS, ACM Director Chris Lee will be criss-crossing the country and globe with the premieres of the film he executive produced. It will open in Hawai'i June 30. In the meantime, he will give the keynote address to the University of Hawai‘i Alumni Association later this month.

PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS …

ACM will continue to present exciting programs in the coming academic year. In addition to new faculty and staff, you can look forward to:

A special symposium on the Korean Film Industry as part of our partnership with the Korean Film Commission. KOFIC and ACM will conduct a Sundance-style scriptwriting “boot camp” in September for Korean and Korean-American (and Korean-Canadian!) selected from an international search. ACM faculty Merata Mita, Wimal Dissanayake and Chris Lee will help teach and mentor the young writers.

Master Class Teleconferences with Hollywood's great directors, in a partnership program with the Directors Guild of American. ACM is grateful to Randal Kleiser, who conducted an in-person Master Class with us last month, and Asst. Prof. Joel Moffett, for helping guide this program.

More visits with more cast & crew from blockbuster films. You can probably guess who, but we're not telling … for now!

PUBLIC HEALTH VIDEO PROJECT SEEKS STUDENT

Interested in working this summer on a project to produce a 3-5 minute smoking awareness video aimed at youth? Contact Claudia Clement, director of lung health at the American Lung Association of Hawai‘i <healthed@ala-hawaii.org>.

LCC DIGITAL ARTS SHOWCASE DOWNTOWN

Our friends at Leeward Community College celebrate their 4th annual Digital Art Showcase May 13, 4:30 – 7 pm at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Center at Linekona (across the street at 1111 Victoria Street).   They'll feature animation, digital art & video, illustration, photography and web design.

KCC NEW MEDIA ARTS STUDENTS STRUTT THEIR STUFF TUESDAY

Our other friends at Kapiolani Community College feature their 2006 Demo Reel & Design Portfolio Presentation May 9 in the PCATT Lab, Kopiko 202. There's always LOTS of excellent student work on display in this excellent program.

SUMMER VIEWING

If you find yourself with some time on your hands this summer and nothing very exciting at the video store, check out these titles from the Wong A/V Center in Sinclair Library:

ROBOT STORIES (DVD 3593). An Animation Treat.
Z CHANNEL: A MAGNIFICIENT OBSESSION (DVD 3467). Great Documentary.
SIDEWAYS (DVD 3462). The little movie that could. You'll never drink merlot again.