August 31, 2007 | Bronx Community College
Aspiring high school TV production and moviemakers got a lucky chance this summer at Bronx Community College (BCC). As participants in College Now — a program to help academically-motivated high school juniors and seniors to get a head-start on college by taking courses for college credit — they had a chance to hear from and question actual producers and movie makers about how they got their career starts through BCC’s Media Technology Program.
The four week summer experience provided a jumpstart into higher education by way of professional producers and directors (and others), who asked the burgeoning high school video and moviemakers to find out as much as they can about life, to design compelling and probing questions that have meaning as probing exercises to help them begin to write plots and scripts. Learning to do this, the seven guest speakers said, helps film and movie makers — young or old — to crystallize messages to which audiences will want to respond.
“The summer program in Film and Television Studies at Bronx Community College is designed, in part, to help students understand the importance of critical thinking and good writing skills as necessary groundwork for quality filmmaking,” said Dr. Michael Roggow, director of Collaborative Programs at BCC. “We want our students to have rich reserves to draw from to formulate discerning questions and to make compelling arguments. Careers in filmmaking and media technology require this. Interdisciplinary education is key preparation,” Dr. Roggow added.
During the four-week experience, the students, working in teams, drafted, edited and created graphics for riveting public service announcements with specific themes, much like public service announcement themes are drafted by professionals at TV and radio stations. Students focused on the following themes for their projects this summer: HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence, Pollution, Homelessness and Anti-Drug PSA’s.
The students came from BCC’s University Heights HS, a New York City Department of Education high school which is located on BCC’s campus; Dewitt Clinton HS; Professional Performing Arts HS; HS for Environmental Studies; Eagle Academy for Young Men; Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy; Park East High School in Manhattan; and Francis Lewis HS in Queens.
“Having a one on one discussion with television directors, writers, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers as these high school students did this summer is an unbelievable experience” stated Prof. Jeffrey Wisotsky, director of BCC’s Media Technology Program. “Fundamentally, we’re trying to give these students the tools they need to build a career for themselves in the thriving film and video sector. We focused this summer on letting our students find the professional in themselves. Along the way, they develop a sense of self-worth, a solid sense of where they stand in the world and where they can go. And they discover how exhilarating this kind of independence and self-reliance is.
Television and Film Director John David Coles, most noted for his directing in the popular HBO sitcom, “Sex and the City,” and episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Law & Order,” “The West Wing” and “Desperate Housewives,”urged students to “read as much as possible and know a little bit about everything” if you are thinking about a career in TV, film and moviemaking.
Richard Brick, producer for the movie, “Hanging With the Homeboys,” who has worked with Harry Belafonte and Woody Allen, and was chairperson of the graduate film division at Columbia University and Commissioner of the New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting from 1992 – 1994 encouraged students to “accumulate good technical skills. Mastery of skills will make people notice you in the business.”
Videographer and Cameraman Bahati Adrian Best, Camera Operator on ABC TV’s “Good Morning America,” for 20 years, who has worked on videotaping The Super Bowl and The Indianapolis 500, recommended that “students learn early how to work with different kinds of people because on a video or movie set students may find themselves working with many departments and people with many different personalities and expectations.”
New York based filmmaker, cinematographer Edwin Pagan and director Derek Velez Partridge shared their experiences about getting into the business.
Sonia Gonzalez also a relative newcomer to the TV, film industry, who described herself as an editor and producer, enthusiastically urged students “to always be determined and prepared.” She then told how she had written a three-page single-spaced letter to Spike Lee, which resulted in her being hired to work on the movie, Jungle Fever. It was her first paying movie job.
Composer and Orchestrator Larry Hochman who has received three Tony nominations for best orchestrations: “Monty Python’s Spamalot” (2005), “Fiddler on the Roof ” (2004) and “A Class Act” (2001) told students that “in order to be successful people need achievement, approval, income, and affection in their lives.”
The College Now Initiative, in conjunction with BCC’s Communication Arts & Sciences Department was offered to ambitious high school students for college credit the summer (with an) opportunity for many students to take a second credit bearing College Now course in BCC’s Media Technology program in Fall 2007, Field Television Production. The summer Media Technology College Now experience for high school students culminated in a late July award reception for final presentations of completed storyboards for public service announcements. Awards were presented at a final class reception to all College Now students by Dr. Debra Gonsher, Chair, Communications Arts and Sciences Department and Professor Jeffrey Wisotsky, Director CAS Media Technology Program.
For more information about how to apply for BCC’s Media Tech program, call the director of BCC’s Media Technology Program Professor Jeffrey Wisotsky (718) 289-5572. To find out more about College Now, please call Dr. Michael Roggow, Director of CUNY Collaborative Programs and Freshman Communities and Coordinator of the College Now Program at (718) 289-5357.
Press, Radio, TV
Please call: Bryant Mason
Media Relations Specialist
(718) 289-5208
bryant.mason@bcc.cuny.edu
Bronx Community College (BCC) of The City University of New York celebrates its 50th anniversary of service to students in New York City in 2007. Over the past five years, enrollment has increased 20 per cent to 9,000 students, reflecting the reliance of the surrounding communities on it as a pathway to a better life. BCC President Carolyn G. Williams is in her 11th year of leadership service to the College, which is located on a 44-acre campus at West 181st Street & University Avenue, formerly New York University’s uptown campus until 1973.
BCC students from over 109 nations receive an excellent preparation to go on to four-year colleges or to advance into successful vocational careers. Programs offered at BCC include Digital Arts, Computer Information Systems, Education Associate, Nursing, Nuclear Medicine Technology, RadiologicTechnology, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, Liberal Arts, Marketing, Accounting, Human Services, Media Technology and Paralegal Studies.
The College is home to initiatives not commonly associated with two-year institutions, such as the Center for Sustainable Energy, which promotes the use of renewable and efficient energy technologies in urban communities. The National Center for Educational Alliances (NCEA) is currently collaborating with South African Further Education and Training Colleges and universities to create linkages between these institutions. NCEA also coordinates the College’s international initiatives and the annual International Education Week.
The Center has also facilitated a campus wide effort to create BCC’s Center for Tolerance and Understanding. The Center for Teaching Excellence offers faculty development to promote student achievement and to stimulate discussions to keep the teaching and learning process vital and dynamic.
Take a look at BCC’s website at www.bcc.cuny.edu