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barnaby with DVD

THE NEW NEWS NOW

READ OUR BACK ISSUES, 2003-2009

On this page our newsletter written by TRFT Director of Productions Barnaby Dallas

The Summer 2010 New News Starts Now

The Spring and Summer 2010 News, as it happens:

Our Associate Chair, Buddy Butler ,photo below, continues to garner awards and recognitions. He will be honored on Sunday, August 1, in Los Angeles with the Winona Fletcher Award at the Bi-Annual Black Theatre Network Conference. The Winona Fletcher Award recognizes Outstanding Achievement and Excellence in Black Theatre.

buddy

Congratulations Buddy! We are very proud of you.

Cheap Fun You Tube Channel

Below, Omar Miller with the crew of Plastic Dreams after shooting a scene on campus with them. All pictured are SJSU alums: Eugene Kim (Director), Matt Falkenthal(Producer), John Schmidt (DP), John LaRossa (Sound), John Zanki (Key Grip), Alex Sauer (A.D.) and Ikenna Okoye (actor).

Below, Alumi Matt Falkenthal, John Zanki, John Schimdt and John LaRossa visit the set of the summer feature CHEAP FUN while taking a break from their own feature film shoot PLASTIC DREAMS. Omar Miller shoots a scene in their film this week in San Jose. Also in the picture Ned Kopp, Nick Martinez and Barnaby Dallas.

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Barnaby,

Hope all is well with you. Things here have been busy, but good. I was hoping to get the support of SJSU on something. My short, The Super Holidays, is finished. We were fortunate enough to get accepted into New Filmmakers LA, Hollyshorts and Feel Good Film Festival.

We're now launching an effort to raise funds to make a half hour Christmas Special. We have set up an account with IndieGoGo and I was hoping that you may consider mentioning these achievements and our ongoing effort to raise funds for the Christmas Special through the TRFT email blast. Our link for IndieGoGo I appreciate any help you can provide us in getting the word out. Some of the cool things we're giving away with donations to our efforts are DVDs, characters animated after the doner and Associate Producer Credits.

Kevan C. Peterson
Cell: 650.784.6268

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Here’s a nice opportunity from San Jose Rep:

ED ASNER in FDR JULY 14-18th

RUSH TICKETS will be available at the Box Office half an hour before curtain. If the house is sold out, those purchasing rush tickets will be seated in the best possible seats (no shows, unsold wheelchair & companion seats, etc.). Rush patrons are seated by/at the discretion of the House Manager. The risk, of course, is that we may have more people come to the Box Office than we have seats/rush tickets to accommodate. It is, however, the one option we have to allow students in at a discounted rate. Rush tickets will be $25.Thank you, Karen Piemme Director of Outreach/Dramaturg

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All About Dad Screening

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Photos from "Cheap Fun," our Summer Feature Film

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While most students take the summer off TRFT students prepare to make a feature film. See Jeremy Inman's email to the crew:

Crew, I hope everyone is heading into a great 4th of July weekend. It might be the last stretch of good sleep you get before August! I want to thank everyone for their work up until this point. These last few weeks have provided a lot of forward momentum for the production and I'm confident that we're just about ready to move into production. The most important thing now is that you maintain frequent contact with your department heads. If they don't have you doing something between now and Tuesday I suggest you initiate contact to be sure that you're not needed, because chances are you will be. If you are not in a department yet and you need to be placed, feel free to email or call me personally AT ANY TIME. I have a number of jobs still open (ie crafts services) that need to be filled before production begins. Lastly, it is imperative that you SHOW UP ON MONDAY to check in with production. I will be in the office starting at 9AM and I will not go home until everyone has a job and a clear description of their responsibilities and I believe we are ready to begin shooting.

EVERY MEMBER OF THE CREW needs to show up for prep day from 9AM to 4PM at least. Crew who already have jobs will be working with their department heads and checking in with me and crew who DO NOT have jobs will be working with me to find and prepare for their job. If these hours seem strenuous to you then you will never make it through production. Having said all that; this movie has the potential to be the most rewarding experience of your life. We're all heading into battle with one clear goal: to tell the best story possible. To do this we need everyone on their game, and that means showing up Monday ON TIME and ready to prepare for the onslaught that will be production.

I look forward to stepping into the fray with all of you; let's be sure to do it on the right foot. See you Monday; stay tuned for your schedules. Sincerely, Jeremy M. Inman Producer
510.386.0055

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Hello Family and Friends,

I just want to drop you all a note with info for the performances that I am doing over the summer. We opened a few weeks ago and run until August 14. All performance are in L.A/Orange County.

Patrice Lakey (Maria)

Patrice is a thrilled to be back on stage after a 5 year hiatus. A Los Angeles native, Patrice has studied theatre at San Jose State University and the American Conservatory Theatre. Her favorite roles include Sister Margaret Alexander in Amen Corner, Mrs. Dickson in Intimate Apparel'and Busty Phantom in The Rocky Horror Show. Patrice has been singing since she was 6 years old and enjoys Big Band era jazz and blues standards. Patrice is the proud mother of her 2 year old son, Dallas.

I really hope to see ya'll. Its a great show. Go to www.shakespearebythesea.org for more info.

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immigration

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A nice letter about one of our films: Hello Scott, I just wanted to let you know that I "finally" bought a NEW copy of Generic Thriller from Amazon! I thought it was just great, the photography, the production values, the editing, the sound, the acting and of course most of all, the scriptwriting. Rarely does one encounter such educated, witty and intelligent dialogue in today's films. I was amazed how well the dialogue flowed in the finished product. I loved the literary refeferences and the comments related to Hitchcock. You should be very proud of this production as I found the writing and direction to be first rate. I just loved it! The writing on Generic Thriller is surely a work of genius. The next time I go to SJSU I will bring a nice box of apple fritters and bearclaws to the TA department!

Best regards, Mike Alvarado

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See All About Dad at Sundown Cinema in Campbell. the free, outdoor Sundown Cinema screening of "All About Dad" for Friday, July 16, 2010 in Downtown Campbell. The show will begin around 8:30 or 9pm, (as soon as it's dark enough to see the movie).

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Congratulations to RTVF professor Dr. Alison McKee whose paper “Read Place/Virtual Space: Venice, Narrative Architecture, and Metaverse-Building in Second Life” has been accepted to the 2010 International Conference on the Constructed Environment.

logoThe conference will be held in Venice, Italy from 17-19 November 2010 in conjunction with the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (la Biennale di Venezia), directed by Kazuyo Sejima and titled People meet in architecture.

From the website of the Venice Biennale:

The Venice Biennale … has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, for the International Art Exhibition and for the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance.

Dr. McKee’s work in and on Second Life grows out of an interest that was born when she and Dr. Kimb Massey co-taught RTVF 173: Media Theory and Research (now RTVF 180: Critical Studies and Research in RTVF), part of which was devoted to a study of avatars in Second Life.

Her work on Second Life continues in Fall 2010 when she will teach RTVF 135: Special Projects in Production. Together, she and students in the class will work to build a sustainable RTVF presence in Second Life to augment RTVF’s online presence and identity.

. . .

2010 TRFT Graduation Convocation

featured Guest Speaker and SJSU graduate, world-famous author, teacher, playwright, director, and film maker: Luis Valdez

A plaque was placed at the entrance of the Todd Theatre where he staged his first play while a student here, "The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa"

See the Photos

Several Student Successes: After being on the Radio in LA from '05-'07, in '08 I got a job in NAT'L TV ad sales for a company called FOX STATION SALES. I then worked as an assistant there from '08-'09. In 2009-till present I am now doing what I always thought about doing (since making the switch from radio to tv). I am current working for the largest REP FIRM/company in the nation "KATZ CONTINENTAL TV SALES" based out in Los Angeles. I'm working at a Television REP FIRM as a account executive selling ad space (tv commercials/interent) to all the major tv affiliates! ABC, NBC, CBS,FOX etc! So its going really well, and I wanted to let you know how I am doing. Your former student Alex Avlas

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Former department chair, college associate dean and film maker Mike Adams wants you to return with him to his roots, a documentary film he made in 1973 about Appalachians in Ohio. This film won a student Oscar:

James Jeffrey, TRFT grad class of 2009 accepted to Chapman College MFA program

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My name is B. Adriana Buenrostro; I'm graduating from San Jose State on May 29th 2010 with a degree in Radio/TV/Film and a minor in Spanish. I took several of your classes including the RTVF 198 internship class. I wanted to give you good news :)
I was able to get a job at KTNC 42- Estrella TV in San Francisco as an Account Executive. I also wanted to thank you because you and Alison McKee were the teachers that inspired and motivated me to reach my goal.

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Liquor Store Catcus wins the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Santa Cruz Film Festival! AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER Morton Marcus Memorial Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Liquor Store Cactus (Eugene Kim, USA)

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amyFrom the SF Chronicle's Leah Garchik: As to other San Francisco family matters, the movie we'd seen was "Seducing Charlie Barker," directed by Amy Glazer (pictured, left), who's well known as a theatrical director around here, and produced by Lynn Webb and Maurice Kanbar, a major supporter of independent film in San Francisco. Kanbar donated Blue Angel vodka for almost every film festival event. Happily (sort of), one of the characters in the film is a drunk, making for many product placement opportunities.

Anyway, this small-scale movie was set in New York, but mainly filmed here, the cinematic equivalent of "Let's put on a show; we could do it in the barn." In the array of local institutions and people who pitched in:

-- The movie introduces actress Heather Gordon, who plays an insatiable sexpot. She's a former Miss Marin.

-- Star Stephen Barker Turner, who plays an actor in the movie, is familiar to local ACT and Cal Shakes theatergoers. A year ago, Glazer shot glimpses of him appearing in Cal Shakes' production of "Private Lives." That footage, in the movie, serves as the character's memory of playing at the Delacorte Theater in New York's Central Park.

-- Union Square stands in for a New York downtown scene. Kanbar's apartment in Pacific Heights stands in for a New York apartment.

-- The actor's audition scenes were shot at the SF Playhouse. And scenes at a TV station were shot at KQED studios.

And this is how you make a movie - totally engrossing, but not 3-D - for less than $200,000. Amy's Film, the Web Site

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At the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards ceremony last night in San Francisco, THE KITE RUNNER received 5 awards, more than any other production. They included:

Best Overall Production
Original Script, Matthew Spangler (the other nominees were Tony Kushner, Amy Freed, and Sarah Ruhl)
Sound Design, Scott Edwards
Light Design, David Lee Cuthbert
Set Design,Vicki Smith

This is a tremendous honor not just for the individuals who received these awards, but for the Radio-Television-Film-Theatre Arts and Communication Studies Departments at San Jose State, who supported the genesis of this production. Congratulations SJSU!

Here's a nice picture and short article regarding the Bay Area Critics' Circle Theatre Awards. In the picture are Humaira Ghilzai (cultural consultant), Lani Wong (one of our former students who performed in Kite Runner on campus, as well as the professional productions), Matthew Spangler, Rick Lombardo (artistic director SJ Rep), David Lee Cuthbert (lighting designer).

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Ladies and gentlemen,

After the hugely successful premiere of our independent film, "Crackpot Comics", we (Lon Lopez and Nate Costa) have decided to have an "open" screening on Saturday, May 22. The show will start at 2pm. It's an "open" screening because it's not invitation only this time (we'll be selling tickets at local comic shops and wherever else we think we can sell them). Tickets are $10, and donations are greatly appreciate and, in fact, wholeheartedly encouraged. The "official" evite with a link to our webpage (which has a link to the PayPal/Donations site to purchase tickets) will be going out in the next couple days. This will give all of you, our friends, a chance to get a hold of a ticket before the general public has access to them (there are only 90 seats this time).

If you were unable to attend the premiere we hope you can make it out to this screening. To those of you that were at the premiere, feel free to come see it again. We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Thanks for your support,
Nate Costa

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MFA Creative Writing student Kellie Rice wins two big awards from the Broadcast Education Association, Best Student Screenplay and Best of Show, for her screenplay. This program is a cooperative effort between English and RTVF. Kellie Thanks Barnaby Dallas and David Kahn for helping her succeed in screenwriting.

 

 

GarChik