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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Theater lecturer brings Hollywood experience home
ANDREW HOSKINS
entertain@kansan.com
"This isn't a finger-painting session!" a stern Quentin Tarantino said as he corrected the handful of people huddled in the confines of his New York City apartment. "You can't all just dip your fingers into this and mess it up." Tarantino was performing a reading and critique of a script that night in 1999, and was protecting his creative expertise as the others tried to butt in with their opinions.
opportunities.
Presence in such a situation is an experience few people in the independent film industry
— and even fewer Kansas natives — can claim.
For most, even a chance encounter with such a prominent director would be a pipe dream, but School of Arts lecturer Laura Kirk was front and center that night. The script
Tarantino read that night was half hers.
"Lisa Picard is Famous," which she co-wrote with actor Nat DeWolf, was being critiqued by Tarantino because his girlfriend at the time, Mira Sorvino, was a producer for the movie. It was a significant moment in Kirk's film career.
"It was actually kind of funny and really stuck with me," Kirk said. "I always knew how lucky I was to have that night."
Although currently working as a lecturer for a "Performance for the Camera" class in the University theater department,
Kirk is predominantly an independent actress, producer and screenwriter whose professional network ranges from stars like Guy Pearce to Alan Arkin.
From humble beginnings on a farm in Lecompton, Kirk began her acting career began in
middle school, which carried her through high school. She then landed herself a creative and performing arts scholarship to the University.
During college, she interned.
"She [Kirk] has a wealth of experience both in front and behind the camera."
KEVIN WILLMOTT Film professor
at a theater in Connecticut, which led her to numerous New York City connections. Kirk moved to New York City immediately after graduation, had a stint in the theater, then moved on to commercials and guest appearances on TV shows.
Her big break came from
co-writing and starring in "Lisa Picard is Famous," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.
Two years later, she landed perhaps her most widely recognizable role opposite Guy Pearce as a flower seller in Simon Wells' big-budget "The Time Machine."
Matt Jacobson, associate professor of film and media studies, said he feels these experiences greatly benefit Kirk's students.
"Laura Kirk brings years of expertise and experience as a stage and screen actor to our department," Jacobson said. "I've worked with students who have taken her courses, and their abilities to collaborate and get performances out of their actors in their later works have improved substantially."
Kirk continues to work extensively in local independent
film, commonly with University film Professor Kevin Willmott. One of their most recent collaborations, "Jayhawkers", debuts Feb. 14 at the Lied Center. Their other recent cooperative, "The Sublime and Beautiful," debuted at Slamdance Film Festival last month, and will be going on a festival circuit throughout 2014.
Kirk is a slightly reserved woman whose eyes subtly reveal an uncommon emotional depth. The ability to "let go" and "stop acting" is an important mantra she teaches. She said she believes developing an actual on-screen interpersonal connection is much more important than just learning to act.
"Acting is playing at its highest level," Kirk said. "If you're really letting go and doing it, it's exhilarating."
Part of what make's Kirk's class unique is her current lifestyle. She has one foot in the film community and one in the classroom. Through her work and festival visits, she is constantly learning cutting-edge techniques used in modern film, and is then immediately able to pass firsthand knowledge to her students. Willmott said he feels this fact is invaluable.
"She has a wealth of experience both in front and behind the camera," Willmott said. "She combines a successful Hollywood acting resume with what it takes to produce an independent film. She is still a working actor and producer which makes it even more important."
Edited by Kaitlyn Klein
Allen responds to Farrow's abuse claims in open letter
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Woody Allen is again denying he molested adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow and is calling ex-partner Mia Farrow vindictive, spiteful and malevolent in an open letter published online Friday by The New York Times.
The 78-year-old filmmaker says Dylan Farrow's open letter published last week by The New York Times includes "creative flourishes that seem to have magically appeared during our 21-year estrangement."
"Of course, I did not molest Dylan," writes Allen. "I loved her and hope one day she will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter's well-being."
Allen was investigated for
the alleged molestation, but was never charged. A team of child abuse specialists from the Yale-New Haven Hospital, brought in to the case by prosecutors and police, concluded that Dylan Farrow had not been molested.
"Now it's 21 years later and Dylan has come forward with the accusations that the Yale experts investigated and found false," Allen said.
At the time of the breakup of their 12-year relationship more than two decades ago. Mia Farrow accused Allen of molesting Dylan Farrow. Allen has consistently denied the abuse allegation.
Their split followed the discovery of an affair between Allen and the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Soon-Yi Previn, when Previn was 19 or 21. (Her official date of birth is uncertain). Allen and Previn married in 1997 and have two adopted daughters.
"I still loved (Dylan) deeply, and felt guilty that by falling in love with Soon-Yi I had put her in the position of being used as a pawn for revenge," Allen said.
The "Annie Hall" and "Blue Jasmine" director again claims in his open letter that 7-year-old Dylan Farrow was coached by Mia Farrow.
In a statement made to The Hollywood Reporter late Friday, Dylan Farrow wrote that Mia Farrow was not the one who brought criminal charges
The 28-year-old Dylan Farrow, now married, currently lives in Florida under another name.
— "in fact, it was a pediatrician who reported the incident to the police based on my firsthand account." She also stated that the prosecutor found probable cause to prosecute Allen, but decided against it to protect what they called "the child victim."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Director and actor Woody Allen is again denying he molested adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow in an open letter published online Friday by The New York Times.
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