PAGE12C
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
PATRICK GOLDSTEIN
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
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LOS ANGELES — Veteran movie producer Jordan Kerner spent nearly 10 years finding a way to make "The Smurfs," which earned $35.6 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. But it's not his long track record in Hollywood, which includes producing everything from "Less Than Zero"
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UNCSA are getting an education not just in theory and production but in the often less-than-glamorous aspects of life in the trenches of Hollywood.
Kerner has recruited a host of faculty members who still have their day jobs, which helps give students a grounding in the kind of problem-solving necessary to survive on a film set. Through a shadowing program, students get
My biggest concern with today's film schools is that they tend to offer students far more instruction in technique than in actual ideas.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked," which will hit theaters this Christmas. He also has his students listen in on his conversations with his agent so they can develop an understanding of the demands of the marketplace.
up to talk to an actor, our kids would be right there with him. They also got to spend time with our editors, visual effects supervisor, sound designers and other crew members. Sometimes the discussions were difficult, but that was the whole point — it's a way to learn the whys and why nots of filmmaking." (With it being 2011, students had to sign release forms promising to blog about what
Kerner never imagined himself being a film school dean — in fact, he never went to film school himself. But after surviving a freak staph infection and enduring the
their experiences. But Kerner felt outside professionals on the faculty, so he recruited a host of industry pros, including producer Bob Gosse and Peter Bogdanovich, who teaches a freshman film class.
But the student films I watched
Immersion project, where students gain a deeper understanding of character and story by spending several weeks at places like the Veterans Artificial Limb Hospital in Philadelphia and Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans.
"They can't take cameras or recording devices — just a pad and pen," he says. "The whole idea is to go out and get to know people, hear their stories and get under
PAGE 34.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 201
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BUSINESS
Student-run cookie delivery service crumbles
MATT GALLOWAY
editor@kansan.com
The Lucky You Bakery, a student-run cookie delivery service that opened in January and last operated in April, will not reopen. The service was barely breaking even when the three owners threw in the towel, said Jack Rafferty, one of the co-owners.
The cookie has crumbled for Lawrence's late-night cookie delivery service.
Rafferty, a senior from Shawnee,
said caring for the business took a toll on him personally and academically.
Bailey Olsen and graduate Will McCullough, paid $300 per month to rent the facility's kitchen every Thursday through Saturday night.
"There are only so many hours in a certain week," Rafferty said. "If you have to commit so many to this project, then it's going to pull away from either your friendships or your study efforts. Something is going to suffer. For us, I'd say a lot of our friendships were strained."
The bakery operated out of the Ecumenical Christian Ministry building just west of Memorial Stadium. Rafferty, along with fellow student
The owners also paid $50 per night for a delivery driver, about $100 per week for ingredients and about $100 permonth in insurance, Rafferty said. To offset these costs, the bakery charged $12 for 13 cookies and $1.75 for a bottle of milk.
None of the three owners had any prior experience running a business. In fact, Olsen was the only owner who
even had any experience cooking. Knowing what he knows now, Rafferty said he would have waited until he graduated to open the bakery.
"To risk harming your academic standing for a business venture, I wouldn't say it's foolish because we did it and we learned a lot," Rafferty said, "but it is at least partially ill-advised. I think it's a poor investment of your time until your graduate."
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Lucky You Bakery currently has 472 likes on Facebook and had about 300 followers on Twitter before the owners disabled the account. Many frequent customers were surprised when it was announced the bakery was halting production on April 28.
"I don't think it surprised us because we had very loyal customers," Rafferty said. "So the problem wasn't delivering a good product and having someone order again. Our problem was that we weren't reaching enough people."
Rafferty said he appreciated the outpouring of support from his most valued customers.
The owners did not spend a single dollar in advertising. Instead, they relied on social media and word-of-mouth. Following a Feb. 10 article in The University Daily Kansan, the bakery reached its peak, averaging about $350 to $450 a night in sales, Rafferty said.
If the bakery could have stayed open another six months or year, Rafferty said he feels it could have
turned a corner. But given his course workload and Olsen's marriage this summer, he said the owners felt they would be unable to devote the amount of time to the bakery that it deserved.
Not all student entrepreneurs agree with Rafferty on waiting until graduation to open shop. Samantha Stultz, a senior from Shawnee, operates her own marketing and web business called KC Media Team. After going broke at Missouri's William Jewell College, Stultz started KC Media Team in 2009 and has been able to pay her way back to school with the funds. In fact, she said she purchased her most recent car with cash.
"I definitely feel like the company has helped me expand my marketing and my portfolio." Stultz said. "This has definitely helped me with money management, responsibility and personal skills. All around it was a good decision."
Overall, the four-month endeavor called Lucky You Bakery is a bittersweet experience for Rafferty. He has not stepped foot in Checkers, 2300 Louisiana St., since April because he said he is sick of seeing it from the numerous late-night ingredient runs.
"We weren't excited about closing," Rafferty said. "We didn't plan it. We never wanted to open this thing, build a fan base and then pull the rug out. But I think that, sometimes in life, things are out of your control."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Jack Rafferty reminisces his short-lived business selling cookies in the kitchen of Ecumenical Christian Ministries. He's no longer running Lucky You Bakery.
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