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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Film school dean doubles as 'Smurfs' director
PATRICK GOLDSTEIN
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
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" to "The Mighty Ducks," that interests me most. It's his other job: dean of the school of filmmaking at the U.K.
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"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.
their experiences. But Kerner felt the school needed more 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.
My biggest concern with today's film schools is that they tend to offer students far more instruction in technique than in actual ideas.
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 disappointing showing of a pet project, 2006's "Charlotte's Web," Kerner was looking for a new chal-
But the student films I watched from UNCSA were loaded with strong ideas, wit and imagination — which may come as a bit of a
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.
COMME
"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 their skin."
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 not to blog about what they saw.)
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 to spend weeks at a time on movie sets, seeing their professor in action. Nearly 80 students spent time
From the point of view of Andrew Porter, a 2010 graduate of
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As much as Kerner would enjoy seeing his students make lofty art,
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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.
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PAGE 2
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Table of Contents
4 15 things about KU
5 Beak 'Em Bucks
6 KUID
8 Bus routes
10 KU lingo
11 Roommate conflict
13 Housing code
14 Study abroad
16 Career services
18 DUI
19 Emergency phones
20 Parking tales
21 Parking fines
22 Campus bucket list
23 Libraries
24 Q&A with Chancellor
25 Rec Center
27 KU Bookstore
30 Food cost
31 Nutrition
32 Sunscreen
33 Coffee shops
34 Cookie business
36 Hookah
38 Downtown history
40 Dodger divorce
43. Freshman anxiety
44 Excuses
45 Dorm room pranks
46 Myths & legends
47 Sleep
48 Honorary degrees
49 Drinking
50 Volunteering
51 Alternative breaks
52 Dumpster diving
53 Transportation
54 Tour of Lawrence
55 Intramurals
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