Parkie perqs (short for perquisites....meaning special opportunities and events JUST for you....)

Being a “Parkie” sure has its perqs. Ready for another one?

David Spiegelman ’80, Senior Executive Vice President, Domestic TV Distribution and Marketing for New Line Cinema, is offering all Park students, faculty and staff a FREE sneak-peek pre-release screening of New Line's new feature film, Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

The film will screen at Hoyts Cinema in the Pyramid Mall at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19 -- just for the Park School.

You'll need your Park Card to get in; if you don't have one, stop by PPECS to pick yours up.

Hope you all will take advantage of this wonderful “Park Perq.”

Parkie perqs (short for perquisites....meaning special opportunities and events JUST for you....)

Being a “Parkie” sure has its perqs. Ready for another one?

David Spiegelman ’80, Senior Executive Vice President, Domestic TV Distribution and Marketing for New Line Cinema, is offering all Park students, faculty and staff a FREE sneak-peek pre-release screening of New Line's new feature film, /Fracture/ starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

The film Fracture will screen at Hoyts Cinema in the Pyramid Mall at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19 -- just for the Park School.

Bring your Park Card to get you in the door; if you don't have one, stop by PPECS to pick yours up.

Hope you all will take advantage of this wonderful “Park Perq.”

Live (sort of) from the future of virtual worlds...

10 a.m.

I’m sitting here in the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC, site of the first-ever Virtual Worlds conference – a gathering of 600 industry professionals (and a few academics) eager to learn as much as they can about virtual environments so they can jump ahead of the pack and become the next digiterati.

It’s dot.com déjà vu, from start to finish.

Today’s opening panel consists of five guys – all white guys – talking with huge "authority about things they can’t possibly know or predict.

Each one is (not very subtly) pushing his own business model: 3D is essential (no, it’s not). Second Life needs competition (No, it doesn’t). User-generated content is creative anarchy (Nothing great (like the film Titanic, for example) will ever beproduced by the unwashed masses.

One of the five is more open than the others to what’s possible (anything), but it turns out that’s his job. Jerry Paffendorf is the Resident Futurist at The Electric Sheep, one of the conference sponsors. He makes his living keeping track of what’s going on now and imagining what might happen next.

His answer: Anything.

I think we need a Resident Futurist in the Park School: Nobody needs to stay connected to the future like higher education does…

Gotta go...believe it or not, the woman sitting in front of me has objected to my typing during the sessions. My 'tap-tapping' is apparently distracting her....I reminded her that we're at a VIRTUAL WORLDS conference, and that she is surrounded by people with laptops open, tap-tapping away....)


-------------------------
11 a.m.

She moved. (Kim Gregson explained to her in no uncertain terms that SHE owned the problem...) Problem is, she moved down two rows, and the guy in front of her was (you guessed it) tap-tapping away on his laptop. Seems there's no escape from we crazy laptoppers when you go to a Virtual Worlds conference. Go figure.


-------------------------
1:55 p.m.

The most interesting thing that came out of this morning's sessions (in my opinion, but hey, this is MY blog) had nothing to do with the panels or the scheduled program.

After the 11 a.m. session, which focused on ways to merge virtual activities with real-world activities, a guy got up to the microphone to ask a question. Here's (pretty close to) what he said (I was trying to tap-tap quietly and it slowed down my notetaking):

3D virtual worlds will replace 2D Web presentations because 3D reflects the organization of the human cortex.

We have huge processing power associated with 3D because that's the nature of our world; we have very little processing power for 2D presentations.

We are social animals.

We care about our identity because that's how we find mates.

In virtual worlds, we finally have a technology that symbiotically matches how our brains work.

And that’s why virtual worlds will replace traditional Web presentations, which will basically just fade away.

Interesting idea.

His name is Jim Bower, and he's not just a guy with some good ideas. He's also a professor of neurocomputation at the University of Texas at San Antonio and founder of a really interesting Web site for kids, Whyville.org.

I just emailed him to see if he can come to the Park School next fall to talk to us about big ideas, virtual worlds, and learning.

------------------------------------

2:20

I'm listening to Tor Myhren, evp for Leo Burnett advertising, talking about Pontiac's presence in Second Life (Motorati). They created an island where people can come and build their own car, and then race it on the speedtrack next door. It's an interesting way to get consumers to think that Pontiac is a cool brand -- how's that for an advertising achievement?

It's all well and good, but he's talking about how cheap it is to have a real impact in a demographic that's really hard to reach. And all I can really hear is the rush of every corporation in the country into Second Life, which is about to be littered -- and I use the term thoughtfully -- with commercialism of every type, style, color and size.

I'm staying in Times Square...I can just imagine it:








_______________________________________________________

Lisa Drew's students win top honors - from New York to Alaska!

New journalism professor Lisa Drew has more reason than most people to pay attention to this year's national college media competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

SPJ sponsors one of the most prestigious media competitions in the country each year, and hundreds of schools enter the work of their best and brightest students.

But Lisa may be the only faculty member in the 50 states who may find her students competing against....her students.

Lisa's students at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks took first place in their regional competition with work they completed in her digital journalism course in the spring of 2006.

Her students in the Park School are finalists in our regional competition for work they completed in her digital journalism course in the fall of 2006.

If we take first place in our region, Lisa's students in Alaska will compete against Lisa's students in Ithaca to take the top honor nationally.

(We know she'd be rooting for her Parkies...)

Become a professional television producer....in Park. This weekend.

Are you interested in television production?

Do you want to leave school with as much "real life" experience as you possibly can have?

Do you realize the value of having high-level allies and mentors in the incredibly competitive television industry?

Did you say yes to any of those questions?

If so, here's what you need to be doing this weekend:

Josh Beck and Doug Bailey, Park alum and execs at the Discovery Channel, are coming to campus to present “From Pitch To Air: The Life of a Project” -- a one-credit mini-course in television program development.

It's an opportunity to work with the pros on a 'real life' development process -- as close to professional experience as you can get in a college environment.

Enrollment is limited to 12 students, juniors and seniors only. Register online through Homer.

Wouldn't YOU like to work at the LOC? (Library of Congress, of course....check out the list of paid internships!)

Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program

This program offers undergraduate and graduate students insights into the environment and culture of the world's largest and most comprehensive repository of human knowledge. Working with the staff, curators, and incomparable collections of the Library of Congress, interns will be exposed to a broad spectrum of library work, introducing them to principles of preservation, reference, access standards, information management, and the U.S. Copyright System.

The application package must include the following materials:

- Two (2) letters of recommendation from an appropriate professor or employer attesting to the applicant's proficiency, reliability and the feasibility of his/her carrying out assignments.
- Transcript(s) from the current or most recently attended university or college. Unofficial photocopies will be accepted.

Applications will be accepted only online and should be sent to:

2007 Summer Intern Program Coordinating Committee at interns07@loc.gov.

Questions about the program can be emailed to: questions07@loc.gov.

All applications (and supporting materials) must be received by midnight EST, Monday, April 9, 2007.

Eligibility:
(see below under: Citizenship Requirements)

Terms:
Summer internships will begin June 4, 2007, and run through August 10, 2007. Interns will work full-time (40 hours per week), Monday through Friday, and will receive a taxable income of $300 per week, and are eligible for Metrochek, a transit subsidy program for qualified individuals who use the Metro system, Virginia Rail Express, MARC commuter trains, and county and commercial buses and qualified commercial van pools to commute to their jobs at the Library.

Subject Areas of Interest:
American History
History of Popular and Graphic Arts, Architecture, and Design
History of Photography
Manuscript Drama
Film, Television and Radio
Music
Sound Recordings
American Popular culture
Rare Books and Book Arts
Preservation and Conservation

To expedite the application and selection process, please include email address on all forms and correspondence.

If you are accepted, you will participate in this program for 10 week(s).

Application Dates:
Applications will be accepted after March 16, 2007 until April 9, 2007.

Stipend/Compensation:
$300.00 per week

For More Information:
http://www.loc.gov/hr/jrfellows/

Citizenship Requirements:
US Citizenship Required. Applicants must be U. S. citizens currently enrolled in a degree-granting program of study at an accredited institution of higher learning at the undergraduate (college, university, or Tribal College) or graduate levels, or have graduated since August 2006 from an undergraduate or graduate program.

Applications Open To:
Undergraduate Student
Graduate Student

Categories:
Humanities, Art, and Culture
Library Sciences
Information Technology
Collections Conservation and Preservation
Geography and Maps
Government and Business Administration


Contact & Application Information:
Name: Leon Turner
Phone: 202-707-2087
Fax: 202-252-2045
Email: questions06@loc.gov

A paid summer internship in instructional design / technology....(thanks to an alum)

A 2005 alum got in touch this afternoon to let us know about an amazing internship (paid!) opportunity in training and instructional technology. If you're interested, email Kaitlyn Bergan at kaitlyn.bergan@gmail.com:


Datatel's Training Team is recruiting for an enthusiastic person who is looking for "real world" and operations experience. This is an ideal opportunity for a student who is interested in learning first hand what it takes to be part of a successful In-house Training Team. In this position, you will get exposure to different areas within training and experience what it is like to work in a corporate environment. The ideal person would be someone interested in curriculum development and instructional design exposure.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

o Conducting and reviewing survey and training evaluation administration (creation, distribution, analysis)
o Monthly CT report (compile statistics from Training Center)
o Creating name tents and rosters for classes
o Determining low-enrollment classes and marketing them on Connect or via email to specific audiences
o Monitoring the class wish list and suggest additions to the course schedule
o Maintaining the automated email setup in Training Center (class changes notifications, cancellation, confirmations, etc.)
o Serve as an editor/tester to proofread all course material and test any online course material
o Participate on an instructional design team and provide input into the design of learning solutions
o Work with staff members to develop learning solutions, either classroom or eLearning based (learning material in subject areas could include: professional skills, software applications or leadership


The ideal candidate is a college sophomore or junior who is pursuing a degree in Curriculum Development or Instructional Design/Business Administration or has a genuine interest in Training. You have to be organized, detail oriented, and have the ability to demonstrate resourcefulness and perseverance. Further, the successful candidate must be articulate and have the ability to communicate in a positive and professional manner. Experience with Microsoft Office applications is required and experience with Databases, Lotus Notes or SharePoint is a plus.

This is a paid internship, which may be eligible for academic credit. Ideally we would like the intern to start in May 14, 2007 and work throughout the summer break for 40 hours/week. This position is located at our corporate office in Fairfax, Virginia.

Summer internships -- paid!

Interested in finding a great summer internship -- and getting paid for it?

Take a look at the requirements for the Park School's Big Apple Internship in New York City, and the Emerson internship.



And remember -- if you're thinking about a summer internship, be sure to attend the sexual harassment training sessions in Park this spring. There are posters up around Park announcing the schedule...

In the "Nobody said life was fair...." category

Hey,

I got an email this weekend from one of the students whose name somehow ended up on the RIAA (recording industry) list of college students who have illegally downloaded copyrighted music.

My guess is, most of you reading this could just as easily have ended up on that list (those of you who have never, ever, ever downloaded a song from a file-sharing Web site can stop reading this right now, and I apologize for assuming guilt instead of innocence).

For the rest of you, it's time to stop and think about it.

The students who ended up on the list have a couple of hard choices: one is to pay the RIAA $3,000 in 'settlement' fees. Right now (literally in the next three weeks). In cash.

The other is to wait for the lawsuit, which could end up costing the charged students $750 per downloaded song. One student I heard from estimated that those fines could end up costing him/her more than $600,000 (OK, so not everybody has downloaded that many songs....but over the past five years? maybe so....)

The point here is this: It probably doesn't make much sense to you that you shouldn't go to limewire and other sites and pick up the music you want. You've been doing it for years. And I am absolutely convinced that the time will come when the recording industry will have to develop a new market model that eliminates this kind of public relations stunt (which is, in my opinion, exactly what this is).

But that's not where we are today.

Today, downloading music is illegal. And like all illegal activities, there are consequences when you get caught -- even if everybody you know is doing it, too.

That means you could easily find a $3,000 "settlement deal" from the RIAA in your mailbox -- just like some of your fellow Parkies did this week.

And that means it's time to take a look at the number of songs you have in your cache, multiply that number by $750, and think about what that kind of fine would mean to your plans for the future.

Is it fair that a small number of kids would be singled out for this kind of 'special treatment'?

Nope.

But nobody said life -- or the RIAA -- is fair.

Buzzsaw Brings Iraq War Films to Park

I've been a journalist since before you were born (and yes, that's an ad for a shoe store up in College Town, but this is more important than shoes), and I've always believed that the most important mission of journalism is to present the truth, however and wherever it can.

Buzzsaw Haircut, the college's 'alternative' magazine, does that on a regular basis (as do the rest of our student media). But in April, Buzzsaw is going above and beyond its standard practice to engage the campus community in one of the most critically important issues of our day: the war in Iraq.

The magazine is bringing to campus two compelling and enlightening films about the war, both of which will expand your perspective and help you think critically about the conflict and our national policies and practices associated with it.

Iraq War Film Screenings:

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Nominated for Grand Jury Prize Sundance 2007.
April 3rd. 7pm Park Auditorium

When I Came Home with Director Dan Lohaus
Winner of the 2006 New York Loves Film
Documentary Feature Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival.
April 10th 7pm Park Auditorium.
Director Dan Lohaus will be coming to Park to discuss his film.

Mark your calendars...and a special thanks to Buzzsaw for challenging us to engage in the issues that matter most.

It's that time of year again...

AWARDS!

Once again, the Park School's student media have taken top honors in both regional and national competitions, besting some of the largest and most prestigious comm schools in the country. We're used to it, I know, but I never stop being amazed at the quality and professionalism of our media....you guys really are the best.

And to prove it:

A summary of the Ithacan's latest achievements from Michael Serino:

It is my pleasure to announce that The Ithacan was presented with two
Silver Crown Awards by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and
an "Apple Award" for Best of Show at the Spring College Media
Convention in New York City on March 17.

The Gold and Silver Crowns are the top honors awarded to college
newspapers by the CSPA. The awards were for issues produced during
the fall 2005 and spring 2006 semesters; Elizabeth Quill ’06 was the
paper's editor in chief during that period.

The "Apple Award" is the convention's Best of Show award, presented
in various categories for newspapers, magazines and yearbooks. The
Ithacan has won this award four times in the six years it has been
offered. This year's winning entry was produced during the fall
semester under the editorship of Vanessa Schneider ’07.

In addition, Chris Baxter ’07 won a Certificate of Merit for News
Feature Writing for Newspapers and Alejandro de los Rios ’07 won a
Certificate of Merit for Sports Column Writing for Newspapers in
CSPA's Gold Circle Awards.

Please join me in congratulating our students on their latest
achievements.

In addition:

And ICTV won an Apple Award for Best of Show.

And FINALLY:
The following students from Ithaca College have been selected to receive Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards. The actual place awarded will be announced at the award's ceremony this spring.

* Christopher Baxter, In-Depth Reporting, "Screenings on Standby"
* Mallory Diamond, General News Reporting, "Ithaca College's black market" * Vanessa Schnrider, Feature Writing, "Living a Second Life"
* Staff, Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper, "The
Ithacan"
* Staff, TV Newscast, "Newswatch 16"
* Staff, Best All-Around Independent Online Student Publication,
"Provoke: Our Medicated Society" (Produced by the students in Lisa Drew's Digital Journalism Class in fall 2006)
* Ray Villeda/Colin Bonzey, TV General News Reporting, "Plan B"






Not bad, eh?

Congratulations to everybody who works so hard and performs so amazingly well... you earn every kudo you receive -- and isn't it great that there are SO many of them?

Of COURSE we wouldn't ignore the amazing photography in Park....

Hey,

You may have noticed that we're in the process of installing four video screens in the Park lobby. It has always been our intention to use that wall for the presentation of student and faculty work -- film, video, Web, and photos -- as a reflection of the amazing creativity and dynamic talent in the school.

I got an email from a student concerned that we were no longer going to be displaying student photographs in the lobby -- and I want to assure you all that that's not the case. The wall to the right of the lobby (where the cozy chairs are now) will be dedicated to "real life" photographic work; we're talking now about how best to present and protect them.

We'll also be presenting a slideshow of student and faculty work on one of the video screens, which will allow us to feature MANY more photographs than the single glass cases used to accommodate (as you may recall, we often had three or four photographs in those spaces for months at a time).

Just wanted to clarify: the design of the lobby is intended to be welcoming AND to celebrate the work that you do, every day, in the school. Phase II of the renovation will occur this summer, and will include a new floor, an extension of the improvements down both hallways, additional screens, and more ceiling treatments. By fall 2007, we'll have a central public space in the Park School worthy of its community and the work that you all do.

I can't wait.

300....it's a Park thing...

Park alum Debbie Johnson and her husband Zach Snyder are the producer and director (respectively) of the new blockbuster movie, "300," which broke box office records last weekend.


You can see them in a video clip:
http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/bl300premzs030507.htm

Park's own Jetsetter....check it out!

From: Renee Dunaway
Date: March 17, 2007 6:09:02 PM EST
To: Renée Dunaway
Subject: My Album Release

Hi Everybody!

I wanted to drop a note letting you know that my band Jetsetter’s
first album, VasoVerga, has now hit the proverbial shelves!

Jetsetter consists of me and my dear friend Tyler Finck. We wrote
and produced all of the songs together. As he’s a fellow
perfectionist, I have to say we wouldn’t release anything we weren’t
completely passionate and proud of.

To hear some songs or snag a copy, please visit us at
http://www.gojetsetter.com. The album will also be available at
iTunes in a few weeks. There’s an email signup on our page if you’d
like to keep abreast of upcoming radio/magazine appearances.

Have a fabulous St. Patty’s Day!


-Renee

FLEFF returns to IC...don't miss it!

2007 FLEFF at a Glance


FLEFF is a one week multimedia interarts extravaganza that reboots the environment and sustainability into a larger global conversation, embracing issues ranging from labor, war, health, disease, music, intellectual property, fine art, software, remix culture, economics, archives, AIDS, women’s rights and human rights.

The 2007 FLEFF programming streams are Maps and Memes, Metropoli, Panic Attacks, and Soundscaping.

o 10th year, 2nd year housed entirely at Ithaca College “Showcases Ithaca College as regional and national center for thinking differently--in new ways, interfaces and forms--about the environment and sustainability."

o Major collaboration between Ithaca College 7th Art Corporation, home of Fall Creek and Cinemapolis Theatres in downtown Ithaca

o Interrogating, destabilizing, expanding and reimaginging the definition of the environment beyond the expected, the assumed, the predictable.

o Conceptualizing environments, rather than the environment.

o 150 total events

o NEW! 4 World Premieres: Memescaping, Panic Hits Home, Man with a Movie Camera, His People

o 37 Featured Guests, including filmmakers, artists, musicians, writers, scholars, dancer, industry insiders, screenwriters, composers, journalists, radio producer

o NEW! 5 screenwriters and industry professionals, including Steve Gordon, Steve Ginsberg, Craig Volk, Jay Craven and Giovanna Pollarolo

o Guests represent Venezuela, Peru, Singapore, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Swaziland, Poland, Argentine, Mexico and the US

o NEW! 11 Festival Fellows, graduate students from universities across the United States

o NEW! Panic Hits Home, a 26th Anniversary Women Direct special commission by Renate Ferro, digital media installation on the Cold War and the War on Terror


o NEW! Twilight Poetry readings, 6 poets in theaters reading before the films

o 7 festival mini courses, across all six schools and divisions

o 97 films and videos

o Films and videos from 41 different countries, including, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, England, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, India, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico,Morocco,Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Palestine,Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,Uganda, United States, USSR/Russia, Venezuela

o Film and Videos on topics ranging from: race, animation, political intrigue, electronic art, infant mortality, coffee, nuclear testing, intellectual property rights, fair trade, ecotourism, recycling, HIV/AIDS, beauty shops, Turkish music, the Algerian conflict, hyperdebt, Darfur, immigration, climate change, remix, industrial decay, classical music, ADHD, holocausts, mercenary training, Venezuelan political economy, radical environmentalism, genetic engineering, gender and science, genocide, Jewish immigration, Iraq, transgendered identities, the Middle East, Jonestown, riots, Chiapas, indigeneous people, winemaking, Brazilian political economy, Lula da Silva, Hugo Chavez, subaltern activists, socialist utopias, globalization, diaspora, war on terror, war in Iraq, Middle Eastern avant garde, meth, Katrina, war, sex, alternate energy, sexualities, missionaries, orchestras, sounds, Nelson Mandela, Uzbekistan, diaspora, love, romance, Cuba, trauma, rivers, panic

o 18 feature length international narrative and documentary films, downtown at Cinemapolis and Fall Creek, for a total of 26 festival screenings

o 145 total pieces of media, including radio, film and video, installations, digital art, games, ambient media and remix

o 26 faculty from all over the IC campus opening their classrooms to festival films and leading discussion, and opening these sessions to the public

o NEW! 3 Silent Films with live music, all world premieres of new original scores, one with world premiere of image remix and sound (Memescapes)

o 8 Galas, Gatherings and Concerts. NEW: All parties with Live Music from central New York musicians and bands

o 2 radio specials with Jonathan Miller, radio producer, and Gene Endres

o NEWS! 5 special FLEFF Forums on hot button topics ranging from Soundscaping and collaboration, Crystal Meth in the Gay Community, Radical Gaming, Fair trade coffee in Africa, and How to get your Break in the Big (and Little) Metropolis

o NEW! Over 50 speakers (moderators, speakers, filmmakers, panelists) leading post-screening discussions downtown, including faculty from Ithaca College, Cornell, Hobart and William Smith, Syracuse University, Amherst College, and Middlesex University, London

o 3 radio events, two radio specials plus, NEW for this year, a radio Listening Room exhibition with Jonathan Miller, radio producer, featuring the programs of Homelands Productions

o Undisclosed Recipients, international digital art exhibition curated by Dale Hudson and Sharon Lin Tay, with 19 pieces from across the world, interrogating and exploring the 2007 festival programming streams

o NEW! The Gaming Meme, a curated show of 10 radical games that rewire gaming, with special presentations and forums to help you get over the hump if you are not a gamer!

o NEW! Ambient media on plasma across campus, downtown and at the Beatles Tribute, with four plasma installations on campus and 15 different ambient media pieces, in partnership with Microcinema International

o NEW! 1 World Premiere of new collage piece with live music, MEMESCAPES, on all of the festival streams, in collaboration with the Human Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, with Phil Wilde and Ann Michel, producers, and a new original score by Judy Hyman, Jeff Claus, Jay Olsa, Rick Hansen and Robbie Aceto

o NEW! 75 interns

o 5 archival collaborative partners: Human Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, National Center for Jewish Film, Northeast Historic Film, UCLA Film and Television Archives, National Film Preservation Foundation

o NEW! 3 collaborating universities, Middlesex University, London; Abafemi Awolowi University, Nigeria; and a university in India (tba)

o NEW! 8 collaborative partnerships with national/international film distributors, including Bullfrog Films, Documentary Educational Resources, Witness, Outcast Films, Deep Dish TV, Chiapas Media Project, Joe Public Films

o 14 Ithaca College faculty on the FLEFF Steering Committee, including faculty from all over campus, from the following departments: Health Promotion and Physical Education; Cinema, Photography and Media Arts, Speech Communication; Journalism; Strategic Communication; Performance Studies; Biology; Art History; Music; Television/Radio; Music Theory; Business; Accounting; Politics; History

o 16 International Advisory Board members

o NEW! 12 Bands/musical groups, playing live, with music ranging across genres and forms: jazz, alt rock, pop, French musette, gypsy swing, avant garde classical, country, Americana, postminimalism, improvisation, turntablism, singer/songwriter, hip hop, klezmer, folk, electronica, laptop orchestra

o NEW! Bands include Boy with a Fish with Robbie Aceto, Common Railers, Joe Crookston, Fe Nunn and Friends, Five 2, Hubcap, Judy Hyman, Maplewood Jazz Team, Mary Lorson and St. Low, Jamie Notarthomas, Plastic Nebraska, Swing Gypsys, Chris White and Peter Dodge

Who wants to be on national television as an up-and-coming filmmaker?

Greetings,

ABC News and other media outlets are interested in interviewing students filming and editing their CellFlix pieces.

If you're working on one (or plan to START working on one), could you let Melissa Gattine (mgattine@ithaca.edu) know? The press is dying to talk to you....

Thanks.

I'm ba-a-a-a-a-ck (and staying)

Hey everybody,

At least some of you may have heard that I was nominated and invited to apply for the dean's job at Berkeley.

Given that I think it's the best journalism grad program in the world, if not the universe, I decided I would at least go out there and talk to them about the program and the job.

So last week, that's what I did.

And you know, I was right: It really is the best journalism grad program in the world, if not the universe.

Everybody was great, the program is extraordinary (I strongly recommend it if you're thinking about journalism grad school), and Berkeley is....well, it's Berkeley.

And they liked me, too.

But I came home to the Park School, thought about it for a few days, and came to the conclusion that I don't belong at Berkeley.

I belong right here, in the Park School.

Because you know what?

Park really is the best undergrad communications school in the world, if not the universe.

And -- as Dorothy would say -- there's no place like home.

P.S. Thank you very much to the student who wrote an email to the chair of the Berkeley search committee, begging them not to hire me. It was, I trust, meant in the nicest possible way.

Cheers,
Dianne

Enroll in From Pitch to Air (see description in an earlier post below)

Interested in signing up for the mini-course presented by our two alum from the Discovery Channel? (You can see the detailed description in the post just below this one....)

Just get on Homer and sign up:

GCOM39200
CRN#: 43979

I've gotten at least a dozen emails from folks interested in the course, so if you're eligible (junior or senior, Park major), do it NOW.

Cheers,
Dianne

Sleep? Who needs SLEEP when VIC's 50-hour marathon is on the air!

VIC Radio, Ithaca College's very own Internet station, will host the 21st Annual 50 Hour Marathon at the end of the month.

Two of the station's craziest DJs will stay up for fifty hours straight and broadcast throughout Ithaca to help raise money for this year's charity, the Ithaca Free Clinic.

The Marathon will take place March 30th through April 1st, and the annual Battle of the Bands will go down March 31st at 2pm at Castaways.

For information on how to make a donation to the Ithaca Free Clinic and get your name on the air during the Marathon or if you have a band that might be interested in participating in this year's Battle of the Bands, log on to the VIC Radio web site,
www.vicradio.org.

Learn from the pros.... From Pitch to Air: The Life of a Project

This has been a great year for alumni contributions in the Park School.

Our Ithaca Fund -- donations we receive from our alumni and families that fund student travel, projects, special events (like the Park Gala, a major contribution to the Ithaca College Fashion Show, and special speakers galore) -- is at an all-time high (hurrah!). And we have welcomed a steady stream of our most talented and successful alum to the school to provide students with amazing professional opportunities.

And here's another one: Josh Beck and Doug Bailey, execs at the Discovery Channel, will be on campus Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, to present “From Pitch To Air: The Life of a Project” -- a one-credit mini-course in television program development.

As you consider taking the course, it's important to know that the ideas and concepts that come out of the course will belong to the Discovery Channel. Participants will need to sign a release form relinquishing their rights to the intellectual property produced in the course. (As you may know, the Park School generally assigns all rights to intellectual property to the students producing the ideas or the work; in cases like this one, however, we think the opportunity to work with our professional alumni is valuable enough to make an exception -- as long as students know right from the beginning that that's the deal.)

Enrollment is limited to 12 students, juniors and seniors only.

Here's the course description:


PURPOSE

A fun and interactive class that allows students an opportunity to cultivate their program ideas, discuss it amongst their peers, and pitch it to a TV Development executive. In addition, the students will learn the various pitfalls associated with television production as well as gain insight into the different funding schemes and deal structures that are commonly used within the television industry.


CLASS REQUIREMENTS

Each student must bring three (3) specific program ideas to the first day of class. These ideas will encompass the core values contained in the Creative Brief and will be appropriate for exploitation on Discovery Channel. In addition, each student must sign the Release prior to the first day of class.

SCHEDULE

Friday

4pm Introductions & Overview

Josh Beck and Doug Bailey will discuss their respective backgrounds and what they hope to accomplish during the class.

4:30pm How are ideas are developed?

Doug will discuss how ideas are generated (e.g., internal brainstorming, requests for proposals), how Producers pitch their ideas (e.g., industry markets, website submission), and what the network looks for in a pitch (e.g., on-brand, proper audience targets, etc).

5:00pm Divide into Peer Groups

The students will be broken into 4 groups of 3 to discuss the ideas they brought to class. The discussions will revolve around which ideas fit within the realm of the Creative Brief and how practical the idea is. Each group will then chose 1 idea amongst themselves to further refine and pitch on Saturday.

6:00pm End

Saturday

9:30 am Questions

The students will have an opportunity to ask questions about their pitches before breaking into groups.

10:00 am Divide into Peer Groups

The students will divide back up into their peer groups to prepare a 10 minute pitch presentation to Doug and Josh.

11:00 am Break

11:15 am The Pitch

Each peer group will pitch their idea for no more than 10 minutes. They will then receive a critique from Doug and Josh on not only the content of the presentation, but also their presentation style and delivery.

12:45 pm Lunch

2:00 pm And the winner is…

Josh and Doug will reveal the idea they have chosen to “greenlight” and why.

2:15 pm Project Issues

Josh will dissect all of the issues associated with the project from a production, business and legal standpoint.

3:00 pm Deal Structures

Josh will discuss the various deal structures (e.g., Commissions and Co-Productions) that are used in the TV industry, how they are negotiated and what they actually mean.

3:45 pm Break

4:00 pm Production Issues

Josh and Doug will discuss the various issues (e.g., overages, blocked access, production delays) that crop up during production and how they affect the network (e.g., changes in scheduling).

4:30 pm Post Delivery

Doug will discuss what happens within the Network after a show is delivered (e.g., how press and scheduling interact, how the tape gets on the air, etc).

5:00 pm Questions/Career Advice

The students are free to ask frank questions and advice about the industry, getting a job or any other relevant topic.

6:00 pm End



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The Most Awkward Boy in the World....

....hits YouTube.

Take a look (my favorite is the subway....):
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cutmanfilms

(P.S. They just posted one that uses some language I find objectionable. That's not a reason NOT to point to the rest of them....so I'd skip the "hails a taxi" if I were you. Just a suggestion...)

Cellfix II - Better than ever!

Hey everybody,

It's that time of year again: Cellflix launched on March 1, and is accepting entries until April 1.

This year, we have TWO $5,000 awards -- one for work chosen by a group of distinguished judges and -- a new one -- the Texas Instruments Audience Award, for a film that wins the most votes from (you guessed it) the audience.

Take a look at www.cellflixfestival.org, and pick up your cell phone. A Parkie won it last year, and there's no reason we can't do it again!

Last call....

Hey guys,

Amy and Matt are still hoping to recruit a few more volunteers to help out with the Park Gala -- though they got more than a dozen Parkies to pitch in already... So come on; it can't happen without you. (Free admission, help launch what will surely become a Park tradition, feel good about yourself -- what's not to like?)

Get in touch with either Matt Gogal or Amy Zeleznock by 1 p.m. Monday. They're waiting to hear from you.

Thanks.

The Great Race gets great press

Check out the story in the Tompkins Weekly:

http://www.tompkinsweekly.com/images/TompkinsWeekly070226.pdf

Television Academy Foundation (paid) LA Internships: The deadline approaches

The deadline is March 15 to apply for the Television Academy Foundation's
summer Los Angeles internships.

Offered in 29 categories, they are the
most prestigious television internships, and pay a stipend of $4000.00.
More information and how to apply are at
http://emmys.tv/foundation/internships.php