iNDustry Alliance Events
FTT Talks presents: Laura Emerick and Michael Burke, ND 2007, Filmmakers
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7:00 pm, Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, run time: 62 minutes. Q & A to follow screening
This is a free but ticketed event. To reserve your ticket, call the Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800.
Shades of Grey: Race Relations in Western Australia - An Inspirational Model for Student Success, directed, written, and edited by Michael Burke, Laura Emerick, Chad Neylon, and Jordan Runge
Shades of Grey is a documentary directed, written and edited by Michael Burke, Laura Emerick, Chad Neylon and Jordan Runge, four University of Notre Dame and University of Notre Dame Australia students (Class of 2007) who participated in the study abroad program in Fremantle, Australia in the spring of 2006. The film follows from a belligerent encounter with Aboriginal teenagers in a train station, in which Chad was attacked with a glass bottle. The four students embark on a road trip to Northwestern Australia to explore the lives of the Aboriginal people and attempt to enlighten the audience to the richness of these tribal peoples’ lives. The film is an insightful look at race relations in Western Australia concerning indigenous Aboriginals and the prejudice that is still perpetuated against them by White Australian society. Both groups provide frank testimonials on the history of racism, the effects of racism, and the mutual desire to end racism in Australia.
Laura Emerick has a Masters in Cinema Management from the University of Melbourne, Australia and is currently interning at two independent feature film distribution companies and a talent management company in Manhattan.
Michael Burke is currently a field producer for Towers Productions, working on a variety of shows for networks such as National Geographic, the History Channel, and Discovery.
Sponsored by Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, FTT Talks, International Student Services & Activities, Learning Beyond the Classroom Grant, Multicultural Student Programs & Services, Office of International Studies, Office of Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts and Letters, Office of Research
FTT Talks presents: Kevin Yoder, Managing Director
“Defining The Line: Content, Commerce and the Business of Entertainment”
5:00 pm Thursday, October 29
159 Mendoza College of Business
Kevin Yoder is the Managing Director of MarketCast, the premier market services consultancy serving the entertainment industry. He earned his BA from Notre Dame in the Program Of Liberal Studies.
After graduation, Kevin turned his attention from liberal arts to law, earning his JD and concentrating his practice in mergers and acquisitions, primarily for media companies. Seeking to branch out, he was a volunteer lawyer helping organize a series of concerts worldwide for Amnesty International, which led to roles helping fund and produce Off Broadway plays for not-for-profits.
He later earned his MFA at the USC Film School, starting his career at a boutique consultancy and rising to run the film division of media conglomerate Nielsen. He lives in Los Angeles.
Check out Kevin Yoder's company on marketcastonline.com.
iNDustry Alliance Alumni Documentary Film Festival
We're excited to welcome back four alumni filmmakers to campus for a festival of award winning documentary films and a presentation on making the perfect trailer on October 1-2, 2009 in the Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
6:30 pm - The Man Who Would Be Polka King with director John Mikulak ND '90
Pump up the Oompah! The Man Who Would Be Polka King is an irreverent look at the rise and fall of Grammy-nominated polka music superstar Jan Lewan, whose defection from Poland to the West in the 1970's led to fame, fortune and an international Polka Empire. But when Lewan's empire collapsed under a cloud of scandal, the polka world was stunned to learn of the greatest polka-related financial crime in history.
http://www.polkakingmovie.com/
9:30 pm - Song Sung Blue directed by Greg Kohs ND '88
The alternately inspiring and tragic love story of Lightning and Thunder, a homegrown Milwaukee husband and wife singing duo who pay tribute to the music of Neil Diamond. For Mike and Claire Sardina, aka Lightning and Thunder, dreams are the fuel and music the engine of life. Song Sung Blue goes behind the curtain with this brave couple, from their humble beginnings over 20 years ago to the threshold of fame, from disaster to rebirth through to the final chapters in the lives of these authentic American dreamers. http://www.songsungblue.com
Friday, October 2, 2009
3:00 pm - Making the Perfect Trailer: A Behind the Scenes look at Movie Marketing with producer Scott Mitsui ND '92
Scott Mitsui is the award-winning producer of some of the most memorable recent movie trailers, including A Serious Man, Lost In Translation, Milk and Crash. His workshop will present a rare opportunity to discover the arsenal of techniques deployed in the production of trailers that form such a vital ingredient in the representation and marketing of modern motion pictures. Step-by-step, Scott will use video and other raw elements to deconstruct and reveal the alchemy, philosophy and mechanics behind the creation of that perfect trailer.
6:30 pm - Brothers at War with director Jake Rademacher ND '97
Brothers at War is an intimate portrait of an American family during a turbulent time. Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake's exploits as he risks everything-including his life-to tell his brothers' story. Often humorous, but sometimes downright lethal, Brothers at War is a remarkable journey where Jake embeds with four combat units in Iraq. http://www.brothersatwarmovie.com/
9:30 pm Jam with producer/cinematographer Scott Mitsui ND '92
They were television sports stars of the '60s and '70s, a bigger draw than major league baseball. And then, virtually overnight, they disappeared. Now, one man has brought them all back to reclaim their lost glory! Shot over seven years (1998-2004), Jam follows the saga of the America Roller Derby League, a group of fading Roller Derby stars who, despite the fact that they are in their 50s and 60s, are determined to make the sport a national sensation once again. http://www.jamthemovie.com/
For full information, please visit our News & Events page.
Notre Dame iNDustry Alliance Alumni Filmmaker Series presents Alan McIntyre Smith, (ND '97) cinematographer for VANAJA
The new academic year starts by featuring Notre Dame alum, Alan McIntyre Smith, cinematographer, and his film VANAJA (NR, 118 minutes). This screening and presentation will be on Friday, September 11, 2009, 6:30 pm, Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. There will be an additional screening at 9:30 pm. . Tickets: $6, $5 faculty/staff, $4 seniors, and $3 all students. Purchase tickets online at performingarts.nd.edu or by calling the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800.
VANAJA, the 15 year old daughter of a financially troubled fisherman goes to work in the local landlady's house in hopes of learning Kuchipudi dance. She does well, but when the Landlady's son returns from the US, what begins as innocent sexual chemistry turns ugly. Set in rural South India, a place where social barriers are built stronger than ancient fort walls, the film explores the chasm that divides classes as a young girl struggles to come of age.
Alan McIntyre Smith is a cinematographer and filmmaker with over a decade of experience working in New York City and around the world. He has honed his craft by lighting and shooting a variety of features, television, commercials, and music videos. Smith is the Cinematography instructor at Purchase College, State University of New York. When he approaches a shooting, he combines a background in classical painting and photography. It is the collaborative nature of film production that Smith most enjoys.
"Alan is the finest lighting cinematographer we've graduated since I've been at Notre Dame. He lit up this gorgeous Indian film like a star. And he shot my last two films and hopefully will shoot many more."- Jill Godmillow, Professor, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
“VANAJA” is a coming-of-age tale that is engrossing, if slightly overlong, and absolutely timeless, unfolding against an antiquated class system that sadly stands firm in rural areas of India to this day." - Laura Kern, New York Times
"An Indian Cinderella tale without a glass slipper... this is a movie exotic in look but recognizable in truth, the venture of a novice filmmaker very much ready for prime time." - Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune. In depth review.
For more information VANAJA: www.vanajathefilm.com
Sponsored by The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association iNDustry Alliance, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
Please also visit our News & Events page.
FTT Talks Presents Katie O’Connell (ND ’91)
Network Television Development Executive
"The Transforming TV Industry"
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 5:00 pm
214 DeBartolo Hall
Katie O’Connell, who in her position as a Senior Development Executive at NBC brought to TV such shows as 30 Rock, Chuck and Life, will speak about the current fluctuating state of network television, focusing on such issues as changing prime-time programming trends, the shifting landscape of advertising, and the impact of new technologies on television’s operations.
Ms. O’Connell graduated from Notre Dame’s American Studies program in 1991. She was most recently a Senior Vice President of Drama Development at NBC Entertainment and was previously at Imagine Television, where she developed numerous comedy and drama projects, including the Emmy Award-winning shows Arrested Development and 24.
iNDustry Alliance Alumni Filmmaker Series
Launches Dec. 11th
The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and ND Alumni Association announce a new guest speaker series featuring Notre Dame alumni in the film industry. Screenwriter Stephen Susco (ND '95) will screen his new film, RED, a 2008 Sundance Film Festival entry, on Thursday Dec. 11th at 7 p.m. in the Browning Cinema, as part of the new iNDustry Alliance Alumni Filmmaker Series. The series brings alumni directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors back to campus to screen their recent feature films and documentaries.
Tickets: $6, $5 faculty/staff, $4 seniors, and $3 all students. Purchase tickets online at performingarts.nd.edu or by calling the
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800.
RED (2008)
Directed by Trygve Allister Diesen & Lucky McKee
Written by Stephen Susco
R, 93 minutes
Watch the Trailer
Stephen Susco has been a working screenwriter since 1996. Over the past ten years, he has written and sold over thirty scripts and pitches to New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers, Dimension, Miramax, Universal, Sony, United Artists, Lionsgate, Rogue Pictures and Paramount Studios. He has also had the privilege of writing for a variety of acclaimed directors (including Mike Nichols, Taylor Hackford, Ted Demme and Philip Noyce) and producers (including Kathleen Kennedy, Lawrence Bender, Quentin Tarantino, Gale Anne Hurd and Sam Raimi). Mr. Susco’s first produced film, THE GRUDGE (which was made for under $10 million) grossed over $100 million domestically, and nearly $300 million worldwide and on video. He also penned THE GRUDGE 2, released in October 2006.
His latest film RED debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2008. RED is the story of an older, reclusive man whose best friend and inspiration for living is his 14-year-old dog named “Red.” When three troublesome teens kill the dog for no good reason, the grieving man sets out for justice and redemption by whatever means available to him. Cast: Brian Cox, Tom Sizemore, Kim Dickens.
FTT Talks presents: Theresa Rebeck
Author, playwright, and screenwriter
“Writing for the Stage, Screen and Page”
Thursday, September 18, 2008, 5:00 p.m.
Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
This is a free but ticketed event.
Call The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800 to reserve tickets.
In her talk, Theresa Rebeck (ND ’80) will address what she considers both of a writer’s primary concerns: how to tell a story with truth and vision and how to maneuver as a dramatic writer in a dangerous world.
Theresa Rebeck is a widely produced playwright. Past New York productions of her work include Mauritius at the Biltmore Theatre in a Manhattan Theater Club Production; The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels at Second Stage; Bad Dates and the Butterfly Collection at Playwrights Horizons; and View of the Dome at New York Theatre Workshop. She has won the National Theatre Conference Award, the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, and the 2007 IRNE Award for Best New Play at Boston’s Huntington Theatre.
Ms. Rebeck’s first novel, Three Girls and Their Brother, was just published by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books. Ms. Rebeck’s other publications include Free Fire Zone, a book of comedic essays about writing and show business.
In television, Ms. Rebeck has written for Dream On, L.A. Law, and Third Watch, and she has been a writer/producer for Canterbury’s Law, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NYPD Blue. Awards include the Writer’s Guild of America award for Episodic Drama, the Hispanic Images Imagen Award, and the Peabody, all for her work on NYPD Blue. Her produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and Sunday on the Rocks.
Ms. Rebeck holds a BA in English from Notre Dame, and an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD in Victorian Melodrama, both from Brandeis University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and two children, Cooper and Cleo.
“As a writer, I have always considered it my job to describe the world as I know it; to struggle toward whatever portion of the truth is available to me.” –Theresa Rebeck
Sponsored by The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
FTT Talks Presents Mike Cerre
“CSNY: Deja Vu”
Saturday, April 19, 7pm and 10pm 
Browning Cinema
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
FREE but ticketed event (631-2800 for tickets)
“CSNY Déjà Vu, is a look back at the politics and anti–Vietnam War sentiment in the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. As both a portrait of a band and an examination of artistic process, CSNY Déjà Vu is filmmaking that is self-centered, yet fresh and critical. Today’s generation must be as tired of hearing about the ’60s as we were of an earlier era, and this depiction of the tour is anything but preaching to the converted. Part performance, part commentary, and very much a call for activism, CSNY Déjà Vu is relevant because we ignore the lessons of history at our peril. The film's real value lies in its rejection of simple nostalgia and its ability to focus on the present day.
"Featuring music from Neil Young’s controversial Living with War CD, this evocative and edgy film documents reactions from fans to a band that has remained committed to issues of politics and art for more than four decades. Since history seems to repeat itself, perhaps our artists best illustrate what we need to remember."
-SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL.
Mike Cerre (ND '69) who wrote CSNY: Deja Vu, will be present after the 7pm screening to discuss the film and his career as an Emmy Award winning journalist embedded in Iraq... <MORE>
These screenings are sponsored by the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and the Department of Political Science.