News and Events
FTT Talks presents - Joe Salvatore
“Arts-Based Research on Stage: Writing out of History and into the Theatre”
6:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Decio Mainstage Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Sponsored by the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre and DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
This presentation will outline the creation process for III (pronounced "three"), a play that explores the fifteen-year relationship (1927-1943) between the photographer George Platt Lynes, the writer Glenway Wescott, and the MoMA curator and publisher, Monroe Wheeler. Wescott and Wheeler lived together as partners for sixty-seven years, but included others in their relationship throughout that time, including George Platt Lynes. The presentation will include insights into bringing arts-based research to the stage, as well as examples of how the playwright/researcher used secondary source material accounts and primary sources like letters and journals to generate the performance text. Three ND actors will bring parts of the script to life as part of the presentation.
Joe Salvatore is a playwright and director based in New York City. His play III was featured as part of the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival where it received the Fringe’s Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Play and will be published in The Best American Short Plays 2008-2009 (Applause Books, 2010). His current project open heart, a verbatim piece about gay male couples living in open, non-monogamous relationships, had its first workshop presentation in September 2009. Joe’s directing work has been seen at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, LAByrinth Theater Company’s Barn Series, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, New WORLD Theater, the Del Corazon Festival, INROADS: The Americas, and New York University. Joe is on the faculty of the Program in Educational Theatre at New York University where he teaches courses in acting, directing, Shakespeare, applied theatre, and theatre pedagogy. Joe holds an MFA in Theater (Dramaturgy/Directing) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an Honors BA in History from the University of Delaware. He is also a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.
This is a FREE but ticketed event. Call The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-0457 to reserve your tickets.
For more about III, visit threetheplay.com.
For more about Joe, visit joesalvatore.com.
The Sugar Wife by Elizabeth Kuti
Directed by Siiri Scott
Decio Mainstage Theatre
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Friday, November 13, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 15, 2009 - 2:30 pm
Elizabeth Kuti's The Sugar Wife premiered in 2005 in Dublin, Ireland. Set in 1851 in a Quaker community, the drama revolves around the moral dilemmas facing Hanna and Samuel Tewkley. The couple struggles to reconcile the simple ethics of their faith while running a successful business against the backdrop of poverty. When Hanna insists they invite a former slave and an abolitionist into their home, an unavoidable collision of culture, class and values ensues.
For information about more Theatre performances, please visit our Theatre Events page.
Lydia Antonioni (FTT '97) picked as one of the Top 35 under 35 by Hollywood Reporter!
Check it out here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/features/nextgen/list.jsp
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
Strong Bodies Fight: Rough Cut (2009)
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
The film was produced by William Donaruma and Mark Weber. Not rated, 97 minutes. Tickets are $6, $5 faculty/staff, $4 seniors, and $3 all students. Contact the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800 or purchase online .
Strong Bodies Fight: Rough Cut is a documentary film about the Notre Dame "Bengal Bouts" boxing team and their partnership with the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh. For eighty years, the two organizations have worked together to develop the third world country through an investment in education. The film captures the strong spirit of the beautiful Bengali people, as well as the courageous commitment of the Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters who served there for 150 years. Strong Bodies Fight tells an inspiring story of sweat, sacrifice, and solidarity in the fight against global poverty. In the words of Fr. Leonard Shankar, "We are living in this world as a 'we.' It is not 'I' but 'WE' in this world."
Watch the trailer.
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.
Inside the Legends: 2009 Notre Dame Japan Bowl
The film of the 2009 Notre Dame Japan Bowl Inside the Legends by FTT faculty Ted Mandell, will be screened on Friday, October 16th at 3:30 pm in the Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Lou Holtz returns to coach one final game for Notre Dame. A rare, behind-the-scenes look at how the fiery hall-of-fame coach molds and motivates the group of former players, many of whom haven't touched a football in years, to take on the challenge of playing the Japanese National Team in Tokyo.
Featured players include, Tim Brown, Tony Rice, Chris Zorich, Reggie Brooks, Ambrose Wooden, Brandon Hoyte, Kris Haines, and Ivory Covington. This game was in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Japan American Football Association.
"It was all about meeting the challenges that were thrown at us and the players responded well," said Holtz. "It was a wonderful experience. When you look at what we had to work with and the skill players who were out, we were very short in some areas, but we found a way to do it."
The film is not rated.
This is a free, but ticketed event. To reserve your tickets, call the Ticket Office at 574-631-2800. The runtime is 48 minutes.
Notre Dame Japan Bowl web site: http://www.ndjapanbowl.com/
To hear Lou Holtz talk about this game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJDv3585o2o&feature=related
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. These are free but ticketed events. To reserve your tickets, contact the Ticket Office at 574-631-2800.
Thursday, October 1 
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
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/
FTT Talks presents – Andrew DeSelm: "Exploration of the Psycho Remake"
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 3:00 pm in the Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $6, $5 faculty staff, $4, seniors and $3 all students. Purchase tickets the Ticket Office, online at performingarts.nd.edu, or by calling 574-631-2800. This film, is part of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s “Celebrating Alfred Hitchcock Series”.
PSYCHO (1998) - directed by Gus Van Sant, Rated R, 105 minutes.
After the screening of PSYCHO, Andrew DeSelm, Professor in Comparative Literature/Film Studies, Indiana University South Bend, will explore shot by shot, the remaking of the film.
Marion Crane is a Phoenix, Arizona working girl fed up with having to sneak away during lunch breaks to meet her lover, Sam Loomis, who cannot get married because most of his money goes towards alimony. One Friday, Marion's employer asks her to take $400,000 in cash to a local bank for deposit. Desperate to make a change in her life, she impulsively leaves town with the money, determined to start a new life with Sam in California. As night falls and a torrential rain obscures the road ahead of her, Marion turns off the main highway. Exhausted from the long drive and the stress of her criminal act, she decides to spend the night at the desolate Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates, a peculiar young man dominated by his invalid mother. After Norman fixes her a light dinner, Marion goes back to her room to take a shower...
FTT Talks presents – Douglas Lieblien: “Crazytown Incorporated”
Doug Lieblien, Emmy-nominated Writer & Co-Executive Producer of Hannah Montana for Disney/The Disney Channel will present "Crazytown Incorporated."
Thursday, September 24, 2009, at 6:00 pm 160 Mendoza School of Business
Currently writer and Co-Executive Producer of The Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, Douglas Lieblein is a three-time Emmy nominee and multiple Teen Choice Award winner. He earned his B.A. in Acting/Theatre Arts at California State University Northridge, where he was nominated for ACTF’s Irene Ryan Award for his performance of the title role in Los Angeles area theaters. He later earned his M.F.A. in Communication Arts at Loyola Marymount University and stated his career as a writer and producer of half-hour comedy television.
Doug’s TV credits also include Yes Dear, Getting Personal, Run of the House, Then Came You, Temporarily Yours, and other projects for both CBS and the Disney Channel.
The Living Nickelodeon with Rick Altman - Multimedia presentation with silent film, theatre and live music
The Living Nickelodeon, Multimedia presentation with silent film, theatre and live music will be on September 17, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
The Living Nickelodeon reconstructs the experience of American storefront theaters between 1905 and 1910. Pianist/lecturer Rick Altman uses a reel of period films (copied from paper prints in the Library of Congress), and several hundred song slides (from the Marnan Collection, the only remaining major collection) to give modern spectators an idea of what it was like to be part of a nickelodeon audience.
Altman has presented his program in important venues on several continents, including museums (Museum of Modern Art, New York; Louvre Museum, Paris), archives (Library of Congress, Washington; Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal), theaters (Detroit Institute of Art, Chicago Art Institute), festivals (Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna, Italy; Cluny, France), and universities (Duke University, Drake University, Wayne State University, The University of Iowa, William & Mary College, and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.)
In the past, it has been thought that early film theaters showed nothing but films, always accompanied in the same manner by an ever-present pianist. Altman's recent book, Silent Film Sound (Columbia University Press, 2004) explodes that myth. In particular, his recreations make use of a type of entertainment that has been forgotten by scholars and performers alike. Regularly alternating with films, illustrated songs were a basic part of nickelodeon programs. A hand-colored glass slide represented each line of a currently popular song, which was sung by the pianist or a hired singer. At the end of each song, the words to the refrain would be projected on the screen and the audience will be invited to sing along.) This book was named winner of the Theatre Library Association’s Book of the Year for 2005.
Are you asking: What's a nickelodeon? Isn't that a TV channel? Well yes, it is! But you can watch Spongebob and Nick at Nite on your own time. We're going way back into the early 20th century. To learn a little bit about the nickelodeon that WE are referring to, check out this website and be enlightened!
http://www.essortment.com/all/nickelodeonshi_rqtl.htm
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.
2009-2010 Theatre Season
Our 2009-2010 Theatre Season opens October 6th with a SPECIAL PRESENTATION. The New Playwrights Workshop will perform Cargo and Scattered Voices, directed by Anton Juan. It will run through October 11th. We continue last year's precedent of opening the season with a Student Driven project.
These plays were created as part of theatre courses taught by Professor Juan. Theatre Subscriptions are now on sale.
For detailed information about our Theatre Season: http://ftt.nd.edu/news-events/theater-presents
Student Filmmakers Magazine features
FTT Faculty William Donaruma
Bill Donaruma FTT Faculty, has the cover story on the StudentFilmmaker’s Magazine Anniversary Edition.
The StudentFilmmaker’s Magazine Anniversary Edition cover story (April 2009), “Capturing the Story for the HD Documentary, Strong Bodies Fight” is written by William Donaruma, a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre. Donaruma, also is the director and producer of the film. Strong Bodies Fight is about the partnership between the Notre Dame Bengal Bouts boxing tournament and the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh. For 79 years, proceeds from the Bengal Bouts have been used to support these Missions.
The article focuses on challenges faced by Donaruma and cinematographer, John Klein (2006 ND alumni) when producing this film. They carried all of the necessary film equipment on the plane, so that they could immediately shoot if any gear did not make it to Bengladesh, such as the tripods for the first week of shooting. Though Donaruma and Klein knew that rolling blackouts occurred (these are “scheduled” blackouts to save on electricity), these happened much more frequently than was anticipated. They had to readjust their strategy during the first week and continued a successful film shoot.
FTT student and Producer Mark Weber (ND ’09) developed the film’s concept. He pitched the idea to Donaruma and the film became a reality. Also, on the cover of the Magazine is FTT student and Bengal Bouts champion Leo Rubinowski and Tomas Castillo.
For more information on the film, contact: Bill Donaruma or visit www.williamdonaruma.com
Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference
University of Notre Dame - April 24-25, 2009
The Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference offers undergraduate students the opportunity to present papers representing their best work in film and media studies. Students will deliver papers on any aspect of film and media history, criticism, or theory. Papers will be given in twenty minute slots...(more)
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.
FTT Talks presents Catherine Allan
Senior Executive Producer, tpt National Productions
"Picturing History: Documenting Pre-Photographic History for Television"
4:30 P.M., Thursday, March 19, 2009
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, Catherine Allan will discuss how television documentary filmmakers work through the challenges of making films about subjects that predate the invention of photography and show clips of techniques that have been utilized in such award-winning PBS documentaries as Benjamin Franklin, Liberty!, and the upcoming Dolley Madison.
Catherine Allan is a Senior Executive Producer at tpt National Productions [Twin Cities, MN, public television]. Allan's executive production credits for PBS include two Peabody Award-winning productions: Liberty! The American Revolution and the acclaimed feature-length documentary Hoop Dreams, recently named the number one documentary film of all time by the International Documentary Association. Other productions include the Emmy Award-winning Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Kinsey for PBS's American Experience series, the Golden Eagle-winningContinental Harmony, The New Medicine, and Jane Goodall: Reason for Hope.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
International Playwrights' Conference on Darwin and Theatre: Migration and Evolution
February 24 – 27, 2009
Join us as Notre Dame faculty and playwrights from around the world discuss the plight of the migrant examined through the lens of Darwin.
In addition to a number of lectures, this conference includes readings of play excerpts and has been scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre’s production of Guernica by Yiannis Lymtsioulis at the Philbin Theatre in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
No registration required. Free and open to the public. Schedule of Events.
Asian Film Festival and Conference
February 27-28, 2009
Showcasing the creativity of contemporary Asian filmmaking, the annual Asian Film Festival will bring four contemporary films to the Browning Cinema during the last weekend in February.
Encompassing documentary, drama, and comedy, the films explore the Asian experience from a variety of cultural—and crosscultural—perspectives....(more)
Films and Faith Weekend 2009
Contemporary Catholic Filmmakers From Mexico
Friday, February 6, Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8, 2009
Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Tickets are $6, $5 faculty/staff, $4 seniors, and $3 all students and can be purchased at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office or online at performingarts.nd.edu
One course credit with no prerequisites is available. Contact Dorothy Anderson for more information. Co-sponsored by the Department of Theology, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre and Institute for Latino Studies and DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Children of Men (2006)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Fri, Feb 6 at 6:30 p.m.
R, 109 minutes. German, Italian, English, Romanian, Arabic and Spanish languages with English subtitles.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Fri, Feb 6 at 9:30 p.m.
R, 112 minutes. Spanish language with English subtitles.
Silent Light (2008)
Directed by Carlos Reygadas
Sat, Feb 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Sun, Feb 8 at 3:00 p.m.
R, 136 minutes. German, Spanish and French languages with English subtitles.
Babel (2006)
Directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu
Sat, Feb 7 at 9:30 p.m.
R, 143 minutes. English, Arabic, Japanese, Spanish languages with English subtitles.
FALL 2008
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
Crossing the Line, a Documentary on an American
Soldier's Life in Communist North Korea
featuring Nicholas Bonner
Co-Producer of Crossing the Line
Wednesday, November 5, 2008, at 7:00 pm
Eck Visitors Center Auditorium
Joseph Dresnok was a U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea in 1962 on the 38th Parallel, the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean peninsula, until he deserted his unit and did the unthinkable: he rejected Western democracy and defected to communist North Korea. Once in North Korea, Dresnok became a coveted movie star playing the role of an evil American known affectionately as "Comrade Joe." After 45 years of obscurity, Dresnok provides a first-person account of his life in North Korea along with tales of the other three American soldiers who also did the unthinkable—gave up on the American Dream and voluntarily joined the Communist Revolution in North Korea. A question and answer session plus a dessert reception will follow the screening.
This is a FREE event.
Sponsored by – the College of Arts and Letters, Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, International Student Services and Activities, and The Korea Society.
The Storytellers: Documenting Reality
Tom Bettag, Executive Producer, The Koppel Group
Gita Pullapilly, Documentary Film Producer
Friday October 31, 7:30 p.m., Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
This is a FREE but ticketed event. Call the Ticket Office at 574.631.2800 to reserve tickets. Presented by iNDustry Alliance: Notre Dame's Media and Entertianment Alumni
An inside look of how expert storytelling shapes reality for TV and film. Tom Bettag shares behind the scenes insight from his longtime, award winning partnership with Ted Koppel at ABC and Discovery.
Gita Pullapilly presents a rough cut screening of her new documentary "The Way We Get By". Inside a small airport in central Maine, a group of senior citizens are using handshakes and hugs to play a critical role in the Iraq war. The Way We Get By is an inspirational story about how these handshakes can change a person's life.
TOM BETTAG, Executive Producer, The Koppel Group, Discovery Networks
Tom Bettag graduated from the University of Notre Dame intent on being a newspaperman and holding a print person's contempt for television. Forty years later, he looks back on a career that includes five years as executive producer of the CBS Evening News With Dan Rather and 14 years as executive producer of ABC News Nightline With Ted Koppel.
Bettag credits Fred Friendly, his professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, with "seducing" him into broadcast news. Friendly, Edward R. Murrow's executive producer and a former president of CBS News, taught Bettag that television is a public service that is essential to a functioning American democracy.
Over the years Bettag says he has seen much of this potential for good squandered as television programmers treat viewers more as consumers than citizens, but still he maintains faith in television's ability to prompt serious national discourse. He sees Discovery Channel as a place where curious viewers can come to learn more about their world and how it works. "It's a privilege to have an opportunity to cover the most interesting stories, to share them with others, and to help answer the viewers' question, 'Why should I care?'"
Bettag is the recipient of six duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons, three Overseas Press Club Awards and 30 Emmys. In 2004, he was awarded Quinnipiac University's Fred Friendly Award, which honors journalists who have shown courage and forthrightness in preserving the rights set forth in the First Amendment. He'll be talking about his career as well as showing clips from his new series.
GITA PULLAPILLY, Film Producer, Dungby Productions
Gita Pullapilly, has produced seven films in the U.S., Jordan and India--The Way We Get By, India: A New Life (a PBS-Frontline World production), OUCH!, BLUR, To Serve and Protect, The Elephant Bath, Diary of a Refugee, and The Women of Barda. Gita is currently a WGBH Filmmaker in Residence in Boston.
Gita began her career in television news at the CBS affiliate in Green Bay, WI. Since then, she has traveled the world as a filmmaker and journalist. In 2005, Gita traveled to Jordan where she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar. There, she made a documentary film on Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Also in 2005, Gita received a University of Notre Dame Asian American Alumni Association exemplar award for her work. In addition, she won two Associated Press awards for her feature stories and three Telly awards. In 2008, Gita was inducted into the Royal Society of the Arts for her work on social issues around the world.
This year, Gita also received a Kaiser Mini-Fellowship to highlight HIV/AIDS in rural Ukraine. This project is currently in pre-production.
In the past six years, Gita has been the mistress of ceremonies, guest speaker and host for a number of events including teen summits on HIV and AIDS and race and diversity programs. She has participated in debates and roundtables on the role of journalists, the media's coverage on racial issues, and the importance of diversity in the workforce. Gita continues to hold media training sessions and seminars around the country.
Gita was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A. in Finance and holds a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
FTT Talks presents Gary Cosay
Consultant, Founding Partner, and Board Member of United Talent Agency
“The Business of Show Business”
5:00 P.M., Thursday, October 9, 2008
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 his talk, Gary Cosay will outline what it takes to start and sustain a successful Hollywood career. From discussing the roles played by agents and managers to highlighting the dynamic changes taking place in the media entertainment industry today, Mr. Cosay will explain how to turn creative talent into a thriving business career.
Across his fifty-year career in the media entertainment industry, Gary Cosay worked his way up from an agent trainee position at the William Morris Agency to become a Senior Partner at United Talent Agency, a leader among the entertainment industry’s talent and literary agencies. He started his own agency, Cosay & Associates, in 1975, expanded that company into the Leading Artists Agency in the early 1980s, and became a senior partner of the United Talent Agency through a 1990 merger. He has represented such artists as Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull), Steve McQueen (The Hunter), Ron Leavitt & Michael Moye (Married With Children), Carol Black & Neil Marlens (Growing Pains, The Wonder Years, Ellen), Bruce Helford (The Drew Carey Show, The George Lopez Show), and David E. Kelley (Doogie Howser, L.A. Law, Chicago Hope). Recently departing Hollywood for the East Coast, Mr. Cosay now acts as a consultant for United Talent Agency and plans to start a new literary agency specializing in books and screenplays. He currently lives in Nantucket, MA, with his wife, Healy, and their four dogs.
Sponsored by The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
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 Patrick Whitesell
Partner, Endeavor Talent Agency
Hollywood, California
Friday, September 12, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
Browning Cinema
This is a FREE but ticketed event
Call the ticket office at (574)-631-2800 to reserve tickets.
Patrick Whitesell joined Endeavor as a partner in February 2001. Since his arrival, Whitesell has been a member of the company’s Executive Committee and is intimately involved in the strategic growth of the company and the development of its ancillary business. Whitesell’s clients include Ben Affleck, Jessica Alba, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Ellen Page, Joaquin Phoenix and Charlie Sheen.
Until his arrival at Endeavor, Whitesell served as head of the talent department of Creative Artists Agency four of the five years he was with the agency. Prior to joining CAA, he was an agent at United Talent Agency for two years. This followed an almost two-year stint at InterTalent, where Whitesell was promoted to agent after an initial start in the agency’s mailroom.
Whitesell is an appointed member of the Governor’s California Film Commission and an associate member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. A graduate of Luther College in Iowa, he resides in Beverly Hills, CA, with his wife Lauren Sanchez, their son Evan and daughter Ella.
Sponsored by the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, the Department of Film Television and Theatre and Notre Dame Office of Development.
“MEET & GREET AND AUDITIONS”
The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre cordially invites you to two events.
“MEET & GREET AND AUDITIONS”
There will be a "MEET & GREET", where you can learn about the many opportunities in theatre at Notre Dame and meet our theatre faculty and students.
Wednesday, August 27th, 6:00 pm, Philbin Studio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Following the "MEET & GREET", Auditions will be held for THE DISPUTE by Pierre Marivaux and directed by Siiri Scott. There will be a Second Night of Auditions on Thursday, August 28th, at 6:40 p.m. These will all be in the Philbin Studio Theatre.
CALLBACKS will be on Friday, August 29th.
Audition sign up sheets are currently available in the FTT Office. Audition packets will be available on Monday, August 25th.
The FTT Office is located at 230 DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Office hours are 8:00-5:00, Monday-Friday.
8:00-5:00, Monday-Friday.
SPRING 08 SEMESTER
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.
The Second Annual Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference at the University of Notre Dame
April 11-12, 2008 
On April 11th & 12th, the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre will host the Second Annual Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference, which offers area undergraduate students the opportunity to present papers representing their best work in film and media studies. The schedule for the conference, which includes speaker names, paper titles, and panel times, can be found here.
The conference is free and open to the public, and it will take place in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Michael Browning Family Cinema. Click here for information on how to get to the conference building.
For further information contact: Christine Becker, becker.34@nd.edu, 574-631-7592
Screening & Panel Discussion
2008 ACADEMY AWARD: BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Taxi to the Dark Side
Thurs. March 27 at 6:30pm, Annenberg Auditorium, Snite Museum
Panel: Donald Glascoff, the film's producer and attorney; Peter Bauer, former Army intelligence interrogator; Jill Godmilow, filmmaker/ Professor in the Department of Film, Television & Theatre.
Moderator: Douglass Cassell, Notre Dame Law School
The Center for Civil and Human Rights at Notre Dame Law School will screen the Academy Award-winning documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side” at 6:30 p.m. March 27 (Thursday) in the Annenberg Auditorium of the Snite Museum of Art.
Beginning with the case of an Afghan taxi driver beaten to death by U.S. soldiers at Bagram Air Base, the film examines the use of torture and other harsh techniques in the war against terror.
The film features an exchange from a debate between Douglass Cassel from Notre Dame and John Yoo, from the University of California, Berkeley, and formerly an attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel for the United States. Asked by Cassel whether the president could lawfully authorize torturing the child of a terror suspect, Yoo answered: “It depends on the purpose.”
Cassel, a Notre Dame Presidential Fellow and director of the Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights, has worked as a consultant to the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the U.S. Department of State, and the Ford Foundation, and he was legal advisor to the U.N. Truth Commission for El Salvador.
The event, which is co-sponsored by Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, is free and open to the public.
FTT Talks Presents Jeffrey Stepakoff
“The Rise of the Writer in Hollywood”
Tuesday, February 19, 7pm
Browning Cinema
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
FREE but ticketed event (631-2800 for tickets)
“The Rise of the Writer in Hollywood”
From a first-person perspective covering his two decades in Hollywood, Jeffrey Stepakoff will trace the rise, fall, and rebirth of scripted entertainment during the era of media consolidation. He will discuss how entertainment became this country’s great commodity, where the business is going and what the WGA strike means for all of us...(more)
Father Arthur Harvey, C.S.C. (1911-2008)
Fr. Arthur Harvey, C.S.C. passed away on Monday February 4th.
Perhaps more than any other person, Fr. Arthur Harvey is considered the father of theatre at Notre Dame. Trained as an accountant but blessed with an abiding interest in the theatre, Fr. Art took over the program at Notre Dame in the mid-1950s and worked tirelesssly to achieve both high artistry and academic integrity. With such student actors in his early years as Phil Donohue, Reg Bain, and Gene Gorski, and supported by a faculty that included Fred Syburg, Fr. Art oversaw a remarkable period of serious and good theatre at Notre Dame. Fr. Art made the University Theatre, founded in 1926, synonymous with his name and his era as director of the program. During his tenure, Fr. Art famously recreated on the Washington Hall stage the grandest of Broadway musicals and dramas of the day, including South Pacific, My Fair Lady, and Long Day's Journey into Night. He modernized and updated Washington Hall in 1956, turning the heavily decorated 19th-century Gregori/Rusca interior into a modern fully functional theatre. Imperious, disciplined, and hard working, Fr. Art was also a master stage director known for his careful attention to detail and his work ethic that consistently produced work of the highest merit. His close professional working relationship with Fr. Ned Joyce helped to keep the theatre program growing and prospering during a time when the arts were less central at Notre Dame than they are today. Fr. Art retired from his day-to-day responsibilities in the Department in 1969 but returned in 1987 to direct Death of a Salesman and in 1991 to direct The Crucible, both to great acclaim. No one loved Notre Dame more, and no one loved theatre more. All of us who worked with Fr. Art will be forever grateful for that opportunity.
Films and Faith Weekend 2008 Features Director Bernard Emond and Midwest Premiere at Notre Dame
The Browning Cinema at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center is venue for the Midwest premiereof Canadian director Bernard Émond’s film, Summit Circle. Émond is scheduled to open the “Films and Faith Weekend: Meditations of Death (and Life)” series with a screening of his 2005 film The Novena. Émond has contributed to more than thirty films and is working on a trilogy of films based on Faith, Hope and Charity. The Novena and Summit Circle are the first two films of that trilogy. “Films and Faith Weekend 2008” is sponsored by the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, the Department of Theology, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and the College of Arts and Letters.
The film festival is Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10 is comprised of four films, a panel discussion and a reception for Émond which is open to the public. In addition to Émond’s films, the series includes Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and Akira Kurosawa’s Iruku... More >