The Department of Film & Video at Columbia College Chicago is the recipient of a unique piece of film equipment courtesy of two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, film producer, director and Chicago native Haskell Wexler. Wexler donated a refurbished remote camera head known as a Hot-Head to the college. The refurbished Hot-Head is valued at $43,550.
“I think real people should be able to make art and have adventures and express themselves. In a modern world you need modern tools to get things done. That’s why I wanted Columbia to have access to this piece of equipment. They have real people creating art and getting things done,” said Wexler. “I take great pleasure in donating this incredible piece of equipment to Columbia because I would like for non-Hollywood people to take advantage of its sophistication.”
The Hot-Head has been in use for more than a quarter of a century. It is a camera head designed to allow camera operators the ability to manipulate camera movements by remote control. It was created by Laurie Frost, Peter Hannan and Richard Loncraine, all of whom recently received an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for their development.
Wexler was one of the very first directors to utilize a Hot-Head. Today the term “hot-head” has become a generic term for “remote camera head.”
A few months ago Wexler had his original Hot-Head sent to Egripment USA, Inc., in Van Nuys, California to see if it could be restored and donated to Columbia. Wexler’s Hot-Head system was one of the very first ever built, and full restoration was not economically feasible, according to Egripment’s Managing Director Boots. “Even if it were in working condition, it would be an obsolete piece of equipment for a film school or anyone to use for educational and/or training purposes,” said Boots.
However, Boots spoke to the owner of Egripment, Constant Tresfon, and learned that Wexler was one of Mr. Tresfon’s industry heroes. Their solution was to refurbish a Hot-Head of equal quality, donate it to the college on Wexler’s behalf and provide training to Columbia’s faculty and students. Wexler’s original Hot-Head now sits on display at Egripment’s factory in Holland.
“Throughout his extraordinary career, Haskell Wexler has been an innovator, dedicated to finding ways to engage audiences and put them right in the action. He is a strong supporter of Chicago filmmaking, particularly the young, aspiring filmmakers at Columbia College,” says Bruce Sheridan chair of Columbia’s film and video department. “By facilitating our acquisition of the Hot-Head, Haskell has ensured that our student will have the opportunity to experience first hand, this extraordinary technology and what it can do for the art they dream of making.”
During the mid-1980s, Sheridan was managing the rental operations of a camera company in Auckland, New Zealand when he took delivery of the first Hot-Head in that country. “I remember the joy of being able to put the camera in new places and, most importantly, move the camera in controlled ways in real time,” said Sheridan.
“It was a beautiful, complex piece of engineering and many of the camera crews that came by looked at it as a revolutionary new car or motorbike. It never affected me that way. I was just amazed at the perspectives it would deliver. The first real job we used it on was a commercial spot featuring Captain Mark Phillips (then married to England’s Princess Anne) and Mark Todd, the New Zealander who was the reigning Olympic equestrian champion. Normally, the Hot Head operated on the end of a crane. We dug it into the ground on each side of a stone wall and followed the jumping horses as they both approached and passed over the obstacle. When edited together the result was 180 degrees of continuous motion without any optical, analog or digital effects.”
Wexler’s relationship with Columbia College began back in the 1950s. One evening while having dinner with then Columbia President Mike Alexandroff at a State Street restaurant, Alexandroff consulted with Wexler and two other filmmakers regarding the possibility of starting a film school. In 1968 he was one of 46 individuals to accepted Alexandroff’s offer to attend a conference on the arts and the inner city. In 1990 the college awarded Wexler with an honorary doctorate degree.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 11,500 students in over 120 undergraduate and graduate programs, including film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music, interactive multimedia – all within a liberal arts context. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college is accredited as a teacher training institution by the Illinois State Board of Education. For further information visit www.colum.edu.
Media contact: Priscilla Hunter, 312.344.7805, 312.286.6624 or phunter@colum.edu
Chicago IL – The Liberace Foundation and Columbia College Chicago have awarded merit-based scholarships to ten of the college’s outstanding theater students. This is the fourth year the Foundation has supported Columbia students.
Competing in a field of their peers, these aspiring theater professionals were judged to represent “the highest degree of excellence in their particular area of the theater” by a jury comprised of faculty from their department. Columbia’s Liberace Scholars, who hail from all across the United States, are actively engaged in their theater education at school and in the City of Chicago:
Directing major, Eric Turner is receiving the award for the second time. He has directed, assistant directed or stage managed six plays to date, including works as diverse as Edward Albee’s The American Dream and She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. Eric has also worked with theater department chair Sheldon Patinkin, assisting the Chicago legend with his production of The Sunset Limited at Steppenwolf Garage. Eric completed Columbia’s new program in Comedy Studies at Second City and performed in their Showcase production “Premature Articulation” in May.
Jessica Harpenau, has designed several productions and has worked on the electrics crew. Past design credits include Ghosts, The Heidi Chronicles, Quilters, The Night of the Iguana, Shakespeare Showcase and the 24 Hour Play Marathon. She will design the upcoming main stage show, Pack of Lies with Professor Caroline Latta. At the professional level, Jessica recently co-designed The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Steep Theatre. As well as designing, she is a freelance electrician for various theaters including Steppenwolf Theatre, Light Opera Works, Marriott Theatre and others.
Singer and actress Daisica Smith, a second-time Liberace Scholar, transferred to Columbia in order to pursue her full range of creative interests including fine and computer art, as the school encourages artistic exploration across disciplines. As an actress she’s already racked up two major productions at Columbia—Ragtime and A Streetcar Named Desire—and performed in May in Columbia’s 24 hour new plays festival.
Hilary Williams has played Beatrice-Joanna in The Changeling, various roles in Arabian Nights and has performed in a Directing IV: Advanced project, Machinal. At the professional level, she was an understudy for the role of Minnie in A Room With A View at Chicago’s well regarded non-equity theater, Lifeline Theatre Chicago.
Laura Korn has performed in Quills by Doug Wright, as well as the Shakespeare review, Hot Mess. After graduation, whether she stays in Chicago or moves to New York City, she wants to audition full time for everything: movies, commercials, theater, then possibly teach theater and open her own theater company.
Eleni Kanalos has acted in Ragtime, The Apple Tree and Urinetown. In addition to her academic and creative pursuits, Eleni was hired as an entertainer on the Spirit of Chicago—a cruise ship docked at Navy Pier. After graduation, she would like to stay in Chicago but is also interested in a touring show.
Ryan Bourque has performed in Old Time Radio Drama, Lobby Hero, Blue Window, Night of the Iguana, White Russian and the Shakespeare showcase. He says that while attending Columbia, he has never worked so hard and slept so little, but he wouldn't change anything about it. In the professional realm, he has performed at the Chicago Sketch Fest and as an extra on TV shows and movies that have come to town. Ryan will also be working behind the scenes on a film this summer.
Brandon Thompson transferred to Columbia in 2005 from the University of Michigan-Flint. While at Columbia, Brandon has played Telegin in Uncle Vanya, Jafar in The Arabian Nights, the Marquis de Sade in Quills and Pike in Paradise Lost. At the professional level, Brandon has performed in the American Living Room Festival in New York City and played an ensemble member of Awkward Silence at the 2007 Chicago Sketch Festival.
Behzad N. Dabu recently played the lead in the main-stage production of The Workroom and has been in several other productions. As a talented actor striving to gain real world experience, Behzad currently understudies at the Viaduct Theatre in the Sinnerman Ensemble’s production of The Incredibly Famous Willy Rivers.
Brad Fry played the leads in the Directing III project, The Goat or Sylvia and in the Directing IV: Advanced production of The Rose Tattoo.
The mission of the Liberace Foundation is to help talented students pursue careers in the performing and creative arts through scholarship assistance. Since 1976, The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has awarded more than 5 million dollars in scholarship grants to over 100 universities, schools and organizations including The Julliard School, Northwestern University, Oberlin and UCLA. www.liberace.org.
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Zafra Lerman, Ph.D., head of Columbia’s Institute for Science Education and Science Communications (ISESC) has been selected to receive the George Brown Award for International Science and Technology Collaboration from The U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF). The award recognizes Dr. Lerman’s efforts on behalf of peace, cooperation and cultural understanding.
She will receive her award and be honored at ceremonies on Thursday, October 11 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Lerman, who founded the ISESC at Columbia in 1991 to enhance science education methodology, has won numerous awards for her innovative pedagogy including the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
She has also been a life-long peace activist, serving as the primary spokesperson for the American Chemical Society’s efforts toward human rights for scientists worldwide. This work has carried the Israeli native to China, Cuba, many of the former Soviet countries of Eurasia and Russia.
For the past five years Lerman has brought together the science community of 12 Middle Eastern nations for conferences on the island of Malta. The Malta conferences, titled Frontiers of Chemical Sciences: Research and Education in the Middle East – a Bridge to Peace, enabled Middle Eastern attendees to work together to identify collaborative solutions to critical regional problems.
She believes that creating bonds of understanding across cultures and among leaders in the scientific community will ultimately influence political leaders and move them toward diplomatic solutions in the quest for world peace. For full biographical information on Dr. Zafra Lerman visit http://www.colum.edu/Academics/Science_Institute/
“Dr. Zafra Lerman has long been one of the outstanding faculty at Columbia College Chicago,” said Dr. Warrick L. Carter, president of the arts and media college. “Her contributions to science education – particularly as these benefit our creative Columbia students – and her efforts on behalf of global understanding make us all extremely proud. We congratulate her on this latest prestigious recognition of her achievements.”
CRDF is a nonprofit non-governmental organization authorized by the U.S. Congress and established in 1995 by the National Science Foundation. This unique public-private partnership promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, technical resources and training. www.crdf.org.
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The Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago (CAAM) has received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts under the NEA’s The Big Read initiative, launched in 2006 and designed to restore reading to the center of American Culture.
Columbia’s CAAM will focus educational and outreach efforts in both community forums and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), using Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (1989) to explore issues of immigration, assimilation and Asian-American identity across generations.
The Center for Asian Arts and Media is the only Asian organization selected for The Big Read initiative; grants having been awarded primarily to library systems in cities and towns throughout the U.S. “For a Pan-Asian organization such as ours, The Big Read serves as a perfect opportunity to further our mission – that of promoting awareness of the Asian contribution to the greater American culture,” says Nancy Tom, founder and executive director of CAAM. “Through the vehicle of The Big Read and the critical themes of Amy Tan’s writing, we recognize the opportunity to bring salient and recurring issues from the Asian experience to American audiences and especially to help foster understanding of how Asian issues are truly American issue as well.”
The CAAM’s educational programming will take place this fall and feature several major initiatives. Professor Samuel Park, Ph.D., of Columbia’s Department of English will train cohorts of Asian-American college students to serve as discussion facilitators for community forums throughout Chicago. Dr. Park will also work with CPS secondary school teachers and provide them with learning and study materials on The Joy Luck Club, so that they can bring additional knowledge and cultural sensitivity to classroom discussions of the work.
Additional public programming presented by CAAM in conjunction with The Big Read include a screening of the film version of The Joy Luck Club and discussion with actress Lauren Tom (who played Lena in the film) as well as an exhibition on photographs entitled Asian Women on Screen: The Joy Luck Club and Beyond, featuring a panel discussion with filmmaker and Columbia professor Karla Rae Fuller.
CAAM will also present its 4th biennial Woman Warrior Festival around the theme of Generations before Us, honoring senior women for their achievements and legacy to the Asian and Asian American communities in the U.S.
Updates on programming can be found at www.asianartsandmedia.org.
More information on The Big Read at www.arts.gov/news/news07/bigreadCycle2.html
The Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago is a multidisciplinary arts center dedicated to supporting, promoting and presenting arts and media programs by and about Asians and Asian Americans. Our organization brings together accomplished artists, scholars and community builders from Chicago, the United States and abroad for lively and reflective artistic programs and events. As the first Asian arts center founded by a college or university in the Midwest, the Center places Columbia College at the forefront of the height4ened awareness of Asian and Asian American culture.
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