http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0220nefilm0220.html
SCC earns 35mm film grant
Michael Famiglietti The Arizona Republic Feb. 20, 2006 12:00 AM
SCOTTSDALE - Film students at Scottsdale Community College are getting a shot at the big time.
Kodak Entertainment Imaging is providing 35mm cameras, studio space and film processing for students to complete a seven-minute film as part of a program usually reserved for California schools.
Kodak's program has helped six film schools a year since 2000. SCC is the only school outside California and the first community college anywhere to be chosen. a
Lorette Bayle, the production executive for Kodak's Hollywood region, started the program and said she choose the school because it is the best community college film program in the West.
The facilities and faculty they have are even better than those of community colleges in California, Bayle said.
"It's quite a gem of a film school," she said.
Giving students the chance to work with this level of film stock is a great opportunity they wouldn't normally have, she added.
"We were very honored and anxious to show we can compete with four-year schools," said Penelope Price, a SCC faculty member who recommended the program to Bayle. "This is so great. It's our first 35mm ever."
A 35mm film produces a better-quality picture and would normally cost a student $50,000 to $80,000, much more than the 16mm and digital films the school usually makes.
Price said the project is one of the strengths of the program, which has always had a "hands on" approach.
Students working on the film are part of a special 35mm Kodak class and will earn four credits.
Students will have creative freedom but will get some help from industry professionals who are guiding them through the process.
Terry Donnelly, the producer for 1997's 12 Angry Men and first assistant director for 1973's The Exorcist, is one of the mentors and helped pick the script.
"We were just looking for quality, and it was a difficult choice," Donnelly said.
The winning script is a comedy written by an SCC student called The Blacksmith and the Carpenter, which tells the story of a man who forges the nails for Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
"I think it's a comedy about biblical times," said Chris Redish, the film's director. "But it's certainly not everyone's taste."
Redish, who runs a translation agency when he's not at school, said he doesn't want the film to offend anyone but does want it to be a little edgy.
The blacksmith believes he has a great government contract making nails and ends up swallowing them when he realizes how they will be used, Redish said.
Starring in the film is Liz Sheridan, who played Jerry Seinfeld's mother on Seinfeld, and Hunter Gomez, who played a young Nicolas Cage in 2004's National Treasure.
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