Aloha students, faculty and friends of the Academy for Creative Media.

Welcome back to a new semester of classes, filmmaking, animation, game design and critical studies. As our returning students know, we like to keep you up to date with regular email postings about the program alert you to activities and opportunities beyond the classroom.

In this first update of Spring 2006, we'll look at new courses, new and returning faculty, what's in the news, and what's on some screens.

IN THE NEWS. . .

ACM Chairman Chris Lee, executive producer for SUPERMAN RETURNS, has returned from principal shooting of the film in Sydney, Australia. The Honolulu Advertiser profiled him in its January 26 edition. If you missed it, you can find it at Honolulu Advertiser.

. . .AND THE NEW

New courses this semester include ACM 255, our introductory course that will become (effective Fall 2006) a prerequisite for all of our advanced courses, and a required course for majors. It's taught by Marlene Booth, an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Two sections of ACM 255 will be offered in the Fall.

Konrad Ng, the curator of the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, returns this semester with "Action and Arthouse Cinema" as his ACM 385 Special Topics course. Wimal Dissanayake is offering "Postmodernism in Cinema" as an ACM 485 Seminar, along with always-popular ACM 480, Oceanic Film, TV & Multimedia Culture.

During the past two months, Prof. Dissanayake was   invited as the keynote speaker at conferences in University of Tubingen, Germany, National University of Singapore and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation at its 80th anniversary. During this same period he   won the national literary award of Sri Lanka and the Distinguished Award for writings on Asian Cinema.

Asst. Prof. Joel Moffett is offering Advanced Screenwriting as a second ACM 485 seminar. During Fall 2005, a number of ACM requests were approved to add new courses and rename and renumber some old ones. We'll give you the full list well before registration time. Expect to see new courses in Documentary Filmmaking, Directing, and Advanced Screenwriting.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT DESIGNERS FEB. 16

ACM's Guest Speakers Program will bring two designers from Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" team to campus on Thursday Feb 16th, at 6pm.   Stay tuned for location. It's bound to be SRO as World of Warcraft is the most successful MMO (Massively Multiplayer  

Online) game to date, with over 5 million players worldwide.

Opportunities are knocking rather heavily on ACM students' doors:

* Pacific Islanders in Communication announce their Short Film Initiative, funding 30 sec.-2 min. films. Information available from Anne Misawa, or at <www.piccom.org>.

* The International Student Film Festival, headquartered in Carpinteria, California, has posted its Call for Entries at <www.StudentFilmFestival.org>.

* Kimberlee Bassford of Making Waves Films invites students who are interested in working on a documentary about the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink to contact her at <makingwavesfilms@yahoo.com>.

On a Screen Near You

The Honolulu Academy of Arts Doris Duke Theatre will feature THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL, Keith Beauchamp's documentary on the 1955 murder of the African American teenager that galvanized the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Friday and Sunday at 1pm, 4pm, and 7:30pm. Saturday at 1pm and 7:40pm.

Here's one for your own home screen: TIM BURTON TRICK OR TREAT, featured originally on Biography and A&E TV. Videotape #21692 at UH 's Sinclair Wong AV Center.

NOTED FILMMAKER, SCHOLAR TO SPEAK

Sut Jhally, Univ. of Mass. Professor and Exec. Dir. of the Media Education Foundation is the 2006 UH Distinguished Visiting Scholar, co-sponsored by ACM. You can catch him at various campuses the week of Feb. 20. His schedule:

* Mon. 2/20 - 7 pm showing of WRESTLING WITH MANHOOD and CLASS DISMISSED at * Kapiolani Community College, Ohia 118.

* Tues 2/21 - 10 am presentation of TOUGH GUISE and DREAMWORLDS at Leeward Community College, GT 105.

* Thurs 2/23 - 7 pm public presentation of TOUGH GUISE, followed by Q&A.

* Fri 2/24 7 pm screening of HIJACKING CATASTROPHE at UHM Architecture Aud.