Aloha Students, Faculty and Friends of the Academy for Creative Media. The Fall 2006 Schedule of ACM classes is available, and there are IMPORTANT changes in the program and courses. They're coming up in this update. But first, don't forget our exciting Monday program:

ACM MASTER CLASS WITH MASTER DIRECTOR RANDAL KLEISER

Monday, April 17 from 11-12:30 am in the Campus Center Executive Dining Room – Join Randal Kleiser, an internationally recognized film director known for GREASE, BLUE LAGOON, BIG TOP PEEWEE and IT'S MY PARTY. This ACM Master Class will feature a presentation by Kleiser, clips from his films, and a Q&A session on how to move from the classroom to the studio. Get there early for a prime seat, coffee, juice, pastries and cookies!

For those who would like to continue the discussion with Randal Kleiser in a more informal session, join him in a session with ACM's screenwriting students at 2 pm in BusAd D101. All ACM students are welcome.

FALL 2006 SCHEDULE

For Fall 2006, ACM has 18 course offerings including new classes in documentary production and cinematography; a topics course on influential directors, and a seminar on Asian Cinema. Media Ethics is now an ACM offering (ACM 460) that satisfies the "E" requirement for graduation. Course listings, days & times, instructors and class locations can be found here, or on our website <acm.hawaii.edu>.

ACM CHANGES #1

You'll note some changes in course numbering and course titles effective Fall 2006, to bring consistency to our catalog. Advanced Cinema Production, for instance, is changing numbers from 398 to 410. Current students need not worry – your course records and credits are secure no matter what number you took them under.

ACM CHANGES #2

For new students, please note that new requirements for admission to the ACM major, and for completion of the major, take effect Fall 2006. You'll find them on our website <www.hawaii.edu/acm> - click on “Academic Program.” In brief, in order to become an ACM major, you'll have to have completed ACM 255 – Cinema & Digital Media – with a B or better; have completed 12 or more credit hours with a 2.5 GPA; be enrolled in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences; and be accepted into the Interdisciplinary Studies Program.

No new applications to become an ACM major will be accepted until Fall 2006, under the new entry requirements.

Completing the major will require 18 credit hours in ACM core courses in writing, production and critical studies; at least 12 hours in one track (digital cinema; animation & game design; critical studies); and 6 hours of electives outside of ACM. Also on the website is a complete listing and description of all ACM courses.

TY SANGA'S PLASTIC LEIS AT ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL

Academy for Creative Media student filmmaker Ty Sanga's film PLASTIC LEIS has been   selected to be part of the 30th annual Atlanta Film Festival. The festival will take place June 9-17, at selected Atlanta area popular and historic venues. Jake Jacobson, festival director, told Sanga, “a jury of industry professionals and myself have accepted only seven percent of the over 1800 entries, so your selection is a significant one.” PLASTIC LEIS follows the story of Malia, a Waikiki dancer, who rediscovers her roots and family through hula. The Academy will help underwrite Sanga's travel to Atlanta to screen his film and interact with other filmmakers and industry professionals. “Ty Sanga's exceptional talents and accomplished film truly represent the Academy for Creative Media's mission of empowering our students to tell their stories with a unique Hawai‘i sense of place, history and culture,” said Chris Lee, ACM director.   “The Atlanta festival is a wonderful venue and deserved recognition for Ty and his film.”

“Plastic Leis” premiered at the 2005 Hawai‘i International Film Festival. It has been selected for screening at the Pacifika: New York Hawaiian Film Festival, and the Big Island's startup festival in Kona, both in May.

YOUR SCREENPLAY CAN EARN YOU A $1,000 PRODUCTION GRANT

The April 17 deadline for ACM's screenwriting competition is approaching. Three winners will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship/grant to produce their winning screenplays.

Continuing ACM students can submit up to two original screenplays written in 2005-2006 to the ACM reviewing committee . Also include a preliminary budget showing anticipated production costs that the scholarship/grant would cover. Submit all materials to the ACM office, Crawford 210 by 4 pm.

Some requirements: You must be a continuing student – you'll be enrolling full-time for Fall 2007; You must have an overall grade point average of 2.75. Winning students must agree to provide the Academy for Creative Media a production journal outlining pre-production, shooting and post production schedules, as well as any rough, director's and/or final cuts of the production, which shall be copyrighted as an ACM Production.

TELLURIDE FESTIVAL STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

Apply by April 29 for the Student Symposium at the internationally famous Telluride Film Festival, Aug. 31- Sept. 4. Some stipends available. Details at www.telluridefilmfestival.org/symposium.html.

TRIVIA #1: WHAT FILMS INFLUENCE INFLUENTIAL FILMMAKERS?

M. Night Shyamalan, selected ShoWest Director of the Year,   offers these five films that have most influenced him (from The Hollywood Reporter): BEING THERE (1979, director: Hal Ashby), THE GODFATHER (1972, director: Francis Ford Coppola), IKIRU (1956, director: Akira Kurosawa), JAWS (1975, director: Steven Spielberg), LOLITA (1962, director: Stanley Kubrick).

TRIVIA #2: KUBRICKS FILM CHARACTERS

What are Kubricks? Besides a play on the name of the legendary film director (as noted above), they're character block figures made by Medicom Toy of Japan and are about two inches tall, resembling a cross between LEGO and Playmobil figures. Medicom makes Kubrick sets based on anime titles, manga characters and a range of movies. There's STAR WARS Kubricks, SHREK, SPIDERMAN … You get the picture. Apparently no RESERVOIR DOGS, though.

IN THE LIBRARY

PROJECT GREENLIGHT: A unique, behind-the-scenes look at the Hollywood filmmaking process that documents all the hurdles and pitfalls encountered by first-time filmmakers as they

bring their labor of love to the big screen. The theatrical release highlighted in this documentary

series is "The battle of Shaker Heights." Check it out: Sinclair Library A/V Center. DVD 3136.

SCREENINGS

1. AT THE HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS DORIS DUKE THEATRE

The Kung Fu Retrospective winds up with:

Wednesday: THE JADE TIGER (Bai Yu Laohu). Dir: Chu Yuan, Hong Kong, 1977. 7:30 pm

Thursday:   THE MAGIC BLADE (Tianya Mingyue Dao). Dir: Chu Yuan, Hong Kong, 1976. 7:30 pm  

Friday: THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (Xin Dubi Daowang). Dir: Zhang Che, Hong Kong, 1971. 7:30 pm

Saturday: THE FIVE VENOMS (Wu Du). Dir: Zhang Che, Hong Kong, 1978. 4 pm and 7:30 pm

Sunday: LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA (Shiba Ban Wuyi). Dir: Lau Kar-leung, 1982. 7:30 pm

2. ON CAMPUS

Thursday, April 13 at 7 PM & Sunday, April 16 at 5 PM in the Spaulding Auditorium: VISIONING TIBET. Director Isaac Solotaorf's film chronicles the passion of ophthalmologist Marc Lieberman, founder of the Tibet Vision Project. His mission: to end preventable blindness in Tibet, which has the highest rate of untreated cataract blindness in the world by 2020. Also, AMCHIS: THE FORGOTTEN HEALERS OF THE HIMALAYAS.