Oscar & Golden Globe winner Dean Pitchford gives Master Class to UH Manoa Academy for Creative Media

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Tom Brislin, (808) 956-3788
Academy for Creative Media
Posted: Feb 27, 2007


HONOLULU — Hawaiʻi‘s own Oscar-Grammy-Golden Globe winner Dean Pitchford will join the University of Hawaiʻi‘s Academy for Creative Media guest faculty for a Master Class presentation March 5 on Composing, Writing and Directing.

Pitchford, born in Hawaiʻi and a St. Louis graduate, began his career as an actor on and off Broadway in such shows as Godspell and Pippin. He turned to songwriting and screenwriting, setting box office records with Fame and Footloose.

"Dean is a stellar example of the tremendous talent potential locally that the Academy for Creative Media is tapping," said Chris Lee, ACM founder and director. "Our students have a wealth of local stories, music, animation and video game ideas that will be the foundation for a Hawaiʻi digital media entertainment industry. Dean‘s experience and accomplishments in Hollywood, Broadway, and globally make him a true Hawaiʻi renaissance man. We‘re honored to have him share those experiences with our students and be a role model for them."

Pitchford will illustrate his career discussion with clips from his films from 2:30-4 p.m. in Crawford Hall Room 115. The campus community and public are invited, but because of limited seating should R.S.V.P. to Lily Ching at ACM at 956-7736, or e-mail lilychin@hawaii.edu.

Pitchford‘s presentation is part of the ACM/Jay Shidler Family Foundation Master Class Series at UH. Other presenters have included directors Cameron Crowe, Bryan Singer and Justin Lin, producer Jon Peters and actor Kal Penn.

Pitchford has been nominated for four Academy Awards, winning the Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy for "Fame." He‘s been a two-time Tony Award nominee, TV director (HBO‘s Blood Brothers) and novelist (The Big One-Oh).

Pitchford has written numerous Top Ten hits and has had his songs recorded by artists as diverse as Whitney Houston, Cher, Hilary Duff, L.L. Cool J, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand and Merle Haggard. His songs have sold over seventy million copies. His stage musical adaptation of "Footloose" opened on Broadway in 1998, ran for over 700 performances, and is now in regional and traveling productions all over the world.

The Academy for Creative Media is the university‘s primary place for the production and study of digital media in film, animation, computer game design, indigenous and critical studies. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu/acm.