Wednesday, December 9, 2009

When Your Networking Gets Rusty
















“If I didn’t go to LAC, I would have never had the opportunity to work on this project”, says Ryan Harmon. The pilot premier of The Rusty Bucket Kids Club: Adventure of the Magic Glasses Movie was held at Living Arts College (LAC.). Friends and family of the cast and crew, un-deterred by the rainy night, filled the Gallery to see the first post production viewing of John Demers’ TV pilot. Local actor and producer, John Demers, graciously addressed an audience of cast and crew for the experience of working on this project with them. “It takes a great amount of talent, time and dedication to bring such a vision to the big screen and I couldn’t help but be prideful as the credits rolled of how many LAC students are credited for their contributions to the film,” said Karen Hemphill, staff member at LAC.





















As mentors, we always encourage students to participate in events related to their industry. The Peak City Film Festival, located in Apex, is just such an event. Tickets for film were sold out for days and according to the website, a limited amount tickets were re-released for Friday night’s Feature Film “The Rusty Bucket Kids Club: Adventure of the Magic Glasses Movie”. Available tickets went for $50, twice the original price. “Sold Out” may have disappointed some, but our students can associate the press coverage project within their demo reel and resume.
The power of the network that extends from LAC once again can be exemplified by this event. Talking with student, Ryan Harmon, we revisit his path to opening night. Audio Instructor, Craig Brandwynne, understands the integral value of his network as a creative professional and demonstrates this understanding and its value to his students every day.
“JD, producer John Demers, asked Craig if we would do the audio on his film. Craig extended the invitation to us (his students.) I am a musician and songwriter scheduled to graduate next month with my degree in Audio. In August, I wrote The Last Ride, the ending song that plays while the credits roll. I played both banjo and guitar while G.W. Pierce sings. The Album debuted at the Peak City Film Festival and I will earn royalties too!” Ryan adds excitedly there at the end.
Ryan’s involvement didn’t end there and subsequently more students became involved with the project, Kord Chandler and David Pruitt to name a few. LAC students are credited for their contributions to location and post-production audio.
It is well understood that if you excel in class you will be recognized by the industry and opportunities will come to you. Who is in the Industry? Well, arguably we all are. The moment a student enrolls in the Audio program a students degree of separation from successful working individuals is reduced to the power of two maybe three. With hard working faculty pushing students to be the same, students can take great pride in how their names made it to the credits rolling before an audience on opening night.





















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Debra A Hooper
Vice President/Director
School of Communication Arts
@ Digital Circus

1 comment:

  1. Way to go Debra. Your place Rocks in how it supports local producers.

    ReplyDelete