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Club members (from left): Robert Hoffman, CC'02, Erik W. Courtney, GS'00, and Yitzi Zablocki. GS'02
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When Erik Courtney (GS '00), graduates in this month, he'll walk away with some valuable lessons in student film making. First: promising a credit at the end of even a five-minute movie can yield any or all of the following free items-- bagels, pizza, even three hours of filming time in a hotel lobby. Second, if you can't afford a dolly to mount your camera (a few thousand dollars to buy)-- try a wheelchair. And third, if you form a club that gives undergraduates the chance to make their own films, you'll attract a crowd.
As the founder and president of the Columbia Producers and Directors Club, the only student group at the School of General Studies (GS) devoted entirely to giving undergraduate students the chance to write, produce and direct their own films, Courtney, in just one year, attracted more than 40 members. Absolutely no experience is needed, and the only prerequisites for joining are lots of enthusiasm and creativity.
The club, open to all undergraduates at Columbia, has many GS students in its ranks, many of whom are older and have spent time in the working world. The professional experience they bring to the table - from the entertainment world or elsewhere - helps the club produce high-caliber films, even on shoestring budgets. Courtney's position will be filled next year by Yitzi Zablocki, another GS student, who spent years making educational films for the Israeli army, and who is working on a feature film starring James Earl Jones. Another GS student, Larysa Kondracki, the club's treasurer has been able to share the lighting and production experience she gained from completing a theater degree at McGill University.
"When you work with GS people, you're really working with people who have overall experience and they can add their own insight into the way things are done," said Rob Hoffman (CC '02), the club's external vice president. "The club is great, because it functions like a real production company."
One GS student, Philipp Kuecuekyan, had never worked in the film world, but he found his experience in finance helped immensely last semester when he produced his first film.
"The fact that you're working changes your outlook," explained Kuecuekyan. "In the business world, people are conscious of money and the way it's handled. You're given resources and you have to use them conscientiously, and you have to get used to the way deadlines are enforced."
The GS Student Council gave the club money for one top of the line digital XL1 digital camera last year, but other cameras had to be rented. Even making the shortest short film takes money for props and sets; plus there's the age-old tradition of feeding the crew.
But students have been resourceful, convincing local bagel and sandwich shops to offer food in return for a credit at the end (read: free advertising), and talking a local hotel into letting them film for free in the lobby. In addition, the Film Division of the School of the Arts agreed to include the Producers and Directors Club on their insurance policy, saving the club the costly insurance`` fees which members often absorbed personally.
Many of the GS students say they enjoy sharing wisdom from their professional experiences with colleagues new to the film world.
"The beauty of the club is that the majority of our members have never touched a camera in their lives," said Courtney.
Zablocki agreed. "As far as teaching and using my experience to help undergraduates who want to make films, I saw it as an educational experience -- it's very rewarding."
Courtney himself discovered film-making later in life. Having landed jobs straight out of high school in 1991, as a systems analyst for Carnival Cruise Lines and a network administrator for the Miami Herald, making films was the furthest thing from his mind-- he was thinking more about upgrading systems to Windows 95.
When, he started taking courses at a community college in Miami, he said, "I found myself in a whole new world of Western culture and literature." He wanted more, and applied to GS, which took into account his extensive professional work experience. He has spent the last two years at Columbia studying film history and theory, and will graduate this May with honors from the Film Division with a 3.5 grade point average.
Though some aspiring film makers may not want to spend so much time on theory, Courtney said, for him the major and the film club have been perfect complements to each other.
"What Columbia has given me is a solid understanding of film theory, history and analysis," said Courtney. There really is a whole language to it. When I deal with the directors and the creative people, I have a real understanding of what they're trying to accomplish."
The club invites anyone to share a story idea at its pitching sessions-- which usually take place twice each semester. Club members vote on the stories, and typically choose two from the five or six that are usually shared. A second round of pitching is held for the director's position-- the most coveted spot on the crew. Then, there is a third pitching session-- this time for people who want to produce the film.
The club has yielded a wide range of films, including Love in Short, a romantic comedy about a potential relationship that never has the chance to bloom; Confetti, also written and directed by a GS student, about people coming to New York with dreams; and a third deals with date rape.
Next year, the fledgling club will change hands -- Courtney landed one of only 15 spots in the UCLA School of Film and Television's Producers Program, and Zablocki will take over. In the works for the coming year are a production manual, and a line-up of impressive invited speakers. Already, Ira Deutchman, adjunct professor at the School of the Arts, former president of the Deutchman Company which made Sex Lies and Videotape and Metropolitan, and producer of 54 and Kiss me Guido, spoke to the club and offered to take story pitches.
"I applied to GS because I felt I was missing something in my education," said Zablocki. "GS was the perfect program. I was able to continue working, take classes, and get involved in the school by using my love of film," he said.
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