Harp + Silver

Phil Villarreal
covers the Harp+Silver event in Caliente

Silver & Harp::Intermedia Presentation on April 7

TUESDAY APRIL 7, 2009
» 6:00 PM
» Gallagher Theater, Student Union

On April 7, 2009, 6:00 pm at the Gallagher Theater, Hilary Harp + Suzie Silver present a media presentation and lecture about their collaborative art with a focus on their current media performance AV Lodge Presents: Fruit Machine. Included in this presentation is a live demo performance of excerpts of Fruit Machine. Post-performance discussion will be led by media scholar Caryl Flinn (UA Women’s Studies).

AV Lodge Presents: Fruit Machine
Media Performance by Hilary Harp and Suzie Silver

Fruit Machine Description
Fruit Machine is a campy hour-long media performance that uses a dynamic interplay between live and screen-based events to probe the relationship between bodies and fantasies. Inspired by a long tradition of camp aesthetics, especially Jack Smith’s homemade participatory glamour and Leigh Bowery’s extravagant perversity, Fruit Machine brings together camp and digital performance. Using Arduino microcontrollers, Bluetooth and Max/MSP/Jitter, we create physical props and costumes that actively influence screen-based and sonic events. The overall performance is more mutant musical or concert than play. As much emphasis is placed on sound as image, with props and costumes functioning as audio-visual instruments.
“Fruit Machine” was a name given to a Canadian device designed during the Cold War to ferret out homosexuals from the civil service and the military. The subjects were made to view pornography, and the device measured the pupils of the eyes, perspiration, and pulse for a supposed erotic response. The word “fruit” in our title refers to both a quirky, eccentric or queer individual and to the fecund sex organs of plants. “Machine” references the rather technical engineering of the lurid and antic images. Camp codes of high artifice and excess, and camp’s self-conscious celebration of exotica are all at work here. Fruit Machine occupies a unique place at the juncture between technically sophisticated interactive media and humble and carnivalesque aesthetics reminiscent of a folk ritual or a school play.

Brief Bio
Collaborating since 2003, Hilary Harp and Suzie Silver have created a range of projects including objects, installations, videos and performances. Drawn to exotica, science fiction and pre-digital special effects, Harp & Silver create D.I.Y. spectacles by combining technical sophistication with humble materials. They have exhibited their objects and installations throughout the U.S. Their videos have screened all over the world and are distributed by the Video Data Bank. They have performed their live media variety show “Fruit Machine” in a number of venues nationally including Transformer Gallery, Washington DC; Around the Coyote Festival, Chicago, IL; and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

cfa website
flier, in .pdf format

Brad Slater visits on April 6

MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2009
» 3:00 - 3:50 PM & 4:00 - 4:50 PM
» Marshall 211 » Professional Practices discussion
» Event is free and open to all Media Arts students

Brad Slater is a talent agent at the William Morris Agency (WMA). Previously a talent manager, Slater joined WMA in 2003.

Slater’s clients include Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker (“Last King of Scotland”) and Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”); Brendan Fraser (“The Mummy”), Amaury Nolasco (“Prison Break”), Chad Michael Murray (“One Tree Hill”), Derek Luke (“Notorious”), Dan Fogler (“Balls of Fury”), Chazz Palminteri (“A Bronx Tale” and “The Usual Suspects”), Terry Crews (“Everybody Hates Chris”), Neal McDonough (“Desperate Housewives” and “Flags of our Fathers”), Emily Procter (“CSI Miami”), Jerry Ferrara (“Entourage”) and Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural”).

Prior to WMA, Slater was a manager at The Firm, which he joined from AMG where he had worked since 1998. Slater began working in the talent representation business as an assistant for Keith Addis at Industry Entertainment and later went to work as an assistant to Rick Yorn at AMG. He was promoted to manager in 2001.

A Los Angeles native, Slater graduated in 1996 from the University of Arizona. In college he interned at Sony Music for MJJ records (Michael Jackson’s record company) and Sony Pictures for Mandalay Entertainment where he worked for Peter Guber, Todd Black, Ori Marmur and Jason Blumenthal. His first job in the business was at Goldbar Entertainment selling American films to overseas buyers.

BFA Info Workshops

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009
» 4:30 - 5:30 PM » Marshall 221

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009
» 9:00 - 10:00 AM » Marshall 211 Conference Room

Are you interested in applying to the BFA Program this fall? Then you need to attend one of these workshops!

Learn more about the BFA program, the difference between the BA and BFA degrees, and details about the portfolio process.

If you plan to apply to the BFA program in September, you are REQUIRED to attend a workshop. These will be the only two offered this semester.

Please note: these workshops are open to Media Arts students only.

For questions contact
Professor Michael Mulcahy at mmulcahy@u.arizona.edu or 621-1155

.pdf flier

Independent Filmmaker Deborah Stratman Visits

Chicago-based experimental filmmaker Deborah Stratman will screen “In Order Not Be Here” and other experimental short films at 7pm Tuesday, March 31 at The Screening Room (127 E. Congress Street). The event is free and open to the public.

Stratman’s work plies the territory between experimental and documentary genres. Shot entirely at night, “In Order Not Be Here” is a flight through hysteria and police surveillance in suburban America. Stratman will also screen 16mm prints of "The Paranormal Trilogy,” a series of works that collectively address concepts of the paranormal in the information age.

Stratman’s work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Rotterdam Film Festival, the Whitney Biennial, Centre Pompidou and MoMA – NYC, among other venues. The program is from 7:00pm-8:15pm and will include a Q&A with Stratman. For more on Stratman’s work see: http://www.pythagorasfilm.com/

.pdf flier

Press Release: IDIWS 09

I Dream in Widescreen
The School of Media Arts 2009 BFA Thesis Films

Friday May 15, 2009
6:00 pm doors open, 7:30 pm screening
The Tucson Music Hall, Downtown Tucson, FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Fire breathing dragons, at-risk musical youth, Ron Jeremy and more! Students graduating from the School of Media Arts Bachelor of Fine Arts program at The University of Arizona will screen their senior thesis films at I Dream in Widescreen. This popular, standing-room-only event is the culmination of the skills, knowledge and creative vision fostered by the highly selective Media Arts BFA program in film and video production. Students from the program will present their films at major film festivals, such as 2006 alumnus Jonathan Pulley, whose film Move Me played in the Sundance Film Festival.

Slated for this year’s screening is an unusually diverse and ambitious array of films written, directed, and crewed by Media Arts students and starring talent from throughout the Tucson community. Ranging from Scott Silver’s Sui-Sci-Fi Musical, a hilarious spin on the teen musical genre, to Ariela Stern’s The Inheritance, a poignant meditation on Jewish identity, to It’s American! a send-up of 1970s exploitation films, starring none other than Ron Jeremy the star of Deep Throat himself, to The Wind and Hills a fantasy epic about a fiddler turned dragonslayer, this year’s I Dream in Widescreen will also feature a comedic series of commercial spots written, directed and produced by Rhys Stover and a music video for local band Holy Rolling Empire directed by Chelsea Coles. The films will be followed by a lively question and answer session with all of the graduating filmmakers.

A local tradition started at The Loft Cinema, I Dream in Widescreen drew 800 people to the Fox Tucson last year and expects to draw an even bigger crowd this year to The Tucson Music Hall. “The School of Media Arts is excited about taking the stage at The Tucson Music Hall, in the center of Tucson’s historic downtown arts district,” said Lisanne Skyler, Assistant Professor in the School of Media Arts and producer of this free screening.

I Dream in Widescreen is made possible by support from The University of Arizona College of Fine Arts Small Grants Program,The Hanson Film Institute, The Student-Faculty Interaction Program and the School of Media Arts.

more info
Meg Askey | mgaskii@email.arizona.edu
Facebook ... News & Events Blog ... Twitter

Tell Us Your News ...

Hey, People ...
I just finished updating our Alumni web page. It now contains lots of resources for telling us your story and links you to our social networks, too.

Oh yes, and have I told you lately about an easy-breezy way to tell us what you've been doing? Simply fill this form out completely. We use the information from this form to create news items for our biyearly School of Media Arts Newsletter.

To see a .pdf version of our Winter 08/09 Newsletter, go here. To get on our mailing list to receive our newsletter in your mailbox, simply email us at marinfo@email.arizona.edu.

Thanks!
Meg
Marketing Specialist
UA School of Media Arts

Visiting Artist: Julie Sandor

BIO:
Julie Sandor is an independent producer who has worked on films within a wide range of genres such as horror, comedy and thriller. She has worked with actors such as Matthew Broderick, Philip Baker Hall, Jeremy Sisto, Parker Posey, Paul Rudd and Danny DeVito.

Ms. Sandor is currently a Producer at Strive Productions and she has worked for Castle Rock Productions, Out of the Blue Entertainment and she was Head of Development for Ambush Entertainment. Ms. Sandor received her masters from New York University in Cinema Studies and her PhD from Northwestern University in Communication Studies.

Sandor will speak to Media Arts students and the public about The Producer and Script Development in ILC 130, on March 23.

more info:
Facebook Event * CFA Calendar

Fine Cut Screenings Begin Tomorrow!

The Art of Pitching

The Hanson Film Institute and the School of Media Arts presents "The Art of Pitching" with Lorna Soroko & Ronnie Clemmer.

Click Here for complete details, via PDF

Visit Us Online

You can follow us online on Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

We'll soon be using YouTube to upload clips of student films from the BFA Thesis Showcase, I Dream In Widescreen. We use Twitter primarily to remind our followers of upcoming events. Our Facebook and Blogger sites are the primary media outlets for photo documentation and .jpg copies of event fliers.

In addition to these sites, a current calendar can be found on the Media Arts Homepage.

IDIWS Rough-Cut Review Dates Announced

Help Us Welcome Best-Selling Author and UA Alum Christian Lander!

One of our alumns returns to campus this week to speak about his blog and book, Stuff White People Like.

He'll be signing books at the ASUA bookstore at 4 PM on Wednesday [event info]. After that, we'll be at Frog 'n Firkin for an informal (that means buy-your-own) reception. It will be great fun, so stop by and say hello to this BEST-SELLING AUTHOR!

Mr. Palminteri Was GREAT!

Students from Theatre Arts and Media Arts gathered on Tuesday at the Marronney theatre to speak about their craft with Chazz Palminteri.

Mr. Palminteri gave a brief intro to his career and professional philosophy, and then entertained questions from the audience.

He encouraged students to pursue creative relationships and to be pleasant, enthusiastic, and well-prepared. He advised Theatre students to be ready with a monologue that they could give at a moment's notice and to demonstrate the importance of the monologue, he brought a student onstage to share her work.

UA Alum Trent Othick is producing Mr. Palminteri's Broadway show, "A Bronx Tale", and made the actor's trip to campus possible.

more:

• Return of the Othicks - By Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
• One man, 18 characters, By Brandon Specktor, DailyWildcat.com
  

Actor/Playwright Chazz Palminteri Speaks to Students

Academy Award®-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri returns to the stage in an unforgettable performance fresh from a successful run on Broadway, where it was praised by the critics and adored by the public. In A BRONX TALE, the celebrated play on which he based the legendary movie, Palminteri vividly depicts a young boy's rough childhood in the 1960s-era Bronx and the unforgettable people he encountered.

He'll speak to Schools of Media Arts and Theatre Arts students in the Marroney Theater from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM.

SXSW visits UA Media Arts

SXSW Programmer Lya Guerra (BA, Media Arts & BA, Art History 2000) speaks to BFA students and the public next week. She'll be showing films and discussing aspects of festival programming.

This event is free and open to the public.


web | event flier (pdf)

Pete Kozachik, Director of Photography

Pete Kozachik, DP on such films as TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE and THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS visited us yesterday.

Pete chatted with a standing-room only audience that included faculty, staff, students, and many members of the local film community. He showed his work and described his process. He also entertained questions from the audience on everything from lighting, set design, industry practices, and much more.

We hope to host Pete again later in the semester, when he can speak directly to students.

The free seminar was hosted by The University of Arizona's Hanson Film Institute.

MAR 210 & 310 Student Screening

Hey, don't forget about the MAR 210/310 student film screening this week!

Fillin' Crew Positions

Hi Meg,

My local production company needs to fill various crew positions for a micro budget feature film.

Alumni and students are requested to visit the www.BloodyGoodFilms.com website for details.

Shooting in central Tucson (Alv/Grant) with very flexible schedules!

Thank you,

Dean Lachiusa

Will Holst's uanews.org profile on GR

My Favorite Photo from GR Day

BFFs! I'm campaigning for this to be Jorge's Christmas card this year.

Fox Tucson Theatre Event

Jim Nintzel and Geraldo discuss border issues with 200 audience members on Wednesday night.

By this point in the day, Geraldo was still on fire ... very passionate about border issues and race. I, on the other hand, was experiencing the faint tickles of exhaustion.

After the Fox event, Geraldo spoke with invitation-only event participants over dessert. I have no photos out of respect for the private citizens at the event.

*** IMPORTANT NOTICE: The reason I gave for having no dessert reception photos was somewhat untrue. A more accurate portrayal would be: I was too tired for cake. ***

Press Conference

After GR's book signing event, he spoke with local media. He answered questions and even praised Media Arts for our hospitality and insisted that he was very interested in supporting our community in the future. Cool.

The Saga of the RiveraPod

Okay, pals, sit down for a moment while we discuss the theory behind giving Mr. Geraldo Rivera an iPod.

After all, you might opine, this man can certainly afford his own iPod. Okay while that might very well be true, our goal was to give Mr. Rivera a thank-you gift for visiting us. He paid for his own way to Tucson, and he paid for his own hotel room, and he visited with faculty, staff, and students. He deserved a big thank you.

And then a brilliant idea was presented ... why not thank Mr. Rivera with an iPod, on which we will place our media? After all, he'll hop on a plane to Vegas the next day, traveling to Vegas to roast Cheech Marin. He could watch some movies on his way, then trade Cheech his new iPod for, perhaps, a nice new pair of hemp shoes.

So, we ("we" includes Sekinger, Makino, Demers, Urbina, Askey, among others) put twenty-five shorts on the RiveraPod. Most of the work was created by students, including an excerpt from the student interview conducted with Geraldo earlier in that morning. Thus, he saw what we could do, and what kinds of things we wanted to do with our media, media, media.

That, dear reader, is the Saga of the RiveraPod.

Geraldo Rivera still stands but I have collapsed.

I collapsed just thinking about Geraldo Rivera's day in Tucson. Yep, I'm writing this from a local spa where I'm bathing in medicinal mud. I'm exhausted, I tell ya, and all I did was follow him around with a camera like a puppy-dog.

The event at the Fox Tucson Theatre was well-attended by the local community. He spoke with Tucson Weekly journalist Jim Nintzel for an hour and a half, and then took questions from the audience for 30 or 40 more minutes.

Dr. Maurice J. Sevigny, dean of the UA College of Fine Arts introduced Mr. Nintzel who in turn threw it to video footage of Mr. Rivera sparring with Bill O'Reilly on the O'Reilly Factor. GR soon emerged from backstage to explain that it was that very interaction that inspired him to write his book HisPanic.

I'll be uploading new photos and video in the coming days. For now, I must sleep. GR is probably writing another book at this very moment but Coffee Times cannot produce enough espresso to keep me up for one more moment. :)

Signing, signing, signing

Personal signatures on no less than five books. Post-its have personalized messages for each. heehee!

Oh and also ... he signs with great enthusiasm and patience

Mr. Rivera has signed a great deal of books, even indulging the odd visitor in a stack of requested signatures. He's speaking to his audience very warmly, in English and Español. He spoke with one gentleman for quite some time, all the while signing personal messages on five separate books.

Book Signing Success!

I'm typing from the ASUA Bookstore, right in front of two very knowledgeable bookstore employees. They know all about GR's events, and are patiently discussing them with anyone who has a question. Very impressive.

I have photos, but alas, I have no time to upload them from here. I'll be back in the office in about 20 minutes, however, and I'll get some photos up from there.

Okay, true confession ... I've taken several photos. They are blurry. Totally disgusting. Completely embarrassing. I need to retake them. Like, now.

Jorge and I are headed, cameras in hand ...

to the book signing at the ASUA Bookstore, where Mr. Rivera is signing copies of his book, HisPanic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U. S.

>> more book signing info here!

Read this while I breathe ....

Geraldo's visit, as covered by uanews.org:
http://uanews.org/node/22577

Geraldo Rivera Sneak Peek

Hello!
Mr. Rivera just finished an informal lunch with faculty and staff. Three films were screened for Mr. Rivera and he was presented with an iPod as a thank-you gift.

We were able to place about 15 videos made by students and faculty on his new iPod, as well as the below snippet from this morning's interview with students.

You're the first to see it!

Brilliant Student Interviews With GR

Valerie Richarmé-Grotto and Stefan Koski, Media Arts Students, just finished interviewing Mr. Rivera in the Media Library. Their questions were brilliantly insightful, and Mr. Rivera responded with thoughtful analysis of border issues and the politics of race in America.

Posting a clip soon ... stay tuned!

Geraldo Day!

Okay word on the street is that Mr. Rivera is breaking his fast at a lovely local eatery. After breakfast he's visiting campus. Dr. Beverly Seckinger is due in the office any minute to give Mr. R a tour of our facilities. The tour culminates in an on-camera interview with two Media Arts students. I'll upload a clip in a few hours, so you can see how brilliant Valerie and Stefan are.

More news later!

Geraldo Rivera Visits Media Arts Tomorrow

The School of Media Arts, the Hanson Film Institute and the College of Fine Arts are busy with last-minute details surrounding Geraldo Rivera's visit to the University of Arizona tomorrow. He's got a full day of events, including a screening of student films, book signing, meeting media, and a discussion with the Tucson Weekly's Jim Nintzel at the Fox Tucson Theatre.

In addition, I'll be blogging all the day-long. Uploading photos and videos. So stay tuned for more info!

Contact UA Media Arts