SPRING NEWSLETTER

News and events of the Emerson College

Los Angeles Adjunct Faculty Union

We wrapped up Spring semester by celebrating our union's first ELAF-AAUP Faculty Award on April 22nd.  The award is sponsored and adjudicated by the ELAF-AAUP members and its excecutive board to recognize and celebrate extraordinary contributions to the Emerson College community.  

 

For our inaugural event the faculty chose to honor Dr. Jim Lane.  Jim was the Executive Director of the Emerson College Los Angeles program from 2000 to 2014 and continues on as our Senior Scholar-in-Residence teaching courses in Films of the 1970s, Documentary, and the Films of David Lynch.  Jim is also the Founding Director of the Prague Summer Program in Film and teaches in the Writing for Film & Television MFA program.  He is an accomplished film/video maker of documentary and experimental films.  His latest film is Looking Back.  

 

Jim's work demonstrates his dedication to students and faculty and communicates his enduring passion for film as both a scholar and filmmaker.  ELAF celebrated Jim's career and contributions in a cocktail reception at the The Smokehouse in Burbank (and yes, that's Spencer Tracy in the background enjoying a martini).  

 

Faculty News

 

Randy Miller orchestrated and conducted an 84-piece orchestra for the Warner Brothers film Game Night at the Eastwood Scoring Stage on the Warner Brothers lot. Game Night was released in February and stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. Randy also composed the score for The Heart of Nuba, currently in limited release.  The Heart of Nuba is an inspiring documentary about Tom Catena, an American doctor and Catholic missionary who serves as the only permanent physician in the war-torn Nuba region of Sudan.  For more info visit the film's website. 

(Randy teaches Music for Writers, Directors and Producers and the Internship course)

 

 

 

Stephen Jay Schwartz’s upcoming non-fiction examination of writers’ experiences in the film business Hollywood Versus the Author is set to launch in September with essays from Stephen, Michael Connelly, Greg Hurwitz, Lawrence Block, and Tess Gerritsen.  Stephen also served as a judge for the Los Angeles Times Book Award given at its annual Festival of Books.  A short film version of Stephen’s first novel Boulevard goes into production in Vancouver this summer made by the cast and crew of the TV series Lucifer. (Stephen teaches a section of the Internship course and served as an MFA Thesis Chair this semester)

 

 
Stephen's Website >>
 

 

Esther Chae worked with director Roman Coppola and Gal Gadot on Revlon #LiveBoldly commercial, filmed a National Walmart commercial that aired during the Pyong-chang Winter Olympics and worked with fellow Yale Drama alum Amy Aquino on the TV show Bosch.

Esther was invited to Yonsei University’s Summer School and will be teaching two courses: Introduction to Drama and Performance and Presentation Skills for Business (first of its kind in Korea). She was also a panelist on CTG panel (co-produced with East West Players) "Orientalism And The Portrayal Of Asian Americans In Musicals.” (Esther teaches Acting for Film & Television)

 

 

 
Esther's Website >>

Brad Lemack's updated The New Business of Acting: The Next Edition will be published in fall of 2018. The Next Edition includes new and revised chapters that address the impact of the #MeToo movement, the evolution and explosion of self-tape and live-by-new-media auditions, the "Hollywood Hyphenate," online career branding, the post-merger SAG-AFTRA, the union's $125 a day dilemma for actors, the new tax plan's impact on actors and the overall impact of other industry challenges and changes across-the-board. His advice and perspective are rooted in his nearly 35 years developing, coaching and managing talent – and from his nearly 25 years guiding his college and university students in their transitions from acting students to working, professional actors. Distributed by SCB Distributors, Ingenuity Press USA will publish the title in both hard copy and as an eBook on September 1st.  (Brad teaches The Business of Acting, Improv, and Entertainment PR)

 

Brad's Website

Faculty Spotlight:

Meet Sarah Berkovich

 

 

How long have you been teaching at ELA? This is my second semester teaching at ELA

 

Which course(s) do you teach?

I’m currently teaching the Virtual Reality for Social Change Course

 

Do you teach anywhere else?

Not currently.

 

What’s your background?

My background is in documentary film production.

 

What are you currently working on?

I’ve got a lot of projects going on. I recently started a new position at Film Independent, my VR project Being Henry, is being developed as part of Oculus Launchpad, and I’ve also been working to promote more VR/AR courses at Emerson and presented to the board on that.   

 

What’s one of your most memorable experiences teaching at Emerson?

I’ve really enjoyed seeing what students can create with new media tools like virtual reality, it always blows me away. I also enjoy seeing their reactions when they first try out room scale virtual reality and have an ‘aha’ moment.

 

Is there a piece of advice you find yourself giving to students frequently?

90% of working in an emerging field is being able to deal with the stress of things not working how you think they will, staying calm, and slowly problem solving your way through it. You also don’t need to be a technology expert to learn how to make virtual reality, it’s just a tool to tell stories in a new way.

 

 
Read Sarah's Newsletter >>
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