In the summer of 2017, then University of Toledo film student, Eva Noria, landed an internship in New York with post-production company, Running Man. Impressed with her energy, work ethic and post-production skills, the company offered her a job as a post-production assistant upon graduation. Eva graduated from UT in spring of 2018 and has now been on the job for almost a year.

Running Man serves a clientele that includes shows for Netflix, HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime, TBS, CBS, IFC, and many others. As a post-production assistant, Eva is responsible for organizing, reviewing and updating continuity on works in production as well as collecting contracts for the loop group, the voice talent for off-screen parts. When her company wraps a season, they send the client screeners for the media, a cue sheet and a copy of the individual episodes.

Eva credits her success with Running Man to her time as a student with the University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film. Originally, she had planned to major in exercise science and work as an athletic trainer because she had a scholarship available to her in that program area. However, she decided to switch to a major in Film with a minor in Communication when she realized her heart was in the arts.

Once in the program, Eva knew she made the right call even though she soon learned it wasn’t an easy degree. Her faculty challenged her more than she expected—to think more creatively and examine her work more critically. She remembers in particular, Tammy Kinsey, professor of film, pushing her to do better and give her best. “She wanted you to be engaged and to know that anything, no matter how small, counts. You have to be able to take criticism, and if you’re able to take it, then you’re going to do well.”

Professor Matt Yockey was also instrumental in her success. Eva says his classes were a challenge in volume. “He always gave us so much work, but it was really helpful. I learned so much from him.” Holly Hey, professor of film and head of the film program at UT, in addition to helping Eva perfect her editing skills, was also a great source of encouragement. “She noticed whenever I was feeling down, and she was there for me. All the professors are there for you, for anything. It was great to have that support especially since I was from out of state.”

Under their guidance, Eva flourished. A top student, she was invited to participate in the Klar Leadership Academy at UT. Students invited to the academy are drawn from all undergraduate majors at the University. “This is a pan-academic effort with the goal of increasing each Academy member’s career success, ability to lead and influence others to impact the world for good, and help each member capture a “personal vision” as to what they can do to improve the human condition!”

Eva was thrilled to participate in the Academy where she met business leaders, received career advice, took part in mock interviews and performed service work for the non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children. She says the experience “got us out of our comfort zone. We learned our strengths and weaknesses and got to meet a lot of interesting people. It became like a mini-family.”

Another milestone experience was a study abroad trip to China. Eva and several other film students from UT accompanied music education students to study the arts culture in China and to document their experiences. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that trip.”

Having learned a great deal from her time as a student, Eva has some sage advice for new students. “Get out of the dorm, get involved, meet people, join organizations. I got involved in getting any kind of experience I could. When you make connections and meet new people, they can help you and give you all kinds of opportunities.” Those experiences led her to the internship with Running Man and later a permanent position with the company.

Her job with Running Man has helped her expand upon her education. “This opportunity has opened my eyes to new possibilities and exposure that as a student we don’t know of. Overall, working for Running Man has been wonderful. At first, it was a bit slow but soon things started to pick up. I was able to ask questions and be curious about everyone’s role in making a show/film and how things are created and pieced to together. Growing up, one would believe there is some sort of magic in making a show/ film but there isn’t. It’s literally a huge group of people who come together and work with one another to make sure the content is the best version of what they started with from a script. And you notice that if someone in this formation slacks off it can cause problems down the line. In school, we have group projects, but here the stakes are higher and expensive.”

“I’ve also had the opportunity to make connections with different companies and people. It’s important to have these connections especially if someone wants to have their own company or start on their first projects. When I finished with ‘The Last O.G.’ season 2, I didn’t have anything lined up. A co-worker had connected me with an executive producer who needed a PA [production assistant] and an assistant for pre-production for an MTA/Visa commercial. I got a lot more of experience, not just in post-production but in both pre-production and production.”

Eva says her next step is to become a post-production coordinator then work toward becoming a producer for a variety of projects within the industry for different companies. She adds that her experiences as a student at UT have helped grow her as a person and helped create job opportunities. “I thank them for giving me a door so I could slip in and see where it takes me.”

A still from Holly Hey’s film “the dumdum capitol of the world”

Congratulations to Associate Professor Holly Hey, who screened her film The Dum Dum Capitol of the World at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Athens Film Festival, and the Queens World Film Festival.

A brief synopsis: The Dum Dum Capitol of the World (Holly Hey, 2014) 21 minutes.
An experimental documentary that contemplates landscape, home, memory, queerness, and time. The project illuminates social constructs about sexuality, self, and human instinct. Visible and latent hostilities directed towards queerness surface.

What do nightmares, rattlesnakes, and the pyscho-sexual have in common? Come find out! These subjects and more will be featured in the annual University of Toledo Aspiring Filmmakers Showcase. Presented by the UT Film & Video Society (a student-run organization) and by the UT Department of Theatre & Film, this year’s Showcase will screen on March 15, 2014 in the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre at 7:30 p.m. (Scroll down to link to films)

An eight-member panel of judges made selections into the Showcase. The panel included Film faculty, outstanding former students of the film program, Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Communication and The Arts, Debra A. Davis and Holly Monsos, and distinguished professionals within the community, Brett Leonard (feature film director and producer) and Dustin Hostetler (graphic artist and illustrator). Leonard will also be in attendance at this week’s screening. The majority of submissions were from Film majors, but the competition was open to any student who made work in the Film program’s production courses.

Tickets to the Showcase cost $5 for the general public and $3 for students and senior citizens (60+). The Center for Performing Arts is located on UT’s Main Campus at Towerview West and West Rocket Drive.

“This year’s selections were the most competitive yet in my opinion! I think it shows how our program and our students continue to grow and get even better each year. We use a juried entry process so that our students have ‘real world’ experience with both acceptance and rejection of their work by audiences outside the classroom. We had some very good work this year that didn’t get into the Showcase. A few of my favorite projects didn’t get in, and I was one of the judges. It just goes to show how subjective festival entry can be, and that’s vital for our students to learn and understand. Although rejection is difficult, it is necessary for success. To be rejected shows that you’re trying to get your work shown, and as a creative person, that’s really what you have control over; how and how often you try. The rest is up to the audiences that you reach. Ultimately, the more attempts at recognition, the more likely recognition will happen. It’s a number’s game in my opinion. At the same time, a competitive entry process should be a great eye-opener for the students whose work was accepted; it should awaken them to not taking their work for granted. It’s one thing to not know the person you competed against, but when you know your work was selected over your friend’s or colleague’s work (people and work you really value and respect), that’s something much different; it’s much more profound and meaningful to have your work recognized.”

– Holly Hey, Associate Professor and Head of Film

“The showcase is a great experience for students not only to see each other’s work, but to see what other students are creating. Collaboration is the spirit of filmmaking and it is of value to students to realize that often they may be each other’s best resources. In addition it is always nice to see your work on the ‘big screen.’ Nothing compares to having a large audience view and respond to your work. Often in classes your only critique is that of your classmates and your professor, but with the showcase a much larger community can be reached.”

– Samantha Muirhead, President of the UT Film Video Society student organization

Aspiring Filmmakers Showcase Works To Be Screened

Melissa Byrd
Instinctual Drives
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbpkvwH54U
5:03

Crista Constantine
The Figure And The Mind
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2z7xyuNwR8
3:00

Anna Coulter
Don
Fall 2013, Optical Printing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUsU132ZFIg
5:58

Tyler Curry
Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You
Fall 2013, Film I
https://vimeo.com/85389326
5:02

Ian Henry
System
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6R3XWdpa0E
5:01
Machines
Fall 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAe9cP48Qjo
3:00

Andrew Jex
About Anna
Fall 2013, Optical Printing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1BmyI3lQD8
3:46
Rocket Marching Band Promo
Fall 2013, Advanced Post Production
https://vimeo.com/85601439
0:45

Chris Kaiser
Rattler On The Doorstep
Fall 2013, Film I
https://vimeo.com/85197776
6:46

Lydia Kane
First Encounter
Spring 2013, Video II
http://vimeo.com/65327189
3:09
The Spirit Of The Game
Summer 2012 (Abroad), Documentary Production
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsiycoAvtjE
4:42

Charles King
Epoch
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvMUXv5_OY
4:25

Stephen Mariasy
Process
Spring 2013, Video I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjWV96D2GeI
3:02
I Am Become Cat
Fall 2013, Film I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNuKJX4K0PI
5:00

Lydia Messer
Soteria
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3VY-uWom_c
3:31

Samantha Muirhead
Aspiring Filmmaker’s Showcase Lead In
Fall 2013, Advanced Post Production
https://vimeo.com/85046930
0:30

Carolyn Sharkey
Icarus
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VsBuX2XtRc&feature=youtu.be
3:20

Cory Vail
Elementals
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2RYn7K3SY
2:52
Disconnect The Dots
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ABLIFa8hCw
5:54

Heather Wilson
Ruminate
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYl1YvSMiE
5:24

Noah York
Fohat Speaks
Fall 2012, Video I
https://vimeo.com/84998402
3:08
Fallen
Spring 2013, Video II
https://vimeo.com/85291781
7:34

Leonard Zaleski
Clearwater COG Video Project
Fall 2013, Internship Credit
https://vimeo.com/85638404
9:37

UT Department of Theatre & Film welcomes Interdisciplinary Artist Johanna Dery

Interdisciplinary artist, Jo Dery

The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film will host a two-day artist’s residency with Interdisciplinary artist Johanna Dery (Jo). Ms. Dery will present her internationally recognized animations on Friday, January 17, 2014 and teach an animation workshop on Saturday, January 18, 2014.

Jo Dery is an interdisciplinary artist who experiments with visual storytelling. She makes short films, drawings, prints, and little books.

Among other venues, Dery’s works have screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation. She has been awarded grants from the LEF Foundation, The Free History Project, and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Her drawings and prints have been exhibited in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Dery’s little books can be found in independent stores like Ada Books (Providence) and Quimby’s (Chicago) or online from Little Otsu (Portland).

From “Heat Spell” “The Last, The Rest” and “Munk and Monster”

Friday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m. Ms. Dery will present her short films on both 16mm film and digital video in the Lab Theatre (Room 1039) of the UT Center for Performing Arts, 1910 West Rocket Drive. She will also engage in a talkback discussion with the audience after the screening. Tickets for the screening will be sold at the door – $5 general admission and $3 for students and seniors (60+). Admission is free for UT Theatre & Film majors with ID. Free refreshments will be provided. On Saturday, January 18 Ms. Dery will teach an animation workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 1039 of the Center for Performing Arts. This workshop is free and open to interested students.

See samples of Ms. Dery’s work on Vimeo  |  Visit JoDery.com 

For more information about Ms. Dery’s visit, please contact:

Holly Hey, MFA
Associate Professor/Associate Chair/Head of Film
Department of Theatre and Film
College of Communication and the Arts
The University of Toledo
Holly.Hey@utoledo.edu
419.530.4546

This image by Barry Whittaker will be on display at Transcending Text, the multimedia exhibition at Walter Terhune Gallery

Join us for the exhibition Transcending Text, which brings together four artists who explore the disconnection between text, language and meaning. The exhibition will be shown at Walter E. Terhune Gallery at Owens Community College. Our closing reception will be held on Friday, August 30 from 5-7 p.m. The Terhune Gallery is located on the campus of Owens Community College, at 30335 Oregon Road, Perrysburg, OH 43551.

Exhibitors Include:

Barbara WF Miner

Barbara WF Miner’s encaustic paintings use shape and repetition to reference abstract symbols: letters, characters, cuneiforms and hieroglyphs.  When a letter or a pictograph is separated from the rest of the communication system, it becomes unintelligible and is cast adrift from concrete meaning like a discarded implement.  It is then critical for the viewer to create content and investigate the actual painting surfaces and structure for deeper resonance and substance.

Barbara Miner currently holds the position of Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Art, at the University of Toledo, in Toledo, OH.  Her mixed media and installation works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 50 exhibitions.  She has participated in numerous national and international artist’s residencies.  She has received both internal and external grants in support of her research and art practice.

Barry Whittaker

Barry Whittaker’s work explores the challenge in communication, especially when there is technology involved. He says, “It’s the equivalent of deconstructing all one’s thoughts in a food processor and handing the pieces to one person who will deliver them to another person, who will reassemble them for the intended recipient of the message. The hope is that he will get the idea of what is being said, but it is likely that important parts will be missing.”

Barry Whittaker is a multi-media artist who explores myth, language, and miscommunication through a variety of technology and collaboration-based projects. A native Texan, he received a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Whittaker has taught in the U.S., France, and Japan and continues to exhibit artwork internationally. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo.

Holly Hey

Holly Hey’s “MOM MOM” are two moving image loops (16mm and digital video) that contemplate the construction of the word “mother.”

Holly Hey is an “undependent” filmmaker and an experimental weaver of media who strives to undermine conventional methods for telling stories via the moving image. She is currently an associate professor of film and video production within the Department of Theatre and Film at The University of Toledo. She holds a MFA in filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in photography from Ohio University. Her films and videos have shown at the Autumn Lights Festival -Los Angeles, the Mix Festival -New York, the Onion City Film Festival -Chicago, the Denver International Film Festival, the Athens International Film and Video Festival, the Vancouver Queer Film and Video Festival, among other venues.

Lee Fearnside

Lee Fearnside’s installation examines censorship by using books from the American Library Association’s challenged book list that the artist has read. Her use of media examines systems that underlie our culture including issues of gentrification, the politics of history, and the body.

She earned her Masters of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design and is now an Assistant Professor of Art at Tiffin University. She has exhibited in national and regional juried shows, and her videos have screened at Film Festivals in Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon and Toronto, and on Rhode Island PBS.

For additional information about Transcending Text, email Lee Fearnside.

Breakfast with Curtis by Laura Colella will be screened at UT’s CPA on the evening of September 13, 2013

The Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Toledo presents filmmaker Laura Colella and a pre-release screening of her award-winning independent film BREAKFAST WITH CURTIS. The screening is free and open to the public and will occur on Friday, September 13, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Center Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts. The Center for Performing Arts is located on UT’s Main Campus at 1910 West Rocket Drive.

BREAKFAST WITH CURTIS centers on the new friendship between troubled teen Curtis and an eccentric bookseller who lives next door. An incident five years ago left bad blood between their neighboring households, but when Curtis gets mixed up with the freewheeling bohemians next door, it shakes up the neighborhood, bringing a season of change for all.

BREAKFAST WITH CURTIS is Colella’s third narrative feature as Writer/Director/Editor. The film premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival, and has been touring the festival circuit since, earning several awards and excellent reviews:

At the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards, the film was nominated for a Cassavetes Award and won the Jameson FIND Distribution Award. Learn more about the film at its website.

Colella, who has been honored as a Sundance Institute Fellow, will also present a workshop for UT Theatre and Film students during her visit to Toledo.

About Laura Colella

Colella began making films as an undergraduate at Harvard, and was a Sundance Fellow with her second feature STAY UNTIL TOMORROW (2004). She teaches film production and directing at the Rhode Island School of Design and screenwriting at Brown University, and serves as founding faculty chair of Film at Vermont College of Fine Arts. This summer, Colella has been shooting behind-the-scenes footage on Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film INHERENT VICE. Learn more about Laura Colella.

Selected Reviews

“Free-floating and bucolic… Colella’s tale of a lad’s seminal summer will win hearts and minds.” – Variety

“Funny, heartwarming… This deceptively simple story is beautifully executed and packs a big emotional wallop… a poignant coming of age story.” – MSN Movies

“Uber-charming… Colella has captured her own Never Never Land (albeit a somewhat more adult version) that is sure to make you want to pay a visit.” –TwitchFilm.com

“Wonderfully subtle throughout with such a light editorial touch that it is never obvious and never preachy… Breakfast with Curtis is gentle and beautiful but with a lot to say.” – Geist.com

I worked as an extra this summer on the movie “Fun Size.” What did you do?

Fellow 2011 University of Toledo Theatre & Film graduates, Shane Monaco and Nate Elias, spent part of the summer working on the upcoming Paramount Pictures film, “Fun Size.” The film centers on a girl who loses her little brother on Halloween night and endures a series of comedic misadventures trying to find him. “Fun Size” will appear in theaters in 2012.

Here’s Shane’s experience in his own words.

My Fun Size Experience

I recently got the chance to work as an extra for Paramount Pictures’ Fun Size. It started when fellow UT grad Nate Elias, who was already doing work as a stand-in, let me know they were looking for more extras. I immediately emailed them with a picture of me and all my information. A few days later I got a call asking if I could start work the following night, I agreed, and they advised me to get some rest. It was good advice.

The scene I would be working on for the next four days took place at night, so my call time was 6:30 PM and my shift was scheduled to end at 6 AM. Needless to say, any interaction with people not involved with the production was minimal during my time on the movie.

I was instructed to drive my car to Cleveland and park in a church parking lot that the production had acquired for its use. A shuttle arrived around 6:30 to drive all the extras to the set. Through the window I saw something that I mistook for a new fast food restaurant called Captain Chicken. After a second I realized that what I was looking at was actually the set. The crew had turned an abandoned Popeye’s Chicken into this bizarre pirate-themed restaurant that looked far too new for this part of town.

The shuttle dropped us off at the auditorium of another church. This area was dubbed “Extras Holding.” Inside we got signed in and got the Halloween costumes we were asked to bring approved by wardrobe. If they weren’t satisfied with what people brought, wardrobe suited them up with one of their costumes. Next, if any makeup was required, people lined up to have it applied. After that we were taken down to the prop room to be assigned various props that would accent our costumes. The costume I brought consisted of a hat with dreadlocks and an island shirt, so I was given blue-tinted hippie glasses and a peace sign necklace.

After this we were taken by shuttle to another building where we were served “breakfast.” It was 9 PM, but they were actually serving us breakfast foods. This is when I really understood how long of a shift I was in for.

When we were done, we were taken back to holding. For a good three hours I chatted with the other extras waiting to be called to set. I watched nearly everyone get called out and return with the latest news of what was happening in the scene. Word was that they were going to drop a giant chicken statue on a Volvo. Everyone had hopes of it happening when they were out there, but so far it hadn’t.

Finally, I was called and followed the other extras out to the Captain Chicken patio. It was amazing to see the crew busting around to make things happen. The director, Josh Schwartz, was sitting in “video village” with the producers. This is a collection of chairs set up in front of the video monitors that show what the different cameras were seeing.

I saw Nate and his fellow stand-ins doing their job inside the Volvo. Light meters were being shoved in their faces and the lights and cameras were being positioned for the shot. The actors were off to the side, waiting to do their job.

Jason Roberts, the second assistant director, was in charge of the background actors (aka the extras). He explained loudly to the group what was going to be happening in the scene and how we should react.

The actors took their places in the car and the assistant director, Mark Anthony Little, yelled the necessary commands (rolling, action, etc.) The actors delivered their lines in the car and then when given the signal from the AD, we reacted as if the giant chicken statue on the roof fell onto the car.

This went on for multiple takes. The extras were sometimes told to make noise, sometimes we were told to pantomime. They repositioned the cameras a couple of times and the process was repeated.

After a brief stint back in holding and being served lunch, we were brought back onto the set. The chicken had been rigged to actually fall onto the car this time. We were told to react like we had been, only it was really happening. The cameras rolled and after a small explosion (like a firecracker) from under the chicken, it tipped off the roof and smashed down onto the car. Right in front of our eyes! Even more amazing was the fact that a second take was ordered. A crane pulled the giant chicken back up to the roof, and a team of men ran in hammer the smashed car back to its original condition!

That was my first day. The second was primarily spent in holding due to a rain delay and we were eventually sent home early. However, during my time in holding, I had time to talk with Nate and the other stand-ins, as well as the gaffer, Jack English. Jack had graduated with George Lucas, John Carpenter, and a slew of others. He claimed he was the least successful person in his class, yet he has worked on dozens of well-known films like Sherlock Holmes, Big Fish, and Interview with the Vampire.

The next couple of days I spent doing more of the same kind of thing I had been doing on the first day, until they asked me to drive my car up and down the street in the background of the scene. A production assistant named Katie was in charge of this. She equipped all of us car people with walkie talkies. With these she was able to communicate to us when to start and stop and where to drive. Between takes I talked to her a little and found out that she and that other PAs aspired to ultimately become assistant directors. The others did things like manage the extras in holding and stand at the borders of the set to keep it locked down from civilians.

When the final night finally came to an end, the director and second AD brought us back to holding and thanked everyone. I was sad to see it come to an end. In only four days I had already become addicted to the lifestyle. What really fascinated me about the whole thing was how the production operated like a tiny confined city; multiple buildings, multiple jobs, transportation and communication between all, and at the hub was the set, around which it all revolved. It was an amazing experience, seeing what we did as students done on a grand scale, efficiently, and taken very seriously by everyone involved. This little taste of the business was enough to confirm the fact that I made the right career choice and I can’t wait to get myself back onto a set, hopefully for a lot longer than four days.