For the third installment of Chapman University alumni directing for PlayStation Emerging Filmmaker Program we have Taylor Maxwell (MFA/DR ’13). “It was a rollercoaster,” says Taylor about the experience, and adds that, “it was really exciting.” Taylor shares that he had been let down in the past, having been so close to shooting on a
Ashton Avila completed her MFA in 2017 and through a series of fortunate events was hired for the PlayStation Emerging Filmmakers program to direct a pilot show, Two Roads. Avila made sure to network at her previous employments and through a relationship was contacted for an opening for director. Over the next two weeks her
Sarah Wilson Thacker (MFA/DR ’13) and Jamie Clevenger (MFA/FTP ’12) directed and produced, respectively, The Many Lives of Ayn Winters pilot for PlayStation’s Emerging Filmmakers Program. The program called for original stories through a competition with creators, and once five ideas were selected, Sarah was hired on to develop the screenplay. Sarah was the first
The love and pursuit of video games landed Ovilee May (BFA/News and Doc ’18) her current role as the sole Broadcast Interviewer with one of the biggest eSports leagues in the world, League of Legends. “I’ve been playing video games since I could hold a controller at like 3 years old,” says May. She still
Ben Weiner (’17) and Logan Beerman (’16), came together to form Bazooka Entertainment, LLC a few years ago to film, edit and produce sports-related content. With their main clients being NFL Network and US Soccer, they became immersed in the sports world and decided they wanted to create a story of their own – an
Being passionate about what you do means that you will go wherever opportunities present themselves—even if that means traveling over 8000 miles to get there or just jumping into a project for a short time. Spanish cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez (MFA/FP ’09) took his talents to Asia when work was limited in Los Angeles. And he
When I graduated from Chapman, I didn’t know very much about the world. I had no idea what it was going to take for me to break into the entertainment industry. I didn’t know representation was going to teach me everything I needed to know, and that I would be miserable doing it. I never
Former students of Harry Ufland step up to emulate what the late professor gave them every semester; the chance to network with industry professionals. Elise Laplante’s ’13 reason for helping, “was to honor Harry’s memory. Harry was my first mentor in the business and I wanted to celebrate his spirit by helping current students connect
As a proud alumni of the Dodge Film School Creative Producing class of 2015, I have become a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy Foundation. I’ve sold feature films internationally and domestically, and my work online has reached over 80 million viewers. Through my work as a Producer, I began
I remember my very first film’s public show. It was in 2005 as part of the student thesis-festival at Cleveland State University. Together with my film school classmates – I organized a small film event, consisting of several thesis films from our final production class at CSU’s film program. Our goal was to get together