{"id":16964,"date":"2020-12-07T14:06:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T22:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/dodge\/2020\/12\/07\/switching-sides-of-the-classroom\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T16:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:34:50","slug":"switching-sides-of-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/dodge\/2020\/12\/07\/switching-sides-of-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Switching Sides of the Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tom Ptasinski graduated from Chapman in 2008 with a B.F.A in Film Production, and since then has gone on to write ten feature screenplays, and direct several festival award winning films, web series, and stage plays. Tom is now back at Chapman where he currently teaches film production as Lead Instructor for the<\/span> Dodge Summer Film Academy<\/span><\/a> and as an adjunct lecturer at<\/span> Dodge College <\/span><\/a>in his spare time. We had the opportunity to hear from Tom about his experiences on both sides of the classroom at Chapman:<\/span><\/p>\n

Can<\/strong> you tell us why you pursued the <\/b>degree you pursued at Chapman?<\/b>
\n<\/span>I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker since I was eight years old, and decided early on that I would go to film school for college.<\/span><\/p>\n

I actually transferred to Chapman from Syracuse University. Syracuse was a good film school, but they were teaching a different kind of filmmaking, more auteur\/East Coast “you do everything” style. I was interested in learning and working in a more industry-based model with script development and film crews. I did my research and found that Chapman offered everything I wanted under the Film Production degree, and that’s what brought me over. Plus it was on the sunny west coast 🙂.<\/p>\n

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What was your career path like and how did you get to where you are now?
\n<\/b>My career path was adventurous, to say the least. My first job out of school was with the film producer David Foster (Mask of Zorro<\/i>,\u00a0The Core<\/i>, The Thing<\/i>), who I met when he was mentoring at Chapman. I was his assistant and then moved into developing projects for him. After that, I started working post-production at The Dr. Phil Show<\/i> on the Paramount lot. Contacts I met there led to all kinds of production jobs all over the world in various roles. I also worked with some of my close friends I made at Chapman producing commercials for a while. Now, I’m a screenwriter and director while I teach at Chapman. I was fortunate after Chapman to get a wide-ranging experience and education on all facets of the business, something I try to share in my classes today.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to current students hoping to work in the industry?
\n<\/b>I’m just going to start listing:<\/p>\n