{"id":7129,"date":"2015-10-01T01:16:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T08:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/dodge\/2015\/10\/01\/first-cut-2015-showcased-our-best-from-the-past-year\/"},"modified":"2015-10-01T01:16:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T08:16:52","slug":"first-cut-2015-showcased-our-best-from-the-past-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/dodge\/2015\/10\/01\/first-cut-2015-showcased-our-best-from-the-past-year\/","title":{"rendered":"First Cut 2015 Showcased Our Best From The Past Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, September 24, Dodge College held the 2015 Leo Freedman Foundation First Cut Screening at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The event showcased six of the best thesis films from last year, and served as a way for prospective students to see what Dodge is capable of. The evening kicked off with an opening reception, where in-coming students mingled with alumni and staff to learn a bit more about the school. Each of the directors of the films that were screened were on-hand to chat with the prospective students and to give them a taste of what life at Dodge College is like.<\/p>\n

Having your film show at First Cut is always a huge honor, and our alumni are thrilled to share them with prospective students. I was able to speak with some of the directors, who shared their thoughts about the event.<\/p>\n

“Studying at Dodge College has enabled me with the resources to push myself further than I could imagine,” said Becky Gill (BFA\/Digital Arts ’15), whose film Beware of Bunny<\/em> was screened. “I am so fortunate to have colleagues that are kind, fun, and extremely talented.”<\/p>\n

“I remember attending First Cut my first year here at Chapman,” said Trevor Stevens (BFA\/Film Production ’15), whose film Run<\/em> was also shown. “I was very inspired by the students that had come before me because of their creativity and collaboration in creating some very impressive work. To think that another upcoming student could come to First Cut and now see our film is an incredible honor and my biggest hope is that our work inspires future Dodge students to go bigger and badder with their films.”<\/p>\n

“At Dodge, I learned how to actually execute a movie which, is an extremely daunting task that takes a lot of collaboration and stamina,” said Joe Mackedanz (MFA\/Film Production ’15). “The real takeaway from my time at Chapman was learning how to do the things most filmmakers don\u2019t think about; actually making the movie. They\u2019re the things I learned to focus on. On every film I do now, I make it a point to really care about building respectful, strong, non-ego driven relationships with my family of collaborators.”<\/p>\n

Overall, the night was a huge success, and a lot of fun was had by all. Everyone left with a good feeling about Dodge, and a DVD copy of the films screened. If you attended First Cut, we hope you had a great time, and we hope to see you next year!<\/p>\n

Check out some of the evening’s festivities\u00a0captured by Dodge College student photographer Nicholas Bradford<\/a>.<\/p>\n