Media Contact:
Mary Platt
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Chapman University
One University Drive, Orange, CA
Orange, Calif.
– Dean Bob Bassett of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts has been honored by
Variety
as Hollywood’s ‘Media Mentor of the Year.’
Variety’s
prestigious ‘Media Mentor of the Year’ honor (on newsstands now) highlights the innovative and creative academic curriculum offered to students by Bob Bassett and the esteemed faculty at Chapman University’s Dodge College. Other accomplishments include
Trigger
, the debut feature film produced by the college’s first-of-its-kind micro-budget production company, Chapman Filmed Entertainment, as well as the notable roster of Hollywood professionals who Dean Bassett has attracted to teach at the University.
A few excerpts from
Variety
read:
- “Over the past three decades, as the founding dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman U., Bob Bassett has continually pushed to innovate ways of giving students practical, hands-on experience, and to provide a curriculum largely unconstrained by more rigid, traditional ideas.”
- “Bassett and his faculty also approached film education with a far more hard-nosed view of the realities of the film business than the average film school.”
- “Over the past decade, Bassett and his faculty — who include producer Harry Ufland, Academy short films and feature animation governor Bill Kroyer and Variety film critic Peter Debruge — have stressed the business side of filmmaking.”
Read Variety’s ‘Media Mentor of the Year’ feature on Bob Bassett.
Dean Bob Bassett
Robert Bassett is the founding dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, with programs in production, producing, screenwriting, film studies, television/broadcast journalism, digital arts, production design, public relations and advertising, and screen acting. With more than 1,500 students, Dodge College is considered one of the leading film schools in the nation, with highly selective admissions in direct competition with USC, NYU and UCLA.
Dean Bassett successfully led a $52-million fund-raising campaign to build and equip Marion Knott Studios, a 76,000-square-foot state-of-the-art studio complex, complete with sound stages and pre- and post-production facilities, which opened in 2006. He received the 2006 Artistic Visionary Award from Arts Orange County for lifetime achievement in recognition of his leadership in developing Chapman’s film school and building Marion Knott Studios, a key community asset. A visionary educator who pioneered the integration of digital technologies in film education, Dean Bassett oversaw the conversion of the film school’s entire curriculum to the use of digital technology in the early 90’s, long before others followed suit.
Dean Bassett has assembled a world-class faculty with a combined filmography of more than 300 feature films, a record unmatched among full-time faculty at other programs. The wealth of knowledge these industry veterans offer is supplemented by the semester-long Filmmaker-in-Residence programs, created by Dean Bassett, that bring industry luminaries to campus on an on-going basis.
In partnership with the University, Dean Bassett launched the college’s first-of-its-kind micro-budget production company, Chapman Filmed Entertainment, where he serves as the company’s CEO. Chapman Filmed Entertainment is a sustainable, fully-functioning independent film production company designed to produce four to six pictures per year in the micro-budget range (budgets in the $250,000 – $1.5M range). Utilizing Chapman University’s unique film resources, the company is at the forefront of the emerging trend of micro-budgeted films in the independent film arena. The company’s first feature film
Trigger
, is a thriller directed by Chapman alumnus Basel Owies from a script by Max Enscoe and stars Scott Glenn, Stephen Tobolowsky and Chris Coy.
In the international arena, Dean Bassett developed a first-of-its kind degree tie-up with Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore offering a Chapman University B.F.A. in Creative Producing on the Singapore campus. Other international exchange programs in Taiwan and South Korea enable Chapman students travel to those countries to make films with local students who also travel to the U.S. to make films with Chapman students. An international documentary program takes students to destinations from Cambodia to Cameroon; students also create documentaries for local Orange County non-profits through the innovative Community Voices program.
Dean Bassett has served as president and conference vice president of the University Film and Video Association (UFVA), the primary national professional organization of film faculty, and led the delegation that saw Dodge College elected as one of 12 U.S. members of CILECT (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinèma et de Télévision), the premier international association of film schools. He is also a trustee of the University Film and Video Foundation.
Additional international programs in India and China are also being explored.
As the first full-time faculty member in film at Chapman University, Dean Bassett has taught a wide range of production and film studies courses, including editing, cinematography, film aesthetics, and film genre studies. He is also an award-winning producer and director of educational films and video projects for corporate and non-profit clients. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy/English Literature from Pomona College, an M.A. in Philosophy from University of Chicago, and an M.A. in English from Claremont Graduate School.
About Chapman University:
Consistently ranked among the top universities in the West, Chapman University attracts highly qualified students from around the globe. Its programs are designed to encourage leadership in innovation, creativity and collaboration, and are increasingly recognized for providing an extraordinary educational experience. The university now excels in film and media arts, performing arts, educational studies, economics and business, law, humanities and the sciences. Student enrollment in graduate and undergraduate programs is approaching 7,000, and Chapman University alumni are found throughout California and the world.
Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts:
One of the premier film schools in the country, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers students the unique opportunity to learn filmmaking in a hands-on environment modeled on a working studio. The college is comprised of the Sodaro-Pankey Undergraduate School of Film and Media Arts, offering degrees in
film production
,
film studies
,
screenwriting
,
creative producing
,
television and broadcast journalism
,
public relations and advertising
,
screen acting
and
digital arts
; and the graduate Conservatory of Motion Pictures, offering
M.F.A. degrees
in
film production
,
film and television producing
,
production design
, and
screenwriting
, and an
M.A. in film studies
. Two joint M.F.A. degrees in producing are also offered in conjunction with the business (
M.F.A./M.B.A.
) and law (
M.F.A./J.D.
) schools. Dodge College is housed in Marion Knott Studios, a state-of-the-art, 76,000-square-foot studio and classroom building that provides students with 24-hour access to sound stages, edit bays, Dolby surround mixing, a motion capture stage and more. With an Oscar and Emmy-award winning full-time faculty that boasts more feature film credits than any other film school, Dodge College is where students learn the entertainment business from the inside out.
