As SHOOT’s 8th annual New Directors Showcase approaches, there’s context to be had from and for a first-time SHOOT event that same day (Tuesday, May 11) at the same venue, the DGA Theatre in New York City. The evening New Directors Showcase event has been expanded to include the launch of a daytime event, the SHOOT Directors Symposium. The expansion was in part sparked by past Showcase attendees asking for sessions where agency creatives and production house execs and directors could spend more time together and exchange ideas..
In recent years, the New Directors Showcase has been graced by the presence of director Laura Belsey, who acts as a DGA representative and provides introductory remarks for the Showcase. Belsey is an accomplished filmmaker whose multiple disciplines include commercials, repped by New York-based C-Entertainment. She is also a teacher of the commercial directing class at the Graduate Film School of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Several of our Showcase directors over the years have benefited from her tutelage at NYU.
Also successfully assuming the dual role of notable director and educator is Bob Giraldi of bicoastal Giraldi Media. Giraldi teaches two undergrad classes at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York–The Project Class, and Evolutionary Dynamics in Advertising.
In the spirit of our Showcase, we have slated for the Directors Symposium a morning session dubbed “The Next Generation: In the Classroom Chair/In The Director’s Chair.”
Giraldi and Belsey will discuss teaching their craft to–and mentoring–students. The two directors/educators will share their insights into being a director today and how they are helping to prepare up-and-coming directors for the real world by teaching as well as creatively nurturing students. Training, mentoring and survival tactics for directing advertising and entertainment content in today’s constantly evolving landscape will be among the topics.
Giraldi teaches classic storytelling in SVA’s The Project Class while going completely contemporary in the Evolutionary Dynamics curriculum, which centers on what he described as “social media, the new media, any media–wherever a brand needs to market itself outside of traditional media. There’s no television, radio, print or outdoor in this class. What’s allowed are new ways of thinking encompassing apps, other mobile content, Twitter, Facebook, both the more and less obvious of emerging outlets.”
Meanwhile, consider the comments of Nat Livingston Johnson, half of the directing duo (with Gregory Mitnick) known as Peking. Johnson and Mitnick were students of Belsey at NYU and have since signed with Station Film. Johnson told SHOOT in fall of 2009 that Belsey served as “an incredible influence and presence in our segue into the industry. She was always available and mentored us, taught us most everything we know about film, and most of her guidance was outside of the classroom. She is a loyal, helpful guide and a close friend. She introduced us to people, prepared us for what to expect in the real world, how to approach meetings with production companies, how to approach conference calls. She has offered us sage advice along the way.”
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More