USC School of Cinematic Arts

The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television (CNTV), is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [citation
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/movies/31film.html
title=At U.S.C., a Practical Emphasis in Film
newspaper=New York Times
accessdate=2008-02-04
last=Waxman
first=Sharon
date=January 31, 2006] Rachel Abramowitz, [http://www.latimes.com/news/education/highered/la-125highed-11,1,4653236.story] , "Los Angeles Times", Accessed June 16, 2008.] The school offers multiple undergraduate and graduate programs. For 2006-2007, the school had 728 undergraduates and 621 graduate students. [ [http://www-cntv.usc.edu/about/media-resources/statistics-at-a-glance.htm Stastics at a Glance] , USC School of Cinematic Arts, "Accessed March 18, 2007."]

The School’s founding faculty include Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, William C. DeMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl Zanuck.Rachel Abramowitz, [http://www.latimes.com/news/education/highered/la-125highed-11,1,4653236.story] , "Los Angeles Times", Accessed June 16, 2008.] Notable professors include Drew Casper, the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Professor of American Film; Tomlinson Holman, inventor of THX; David Bondelevitch, President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors; and Mark Jonathan Harris, documentary filmmaker.

The program is one of USC's most competitive specialty schools, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. The BA program in film production accepts 50 students per year, [USC School of Cinematic Arts [http://cinema.usc.edu/programs/production/application-prod.htm Production Application Requirements] ] while the Critical Studies department accepts 75 for its BA program, 15-20 for its MA program, and approximately 10 for the Ph.D. (three to four from outside the school, and five to seven continuing from the internal M.A. program); the BFA program in Writing for Film and Television accepts only 24 students per year. [USC School of Cinematic Arts, [http://cinema.usc.edu/programs/writing/application-procedures-writing.htm Writing for Film and Television Application Requirements] ] The MFA program in film directing accepts 48 new students each semester (fall and spring) and the MFA for screenwriting accepts 32 students per year (fall admittance only). The MFA program for the Division of Animation and Digital Arts accept 15 students a year, and the recently established BA program for Animation & Digital Arts accepted only 11 students out of 150 applicants for the 2008-2009 fall semester. Acceptance to any program is contingent upon review of a portfolio, which requires writing samples, creative resumes, autobiographies, and other written responses. The Animation portfolio should consist of artwork and an artist statement. The production portfolio does not require the submission of a director's reel or any film samples, allowing talented students who may have not had the opportunity or the means to create films to have the opportunity for admission. [USC School of Cinematic Arts, [http://cinema.usc.edu/admissions/applications/application-forms.htm Applications by Program and Deadlines] ] The school also has a [http://cinema.usc.edu/summer/ summer film program] that does not require acceptance to any of the above programs.

In April 2006, the USC Board of Trustees voted to change the school's name to the USC School of Cinematic Arts. [Stuart Silverstein, [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-091906usc-lucas,0,5365847.story?coll=la-home-headlines George Lucas Donates USC's Largest Single Gift] , "The Los Angeles Times", September 19, 2006]

On September 19, 2006, USC announced that alumnus George Lucas had donated US$175 million to expand the film school with a new convert|137000|sqft|m2|sing=on facility. This represented the largest single donation to USC and the largest to any film school in the world. [John Zollinger, [http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/12754.html George Lucas Donates $175 Million to USC] , USC Public Relations, September 20, 2006]

And recently, USC School of Cinematic Arts joined forces with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, to create the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts (RSICA) in Aqaba, Jordan. [ [http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/12756.html Jordan Signs Cinema Pact With USC] , USC Public Relations, September 20, 2006]

Facilities

Film industry companies, friends, and many of the school's famous alumni have joined forces to fund a world-class film and television complex at USC. Their gifts and ongoing support have enabled the School to build some of the top facilities and equipment of any film school anywhere, including:

* the George Lucas Instructional Building
* the Marcia Lucas Post Production Building
* the Steven Spielberg Motion Picture Sound Scoring Stage
* the Harold Lloyd Sound Stage
* the Johnny Carson Sound Stage
* the Robert Zemeckis Center, home of the student television network, Trojan Vision.
* the Eileen Norris Theater
* the David L. Wolper Center

Areas of study

* Business of Entertainment (offered in conjunction with the Marshall School of Business MBA Program)
* Critical Studies
* John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts
* Interactive Media
* Producing, under The Peter Stark Producing Program
* Production
* Screenwriting

Accomplished SCA alumni

"See also List of University of Southern California people"
* Erik Aadahl
* Amir Cyrus Ahanchian
* Sasha Alexander
* Scott Alexander
* Elizabeth Allen
* Thom Andersen
* Judd Apatow
* Gregg Araki
* Aditya Assarat
* Doug Atchison
* Kelley Baker
* John August
* Richard L. Bare
* Hal Barwood
* Walt Becker
* David Bezmozgis
* Charles Braverman
* Mehcad Brooks
* Norman Buckley
* Ben Burtt
* Trey Callaway
* John Carpenter
* Nick Castle
* Art Clokey
* Jack Couffer
* R. J. Cutler
* Mark Z. Danielewski
* Caleb Deschanel
* Trygve Allister Diesen
* Scott Derrickson
* Richard Edlund
* Bobby Florsheim
* Frank E. Flowers
* Bob Gale
* Douglas Gayeton
* Scott Gimple
* Alfred Gough
* David S. Goyer
* James Gray
* Macy Gray
* Brian Grazer
* Ashley Greyson
* Javier Grillo-Marxuach
* Conrad Hall
* Jane Hamsher
* James Haven
* Grant Heslov
* Matthew Ryan Hoge
* Ron Howard
* Martin Hynes
* James Ivory
* Joe Johnston
* Rian Johnson
* Larry Karaszewski
* Jonathan Ke Quan
* Richard Kelly
* Karey Kirkpatrick
* Randal Kleiser
* Tim Kring
* Eric Kripke
* Ken Kwapis
* Jon Landau
* Chris Chan Lee
* R. Eric Lieb
* Doug Liman
* John Longenecker
* George Lucas
* Gregory Markopoulos
* Richard Martini
* John Milius
* Miles Millar
* F. Hudson Miller
* Stephen Mirrione
* Walter Murch
* Don Murphy
* Tom Neff
* Laura Neri
* Dan O'Bannon
* Randy Olson
* Tom Oesch
* Richard Outten
* Chris Parson
* Paula Patton
* Sam Peckinpah (drama major)
* Brian Wayne Peterson
* Shawn Piller
* Stu Pollard
* Kevin Reynolds
* Jay Roach
* Shonda Rhimes
* Barry Rubinow
* Gary Rydstrom
* Walter Salles
* Edward Saxon
* Josh Schwartz
* Leigh Scott
* Ben Shedd
* Stacey Sher
* Christine Shin
* Sofia Shinas
* Sigurjón Sighvatsson
* Bryan Singer [Weinraub, Bernard. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E1D91039F93AA35754C0A9669C8B63 "FILM; An Unusual Choice for the Role of Studio Superhero"] , "The New York Times", July 9, 2000. Accessed November 27, 2007. "Mr. Singer attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan for two years, and then transferred to the University of Southern California."]
* John Singleton
* Kevin Stea
* Tim Story
* Stephen Sommers
* Guido Mina di Sospiro
* David H. Steinberg
* Stephan Szpak-Fleet
* Jon Turteltaub
* Eric Trueheart
* Lee Unkrich
* Christopher Vogler
* Matthew Weiner
* John Wells
* Alexander Winn
* Freddie Wong
* Robert Zemeckis
* Laura Ziskin

Notable faculty members and instructors

* Danny Bilson
* Mark Bolas
* Peter Bonerz
* Todd Boyd
* Trey Callaway
* Drew Casper
* Frank Daniel
* Mar Elepano
* Verna Fields
* Scott Fisher
* Robert L. Freedman
* Nina Foch
* Tracy Fullerton
* Maureen Furniss
* Dan Gordon
* Mark Jonathan Harris
* Tomlinson Holman
* Gordy Hoffman
* Leonard Maltin
* Mardik Martin
* Michael Naimark
* Christine Panushka
* Mark Pesce
* Abraham Polonsky
* Howard Rosenberg
* Kathy Smith
* Chris Swain
* Jordan Weisman
* Paul Wolff
* Slavko Vorkapić

Distinctions

* Since 1973, not a year has passed without an alumnus having been nominated for an Academy Award.
* Alumni have held key creative or production positions in 8 of the 10 highest grossing movies in history.

Awards - USC Cinema Short Films

* In 1955, Producer [http://CopyrightUSC.com/Wilbur.html Wilber T. Blume] , a USC Cinema instructor at the time, received an Academy Award for a short film he created entitled "The Face of Lincoln" (1955) - best live action short film. Blume also received an Academy Award Nomination that year for documentary short. Two nominations. One Oscar win for the same short film.
* In 1967, George Lucas won the National Student Film Festival (NSFF) award for his futuristic "" (1967).
* In 1970, Producer John Longenecker received an Academy Award for a short film he produced while attending USC Cinema 480 classes as an undergraduate -- "The Resurrection of Broncho Billy" (1970) - best live action short film. The film crew and cast: Nick Castle - cinematographer; John Carpenter - film editor / original music; James Rokos director; Johnny Crawford lead actor; and Kristin Nelson lead actress.
* In 1973, Robert Zemeckis won a Special Jury Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' second annual Student Film Awards presentation for A Field of Honor.
* In 2001, MFA student David Greenspan won the Palme d’Or for short film at the Cannes Film Festival for his student film "Bean Cake". [ [http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/spring02/alumninews/alumni_profile_Cannes.html Alumni Profile: Cannes Do Spirit] , "Trojan Family Magazine", Spring 2002, "Accessed Sept. 19, 2006".]
* In 2006, Director/Co-Writer/Producer Ari Sandel received an Academy Award for best live action short film -- "West Bank Story" (2006) made as a USC Cinema graduate school project.

References

Notes

External links

* [http://www-cntv.usc.edu USC School of Cinematic Arts website]
* [http://cinema.usc.edu/summer/ USC Summer Film Program]
* [http://cntvcommunity.usc.edu/ SCA Community]
* [http://www.cntvalumni.net/ CNTV Alumni Online]
* [http://cinema-tv.usc.edu/Archives/ USC Moving Image Archive website]
* [http://CopyrightUSC.com/ USC School of Cinematic Arts Copyright Policy]