Tuesday, May 15, 2007

York College of PA Article

http://spartan.ycp.edu/pages/current.php?id=894

C.C. Webster leaves her “Tracks” at YCP
By Andrea Lerew


The York College Humanities Department hosted its final event of the 2006 – 2007 Film Series on Tuesday April 17. The series was created to open up discussion and debate about films. There are generally six films per academic year and for each film, a guest scholar is invited to York College to present the production.

For thi s f ina l eve n t , writer/director C.C. Webster, who holds a masters in Fine Arts from the University of Columbia, presented two of her own short film productions, “Tracks” and “Civil War,” to the viewing audience in DeMeester Theatre.

“Tracks” is a 23-minute film that explains the importance of the “tracks” left behind by our deceased loved ones, such as an inherited junk car or a fingerprint.

The total cost of the film during the eight-month production process totaled to about $15,000.

The film “Civil War” is about a group of awkward, pubescent teen girls who seek out and exploit the weakest member during a field trip to Gettysburg Battlefield. The film illustrates the terrors of the all too familiar stages of adolescence.

In this film, Webster reflects on her experiences as an adolescent where she wondered if she would even survive her middle school years. “Civil War” runs about 15 minutes and had a total cost of about $37,000 to produce during its one-year production process.

After showing the films, a question- and-answer period took place for anyone interested in learning more about the films, the director herself or the industry of film production.

In this session, Webster revealed that she creates films with actors that she and the viewer will be able to relate to. Growing up in the working class, Webster didn’t know the life of luxury and she wishes to convey that homely aspect of her life through her work.

When posed with a question regarding why she got into the film industry she stated, “It was something I never even dreamed of. I never picked up a camera and made films like others did.” She went on to explain how her love of movies and her education at Columbia University took her from being an ordinary woman to a successful film director.

She was anxious as anyone would be about taking such a leap of faith as entering the industry of film — especially as a woman. “I got into Columbia [to study film] and realized, I’m in it and now I’ve got to do it.” Of course, money is always an issue among college students so it was no surprise when Webster was asked how she received funding for the making of her films.

She answered back, “If you got a good script, it doesn’t matter how much money you need to film it.

Just write your dialogue — just write it down. That’s the most important thing.” Not only did she share behindthe- scenes details about each film, Webster also gave a bit of advice at the end of her presentation for aspiring film majors; a bit of advice that all college students should follow being film majors or not. She stated, “The community that you make in the classroom is very important to your success. That’s where you make your connections and hopefully, you’ll be working with the people from that community later on.”

Florida Film Festival Article...

http://blogs.indiewire.com/enzian/archives/012894.html

Head of the Class

In my 16 years of working on the Florida Film Festival--the first five as Selection Committee member and the last eleven as Programming Director--I have never seen such a dominant showing of formidable talent from one film school as we have this year. Those of you who attended Sundance are probably already aware of the extraordinary artistry displayed by Columbia University students and alumni, since 10 of the 71 shorts selected out of more than 4000 submissions all came from this one institution--remarkable!

Well that trend continues at this year's Florida Film Festival, ready to launch in just three weeks. While the numbers aren't quite as staggering as the Sundance percentages, 6 out of the 27 shorts in the American Independent Narrative Shorts Competition (selected from over 600 entries in that category) are all from Columbia. Yet only three played in Park City: Lilah Vandenburgh's BITCH, Sophie Barthes' HAPPINESS, and Moon Molson's POP FOUL. Our other three are just as good, yet didn't make it into the Sundance 10: Tobin Addington's DANCING GROUND, Benjamin Gray's THE HUNTER, and Julia Kots' NATURALIZED.

Not only that, but had the filmmakers struck a 35mm print like they indicated on their submission forms, we would also be playing two more outstanding works: Ian Olds' BOMB and C.C. Webster's CIVIL WAR. Unfortunately, by the time we found out that they were actually video only, our video shorts programs were all locked and confirmed. But it easily could have been 8 out of the 27 instead of 6, and either way it's unprecedented. And what's even more impressive is how diverse this group of films really is, with nothing really in common except their excellence.

There are a lot of fine film schools in this country, including a few right here in Florida, but what this group of student filmmakers from Columbia University has achieved can only be described as stunning. Hopefully you'll get to experience these fine films for yourselves.

--Matthew