CSF cancels filmmaking training program
By Robert Nott | The New Mexican - 1/16/2009
An educational program designed to give New Mexican filmmakers a chance to hone their crafts as editors, screenwriters, producers and directors became yet another casualty of the College of Santa Fe's current economic crisis.
The New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive, a roughly seven-month program that offered students hands-on training under the tutelage of established industry professionals, was canceled on the eve of its third year, the college announced this week. The program, which was to start again this month, would have run through the summer in the college's Moving Image Arts Department.
"The college is poised to keep its doors open through the spring, but NMFI goes through the summer, and we couldn't bring in a new class without the ability to take that group through fruition and allow them to make films in the summer," explained Diane Schneier Perrin, NMFI's director.
"The closure of the NMFI creates a gap in the training and support of emerging New Mexican filmmakers," she continued. "And for people who are aspiring to join New Mexico's thriving film industry as creators of content — as writers, directors, producers or editors — it's been made even harder. The program was meant as a bridge, a threshold crossing for people who have aspirations to move to a professional career."
Partially sponsored by a $1 million grant from the state, NMFI provided hands-on training in above-the-line professions such as producing, directing, screenwriting and editing, leading to the creation of a short film for the producers and directors and a feature-length script for the screenwriters. Roughly 60 students — most of them New Mexico residents — graduated from the program in the first two years, Perrin said, noting she had at least 80 student inquiries for this year's program.
"To sustain the film industry here, you have to grow local filmmakers," said Jonathan Wacks, chairman of the Moving Image Arts Department. "NMFI's vision was to provide above-the-line education for those filmmakers. We had plans to go forward with it indefinitely. Removing NMFI on a short-term basis is not a disaster — it's disappointing. But if this is the swan song for NMFI, it's a very serious matter for the film industry here."
The college, which has been financially struggling over the past few years, faces an estimated $30 million in debt. Las Vegas-based New Mexico Highlands University is in the process of taking over the college, pending approval from the state Legislature, which will have to provide funding, and from the Higher Learning Commission.
Perrin said she expected to remain in her office on campus through mid-February to complete administrative matters pertaining to NMFI. After that, "I don't know my next move," she said. "I'm hoping it will be in either making or supporting the making of films in New Mexico."
The announcement comes on the heels of the college's decision to shut down The Screen, its popular arts cinema, at the end of January. In related news, the college also canceled the remainder of talks in its Beyond-the-Lecture Series, "Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries."
Robert Nott can be reached at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.
Article Link: Santa Fe New Mexican Article
