Congratulations to all of the College of Media faculty and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students!
This list is based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms completed by students during the Fall 2022 semester. Only those instructors who distributed ICES forms at least once during this time period and who released their data for publication are included in the list. View the complete list.
Note: * denotes that the instructor ratings were outstanding.
Producer Lawrence Bender (‘Pulp Fiction’) brings ‘Fresh’ perspective to Ebertfest, along with Michael Morris with ‘To Leslie,’ and Shoah collaboration ‘My Name Is Sara’
Festival closes with empathic film ‘Forrest Gump’ with guest Mykelti Williamson
Roger Ebert’s Film Festival is pleased to announce the full lineup of films and accompanying filmmakers who will participate in the post-screening discussions at the 23rd annual event, which runs April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign.
As this year marks the 10th anniversary of Roger Ebert’s death, the program reflects his guiding principle of empathy, said Chaz Ebert, who co-founded and hosts Ebertfest.
“In Roger’s memory, we will gather together in what Roger has called the temple of cinema to reaffirm our connections to each other,” said Chaz Ebert.
The program for Ebertfest 2023, “Empathy at the Movies,” includes 11 films, two shorts, 20+ guests, and two musical performances:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19
6:30 P.M. NINE DAYS (2020) This ultra-original American fantasy drama Nine Days considers the meaning of life as potential souls audition for the chance to be born. In the RogerEbert.com review, the film was praised for centering questions around “the eternal issues of the human condition: What does it mean to be alive? How do we appreciate life while we are here? Is it even possible?” The film won the Sundance Film Festival’s Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition.
Guests
Director Edson Oda After a series of award-winning short films and music videos, Japanese Brazilian writer and director Edson Oda made his film directorial debut with Nine Days. Based in Los Angeles, Oda is a BAFTA Breakthrough alum, a Sundance Screenwriters Lab alum, and a Latin Grammy-nominated director for best music video.
Producer Jason Michael Berman President of Mandalay Pictures, Jason Michael Berman has produced feature films that have premiered at Cannes Film Festival, SXSW, Sundance Film Festival, and others. His latest film, Air, about Michael Jordan’s partnership with Nike, will be released in April. He also helped to develop the Sundance Institute’s film financing program called Catalyst. An alum of University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, he is now an adjunct professor there.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20
9:30 A.M. TOKYO STORY (1953) This year’s selection from the Ebertfest audience choice movie poll is Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story. In Roger Ebert’s review of the film—which he called “one of the greatest films of all time”—he wrote, “Ozu is not only a great director but a great teacher, and after you know his films, a friend. With no other director do I feel affection for every single shot. … It ennobles the cinema. It says, yes, a movie can help us make small steps against our imperfections.”
2:00 P.M. THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) Continuing Ebertfest’s tradition of hosting a live music performance with a silent film, the Anvil Orchestra will accompany the German Expressionist silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene. It depicts the story of an insane hypnotist who uses a somnambulist (a sleepwalker) to commit crimes.
Guest
The Anvil Orchestra Fondly named after a misspoken introduction by Roger Ebert at the Alloy Orchestra’s first Ebertfest appearance, the Anvil Orchestra is comprised of two-thirds of the Alloy Orchestra, which has since disbanded, with original member Terry Donahue and longtime member Roger Clark Miller. The multi-instrumentalists play an unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics. Donahue plays junk percussion, accordion, musical saw, and banjo. Miller plays synthesizer, and percussion; he also performs with the post-punk band Mission of Burma that he co-founded in 1979.
4:00 P.M. MY NAME IS SARA (2019) Sponsored by the Alliance for Inclusion and Respect In this prize-winning docudrama, My Name Is Sara gives viewers a look into the real life of a 13-year-old Polish Jew named Sara Góralnik who flees Poland after her parents were killed by Nazis at the outset of the Holocaust. Passing as an Orthodox Christian, Sara gets hired as a nanny by a Ukrainian farmer and his wife, and must endure grueling work throughout the war all while trying to protect her true identity and discovering her employers have dark secrets of their own.
Guests
Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro Mickey Shapiro, the eldest son of Holocaust survivors Sara Góralnik Shapiro and Asa Shapiro, escaped to the U.S. by boat with his parents in 1949, at nearly two years old. Shapiro is owner and principal of M. Shapiro Real Estate Group, one of the nation’s largest property management companies. He produced My Name Is Sara in association with the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation: The Institute for Visual History and Education, founded by Steven Spielberg to videotape and preserve interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust.
Shapiro is a longtime member of the USC Shoah Foundation Board of Councilors Executive Committee and recently established the Mickey Shapiro Endowed Chair in Holocaust Education. He was previously appointed by President George W. Bush to be a council member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and is a former director of the Michigan Holocaust Memorial Center.
Director Steven Oritt Steven Oritt, who got his start directing music videos for bands such as the Foo Fighters and OneRepublic, focuses on documentary and true-life, character-driven stories, including American Native and Accidental Climber.My Name Is Sara is Oritt’s directorial debut of a feature film.
9:00 P.M. AMERICAN FOLK (2017) American Folk follows Elliott and Joni, both folk musicians, on a road trip from Los Angeles to New York City in the days following 9/11. Both folk singers in real life, Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth portray the two strangers who forge a bond over several days through their love of music, encounters with memorable people, and a shared mission to “bring back the folk.”
Guests
Director David Heinz For the last decade, David Heinz has been working in cutting rooms on both independent and studio pictures alike. He has edited Adult World with John Cusack, which was released theatrically by IFC in 2014. In 2011 he served as the additional editor of This Means War for Fox as well as several other recent independent features. Heinz recently contributed as the visual effects editor to The Jungle Book, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Live Free or Die Hard, to name a few. American Folk marks his feature directorial debut.
Singer/Actress Amber Rubarth Amber Rubarth is an award-winning singer-songwriter who has toured the world alongside such artists as Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens, and Ralph Stanley. A winner of the prestigious NPR’s Mountain Stage New Song Contest, Rubarth’s album Wildflowers in the Graveyard features a song heavily featured in the film. American Folk also marks Rubarth’s big screen debut.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
10:00 A.M. TO LESLIE (2022) In To Leslie, a drama inspired by true events, Andrea Riseborough plays Leslie, a struggling single mom living in Texas who wins the lottery only to waste it all on alcohol and drugs, much to the dismay of friends and family, including her only son. Years later, Leslie attempts to get her life back on track but the path to redemption may be more difficult than she can handle. For her portrayal of Leslie, Riseborough was nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards.
Guest
Director Michael Morris With recent credits as executive producer of the final season of Better Call Saul, Michael Morris’s directorial feature film debut To Leslie was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the top 10 independent films of 2022. His roots in theatre began as director of the Old Vic in London. In the new Apple TV+ series Extrapolations, he directs the finale episode.
2:30 P.M. MARIAN ANDERSON: THE WHOLE WORLD IN HER HANDS (2022) Directed by Peabody and Emmy Award-winner Rita Coburn, Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands explores the life of the African American singer and civil rights pioneer, who died in 1993 at the age of 96. The film highlights Anderson’s career, art, and legacy as a Black classical singer with a breathtaking and rare vocal range as well as her work to further civil rights. The film allows viewers to hear Anderson’s own voice and point of view through archival interview recordings, photographs, and personal correspondence with family and friends, including Martin Luther King Jr., Josephine Baker, and Langston Hughes.
Guests
Director Rita Coburn Rita Coburn is the co-director/co-producer of Peabody Award-winning Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, the first feature documentary on Maya Angelou, which screened at Ebertfest 2019. Coburn’s work has also earned three Emmys for the documentaries Curators of Culture, Remembering 47th Street, and African Roots American Soil. Coburn is the owner of RCW Media Productions, Inc., a multi-media production company.
Producer Brenda Robinson Brenda Robinson, producer and entertainment attorney, is involved with numerous film, television, and music projects, most recently as a financier on the Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus as well as Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Step. Robinson is currently head of film finance and inclusion strategies for HiddenLight Productions, a global studio founded by Hillary Clinton, Sam Branson, and Chelsea Clinton. She is also a member of Impact Partners, which is dedicated to funding independent documentaries that focus on social issues.
Viveca Richards Following the screening will be a live performance by Viveca Richards, an opera soprano student from the University of Illinois Lyric Theatre.
7:30 P.M. DEREK DELGAUDIO’S IN & OF ITSELF (2020) This biography explores identity and illusion while the storyteller and magician Derek DelGaudio attempts to answer, “Who am I?” In & Of Itself originated as a play written and performed by DelGaudio and directed by Frank Oz, which ran Off-Broadway for 72 weeks.
Guests
Director Frank Oz Emmy Award-winning Frank Oz is known for creating and performing many beloved characters on The Muppet Show (Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal) and Sesame Street (Cookie Monster, Bert, Grover), as well as bringing to life Yoda in the Star Wars series. He has directed numerous films over the past four decades, including The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob?, and The Stepford Wives.
Derek DelGaudio An acclaimed and accomplished writer, performer, and magician, Derek DelGaudio wrote and co-starred in the avant-garde magic theater show Nothing to Hide, directed by Neil Patrick Harris, a few years before In & Of Itself began its Off-Broadway run. DelGaudio became the Artist in Residence for Walt Disney Imagineering in 2014 and was named Magician of the Year in 2016 from the Academy of Magical Arts. His memoir, Amoralman: A True Story and Other Lies, was published in 2021.
Producer Vanessa Lauren Vanessa Lauren is a producer of a diverse range of arts and entertainment projects. She produced both the Off-Broadway show and the film In & Of Itself. Her previous projects include Low in the Water, MST3K, Super Troopers 2, and Zappa.
Producer Jake Friedman Jake Friedman has produced In & Of Itself and was executive producer of the TV special Neal Brennan: Blocks.
Janet Pierson Janet Pierson, director emeritus of SXSW Film Festival, has spent the last 45 years of her career supporting independent films and filmmakers in various capacities. Pierson was named to The Guardian’s Film Power 100 list in 2010 and the Indiewire Influencers in 2013. A regular panelist at film festivals, Pierson is a member of the advisory board for the Austin Film Society, founded by filmmaker Richard Linklater, and the University of Texas Press Advisory Board.
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
9:00 A.M. [SHORT FILM PROGRAM] CLUB ALLI (2020) In just under nine minutes, brothers Julien and Justen Turner, who have made nearly a dozen short films, direct a sci-fi drama about America and the ever-present socio-economic divide in Club Alli, which won the CU International Film Festival. The duo, who have been featured on CNN and in the New York Times, say they wrote the short “to play around with the mirage of a free society. Our goal is to change the way that people think.”
Guests
Writers/Directors Justen and Julien Turner Filmmaker brothers Justen and Julien Turner, who run Dreadhead Films, are the youngest filmmakers to have been commissioned to produce a short film for Sesame Street for its 2018-19 season, at ages 15 and 19. They have produced numerous short films that have been honored at national film festivals.
Max Libman Max Libman is the teenage founder and director of the CU International Film Festival that debuted in October in Urbana and featured eight short films, one of which was produced by the Turner brothers. In his young career, Libman has also been honored for his screenwriting.
TEAM DREAM (2022) Audience members will be reminded it’s never too late to make a dream come true in the short documentary film Team Dream. Luchina Fisher directs this 17-minute film, which features two female friends, Ann and Madeline, preparing to swim in the National Senior Games held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The two women also discuss what it was like growing up in Chicago during times of segregation and their experience after joining Team Dream, an organization that trains women of color in swimming, biking, and triathlons.
Guests
Director Luchina Fisher Luchina Fisher, director, writer, and producer of the short documentary Team Dream, is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist who works at the intersection of race, gender, and identity. Team Dream, executive produced by Queen Latifah, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2022 Chicago International Film Festival and aired on BET on March 24.
Madeline Murphy Rabb Madeline Murphy Rabb is president of Murphy Rabb, Inc., a fine arts advisory firm she founded in Chicago in 1992. She is nationally renowned for her expertise in identifying and showcasing artwork created by African American artists, both emerging and established. Rabb has provided guidance to major art collectors, corporations, and institutions across the nation.
10:30 A.M. FRESH (1994) Samuel L. Jackson stars in the Sundance Film Festival Winner Fresh, an urban crime thriller Roger Ebert described as “a story of depth and power, in which the dangerous streets are seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old who reacts with the objectivity he has learned from chess, and the anger taught to him by his life.” Fresh (Sean Nelson), a young drug runner living in New York, is fed up with the violence and death he encounters in his daily life. Using chess lessons he learned from his alcoholic father, played by Jackson, Fresh devises a plan to free himself and his drug-addicted sister from the corrupt system.
Guest
Producer Lawrence Bender Lawrence Bender has produced well-known films over the past 30 years, many award-nominated, from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bill series, and Inglourious Basterds, to the Academy Award-winning documentary on climate change An Inconvenient Truth and Good Will Hunting.
3:00 P.M. WINGS OF DESIRE (1987) The German cinematic masterpiece Wings of Desire made director Wim Wenders’s name synonymous with film art. “You’re seduced into the spell of this movie,” wrote Roger Ebert in his original review. The film, which was shot in black and white, and color, features Bruno Ganz as Damiel, an angel who is willing to give up his perch high over Berlin, his ability to hear thoughts, as well as his immortality to return to Earth after falling in love with a trapeze artist. Created shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ebert wrote that “the film is like music or a landscape: It clears a space in my mind, and in that space I can consider questions. Some of them are asked in the film: ‘Why am I me and why not you? Why am I here and why not there? When did time begin and where does space end?’”
Guest
Michael Barker Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics with Tom Bernard, has distributed, and often produced, some of the finest independent movies over the past 40 years. Barker’s films have received nearly 200 Academy Award nominations and more than 40 wins, including several for Best Picture, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Foreign Language Film. He and his colleagues have also restored and theatrically reissued some of the great films of the past. In 2022, Barker and Bernard received the Game Changer Award from the Zurich Film Festival, in recognition of their services to film culture.
8:30 P.M. FORREST GUMP (1994) Roger Ebert described Forrest Gump, the six-time Oscar winning comedy drama starring Tom Hanks, as a “magical movie.” Ebert wrote, “I’ve never met anyone like Forrest Gump in a movie before, and for that matter I’ve never seen a movie quite like Forrest Gump.” The film follows the life of the slow-witted but good-natured Gump, from a young boy in the 1950s with braces on his legs to a father in the 1980s. Although born with a low IQ, Gump’s mental impairments don’t prevent him from being a part of extraordinary moments in history or falling in love and eventually marrying his childhood sweetheart.
Guest
Actor Mykelti Williamson In addition to playing the memorable shrimp-loving character “Bubba” in the Academy Award-winning Forrest Gump, actor Mykelti Williamson has also starred in the Academy Award-nominated film Fences and Con Air, as well as the TV series Law & Order: Organized Crime and Chicago P.D., among other movies and TV shows. He has also recently directed episodes of Sweet Magnolias, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D.
Other guests throughout Ebertfest include film critics:
Nick Allen
Matt Fagerholm
Al Lerner
Linda Lerner
Nell Minow
Michael Phillips
Brian Tallerico
Matt Zoller-Seitz
Please note that filmmaker guest appearances are subject to change, which may include adding a surprise guest to the program.
Passes to see all films with reserved seating are available to purchase online or at the Virginia Theatre box office, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, 217-356-9063. Individual movie tickets will go on sale on April 3.
Roger Ebert was a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, University of Illinois journalism alumnus, and Urbana native. Ebertfest is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Media and Chaz Ebert.
Anyone interested in supporting the event as a festival sponsor may contact Molly Cornyn, the festival’s project coordinator, at mcornyn2@illinois.edu.
The Illini Media Company will honor 10 inductees into the Illini Media Hall of Fame Class of 2023 during a ceremony on Saturday, April 29, in Chicago. Five of the inductees are journalism alumni from the College of Media. Illini Media, which oversees The Daily Illini student newspaper, WPGU 107.1 FM radio station, and the Illio yearbook, aims to recognize the distinguished careers and contributions of alumni through the annual Hall of Fame award.
The College of Media inductees include:
Anita Banerji (BS ’98, news-editorial journalism), senior program director for media and tech at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Andrea Darlas (BS ’94, broadcast journalism), award-winning anchor and reporter at WGN Radio and WGN-TV in Chicago, and currently senior director of constituent engagement for the University of Illinois; Darlas will also be the emcee at the Hall of Fame luncheon event
Ed Epstein (BS ’74, journalism), journalist for various news outlets including the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington and Capitol Hill correspondent
Kyung Lah (BS ’93, broadcast journalism), CNN senior national correspondent based in Los Angeles
Erika Rosenberg (BS ’91, news-editorial journalism), president and CEO of the nonprofit Center for Governmental Research
Mike VanBlaricum with some of the Ian Fleming Foundation’s vehicles on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. (Photo by Christina Gandolfo for the UI Alumni Association.)
It’s a toss-up for Mike VanBlaricum on which he loves more—anything related to James Bond and the fictional character’s creator, Ian Fleming, or his beloved Alma Mater, the University of Illinois. Luckily, he’s rarely had to choose.
In fact, VanBlaricum has found opportunities over the years to combine his passion for both, benefitting several different entities at the University, including the College of Media and its students.
VanBlaricum, who graduated with three degrees in electrical engineering (BS ’72, MS ’74, and PhD ’76), is the president of the Ian Fleming Foundation. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Ian Fleming Foundation Undergraduate Research Scholarship for media students nearly a decade ago. He says there were several reasons for creating this scholarship.
It was a way for the Ian Fleming Foundation, formed in 1992 by VanBlaricum and two friends, to fulfill one of its main purposes—education. It also enabled them to honor the late Ian Fleming and highlight his journalistic endeavors.
“We wanted to make students aware that Ian Fleming was a journalist, a book reviewer, and a travel writer, as well as being a novelist and short story writer,” VanBlaricum said. “That’s why his books are so well written—he is trained as a journalist.”
The scholarship is also a nod to the late film critic and journalism alum Roger Ebert (BS ’64), since it was designed to provide incentive and support to outstanding undergraduate students participating in research around film. Plus, the fact that Ian Fleming and Roger Ebert started their careers as journalists seemed like a “wonderful match.”
The origin of the scholarship may be multi-faceted, but the goal is more singular—to get undergraduate students involved with research at an early phase of their educational careers.
Undergraduate students in every College of Media major—advertising, computer science + advertising, journalism, or media and cinema studies—from freshmen to seniors, are eligible to apply if they are participating in research (either their own or with faculty) or an independent study project with a Media faculty member. The research can cover any area of film history or criticism, advertising in film, contemporary film production including the areas of film merchandising/memorabilia, travel writing, or history, and evolution of print journalism.
“I think for undergraduates in the College of Media, who are going to be writing and producing as they get older, doing research as freshmen and sophomores is pretty cool. I wish I had done stuff like that when I was that age,” VanBlaricum said.
VanBlaricum is somewhat of an expert when it comes to research. His career in research and program management spans more than 35 years, and much of that time was spent at Toyon Research Corporation based in California, which specializes in technology development and defense systems analysis. He retired from Toyon Research Corporation in 2010 but still serves as president emeritus of the company.
His “Bondiana” collection, a term VanBlaricum coined himself, began in his 30s and required a talent and dedication only a true researcher could possess. Over the years, the self-professed “collector at heart” has amassed over 10,000 items, ranging from Fleming’s literary works and related books to merchandise such as toys, games, records, posters, and other ephemera. The Ian Fleming Foundation owns over 40 vehicles featured in James Bond movies, including a helicopter and submarine, which they loan to museums and charity events.
Lately, he spends much of his time organizing and preserving his collection. He is currently in the process of donating a portion of his Ian Fleming/James Bond collection to the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library. To date, he has already donated over 800 items.
VanBlaricum and his wife, Pam, who also earned three engineering degrees at Illinois, currently reside in California but come back to visit Illinois often. They own a home in Urbana that they purchased when their two daughters were attending the University of Illinois.
Mike VanBlaricum holds a British first edition of Ian Fleming’s first book, Casino Royale, published 70 years ago in April 1953, at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. (Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.)
In the fall, they enjoy going to Illini football games as well as various Lyric Theatre and other School of Music presentations. In the spring, they look forward to coming back for Ebertfest. Along with the camaraderie and the possibility of running into old friends, VanBlaricum likes to “see movies on the big screen with an astute audience and to hear people explain and critique the films.”
VanBlaricum, a faithful volunteer at the University of Illinois since he was a student and co-chaired Engineering Open House in 1972 with his wife, continues to be an involved alum.
He has served as president for the Electrical & Computer Engineering Alumni Board, for the Spurlock Museum Board of Advisors, and for the Illinois Music Advisory Council. In addition, he was the creator and a lead developer for the Illinois Distributed Museum, which highlights innovations at the University of Illinois. He’s also a generous donor, giving to many units, including his major home Grainger Engineering, the Spurlock Museum, the School of Music, and the University Library.
VanBlaricum’s enthusiasm for the University of Illinois and his Bond/Fleming collection doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon; however, he unfortunately had to choose between Ebertfest and Bond this year.
He and his wife will be in London during Ebertfest weekend, attending the 70th anniversary of the publication of Fleming’s first book, Casino Royale. The Fleming estate is having an event to commemorate the anniversary and is launching a new re-booted series of Bond novels.
“As my wife, Pam, says, nothing new can come out without me having to buy the whole set,” said VanBlaricum, who is excited to add another item to his collection.
Joanna Raimo (BS ’22, MACS; pictured at right) and Gio Giles-Sanchez (BS ’22, MACS), creators of A Tint of Red,won the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival Jury Award, selected by members of the College of Media faculty.
The pair’s film, a 21-minute psychological horror, was one of 19 short films and videos screened at the UIUC Student Film Festival last April at the Knight Auditorium at Spurlock Museum.
The annual event, which is organized, promoted, and produced by students in the MACS course “Film Festivals,” features films of all genres created by undergraduates, filmmaking clubs, and production classes across the University of Illinois campus.
The festival drew a crowd of more than 200 attendees in person and has nearly 400 views on the livestream channel. Watch the film fest recording here.
Jon Knipp, lecturer for the Film Festivals class, described A Tint of Red as a “rich, well-made film.”
“Among the jury’s comments was an appreciation of the film’s formal command and creative use of genre tropes,” Knipp said.
Paige Terando, a New Voices Intern and a freshman in media and cinema studies, talked to Raimo and Giles-Sanchez about the film’s origin, inspiration, and what it felt like to win the jury award in a recent interview.
What is your current job title and where do you work?
Joanna: I am a recent graduate from the College of Media with a degree in Media & Cinema Studies and English. I just finished my first post-college job, working on a political campaign for Congressman Brad Schneider, which was a temporary position. Now, I’m looking for other jobs and have expanded into a path into politics as well, which was not a path I expected to go down but have really enjoyed.
Gio: I am a recent graduate as well, also with a degree in Media & Cinema Studies. Currently, I am a weekend anchor, producer, and reporter for KOTA and KBN Black Hills Fox, in Rapid City, South Dakota.
What were some valuable takeaways you got out of helping organize the film festival through the MACS course?
Joanna: MACS 464 (now MACS 366) had only been around two or three years before being hit by COVID-19, and this was the first year that the festival happened with the turnout that was expected. Everyone who attended the festival that I spoke to said it was cool to see student filmmaking. I really enjoyed planning the festival as well. It was fun to see everyone in the class have their own piece. I did social media marketing for the film, which is something I can use in the future.
What inspired you to make the film A Tint of Red?
Gio: Originally, this script was one I wrote for fun, within a week over winter break. It came from all the different media I was consuming at the time, in particular a game called Layers of Fear. It inspired me to create a story with a similar theme: art and death. I had a fascination with artists and art galleries, which after some brainstorming, left me with the idea of artists being pressured into being perfect in the industry. In the beginning, this film was modeled to be a slasher film. After Joanna and I started talking and brainstorming other ideas, we changed the idea to a psychological horror.
What was the process behind making this film?
Joanna: My senior year was coming up, and I knew that I wanted to create something bigger. Being a MACS student allows you to be a part of many small projects, but for this, I really wanted to do something of my own. One day in class, Gio was telling me about a script he had written and I asked him if I could look at it. That led to me asking if I could direct and edit this into a piece. One of the challenges we faced with the horror genre is how dramatic it is. We were excited to play with the styling and makeup effects we had within the film. The original script Gio gave me was 50 pages long, which we unfortunately had to cut down, to make this a short film.
Gio: After Joanna showed such an interest in the script I wrote, I asked her if she would want to work on it with me, and she agreed. She helped dial the film back from a slasher to a look into the (mental illness) struggle of a fine arts student. We had found a balance: I prefer to write the story and have someone else put their touch on it, which allowed us both to connect.
What techniques or theories did you learn in various MACS courses that you applied to this film?
Joanna: We began working on A Tint of Red when we were in JOUR 317 with Ken Erdey. On Camera Performance for UI7 is a class I recommend to anyone interested in journalism or anchoring. Also, getting to know your professors and networking is so important to do while in school. Victor Font (MACS lecturer) throughout the years has taught me so much about production. He taught me to just film, always be filming. Professor Amanda Ciafone and Jonathan Knipp were a big part of helping support us. All these professors helped us find resources to further this project. A lot of the things you learned in class, you learn to apply on set, which makes it really special.
Gio: I often read about lighting in classes, like MACS 100 and actually being able to play around with those skills was really cool to work with. Using gel filters, fill lighting, key lighting all were a big thing I was able to take away from classes and from this film. Jorge Murga did an amazingly beautiful job with the lighting within this film.
On winning the Jury Prize:
Joanna: Receiving the Jury Award for the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival means so much to me, my co-director Gio Giles-Sanchez, assistant director Angelle Cortes, and our cast and crew. We spent many, many hours outside of our busy academic schedules to create A Tint of Red for the student film festival. We were eager to showcase our skills and prove that we could not only complete a substantial and challenging project before graduation, but that we could do it creatively and do it well. Receiving this award makes it all feel worthwhile!
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Grace Chen (MS ’10 advertising) is a product manager at Meta.
When did you know that you wanted to study advertising? As a child, I remember being very fascinated with old catalog ads. Throughout my childhood, a lot of advertising consisted of subscription-based magazines and order catalogs. I always thought about how much I loved seeing all these creative advertisements and innovative ideas. It even made me feel like I wanted to buy everything in the magazine. As I grew up, viewing TV commercials seemed like the coolest thing ever to me, for some reason. I’ve always been interested in studying advertising.
What are your main responsibilities as a product manager at Meta? As a product manager at Meta, I work with engineers to build new products for Meta. I primarily work on a private communication team. My team’s mission is to help people start and continue conversations on the Facebook app.
If you could describe the advertising industry in one word, what would it be? Adaptive. A lot has changed since I started my first job in advertising, and change will continue to be constant in this industry. In the past, TV advertisements were a major shift in the industry. Now, advertising is completely digital. When I started my career, digital used to be about 5 to 10 percent of a client’s budget, and now it’s near 100 percent for some companies. People need to be adaptive to work in this industry and it will continue to evolve.
What are one or two skills you think one needs to be successful in the advertising industry? It’s important to not limit your understanding of advertising in terms of studying this major or finding a job. Today, media and technology are treated very similarly in the industry. Advertising, while part of media, is also part of technology. As a student, I believed I needed to get into an agency role right away, or work in the client side at some point. I didn’t realize that the industry is much bigger. It’s a good reminder to students entering the industry to notice how it has evolved, and the various opportunities that have been created as a result of the industry evolving. Another skill is adapting an understanding of the food chain of advertising. For example, if you join an agency and are at the lower end of the food chain, meaning more entry-level positions, you naturally have less say in your role. You may also find yourself wanting to have different responsibilities. It’s important that you know who the designated decision maker is in order to be efficient in responding to the needs of your job.
What is the most meaningful part of your job? Right now, the most meaningful part of my job is working alongside a team of people I enjoy working with and who inspire me to be better! In the past, what I enjoyed the most about my job was being introduced to different product types and industries. In general, my interest in advertising sparked my curiosity to discover how aspects of the industry work together. It also gave me a good glimpse into the categories of products I could work for, whether it was working for pet foods, coffee products, entertainment services, and many more.
What advice would you give to students soon to graduate from the College of Media? This next chapter in your life is the start of everything, not the end of things. Certainly, the job market may be tough at times. It’s quite common and normal for people to feel a lot of uncertainty at times, especially considering that the economy is totally different now than in previous generations. Despite this, it’s important to remember that this is just the beginning, and you can continue to build your brand. This could be achieved by building up your portfolio from something you’ve never considered before. Always remember to stay hopeful and keep going!
Hear more from Grace Chen, who participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on technology and media in Fall 2022. Watch a recording of the session here.
(Photo by Isabella Pennebaker, photography intern.)
Molly Cornyn recalls the time she and the cast of her musical just happened to run into Roger Ebert one night at a local Steak ‘n Shake after one of their high school performances. Ebert, the late Pulitzer-Prize winning film critic and Media alum (BS ’64, journalism), was a huge fan of Steak ‘n Shake, so it’s not that implausible to have spotted him there one random evening enjoying a meal.
However, Cornyn and her fellow cast members didn’t waste the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Ebert and sing their best musical number for him. Cornyn is proud to say they received Ebert’s iconic two thumbs-up rating for their impromptu performance and she left the diner with a smile on her face and a story for the ages.
Years later, Cornyn is now helping to plan Roger Ebert’s Film Festival as the new project coordinator for the College of Media. While the Ebert encounter never came up during the application process, the Champaign native had numerous qualifications to make her a stand-out candidate for the position.
“Molly’s experience managing the logistics for multiple complex projects in the entertainment industry makes her a perfect fit, and she has jumped right in,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “Moreover, we’re happy to welcome home a Media alum who understands and is invested in the mission of Ebertfest.”
Cornyn (BS ’06, media studies) will help plan, promote, and manage Ebertfest, which runs April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign.
“I think [Ebertfest] is a shining gem of what we have in this community,” she said. “I know that people at both the University of Illinois and outside of it are excited about the festival and think it’s really something special. Being able to be involved in that and bring that to the community is rewarding.”
After earning an MFA in producing for film and television from Chapman University in California, Cornyn spent five years at Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, which owns and operates nine resort properties in the area, starting out as an entertainment public relations coordinator and then a film and special events manager.
Cornyn said she shot between 90 to 130 productions every year, which included “tons of cooking shows,” some with Gordon Ramsay whom she says is very nice to work with, despite his volatile persona on television. She also worked with producers of the Jason Bourne movie series for a scene that involved a car crashing into one of Caesars’ properties.
“Every project was different, the people you worked with were different, and that just made it exciting, something different every day,” she said.
When Cornyn decided to come back home to be closer to her family, she was hired at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, coordinating all aspects of a visiting artist’s performance. She enjoyed her time at Krannert Center, but also still held onto the dream of making her own films one day.
After two years there, she decided to take the leap and delve into freelance filmmaking but ultimately discovered filmmaking “wasn’t for me.” However, she never lost her passion for film, and when she saw that the job description for Ebertfest project coordinator sought certain logistical and project management skills that she excelled at, and involved a familiarity with film, she knew the job would be a great fit.
“The aspect of [the position] still being involved in film, which I love and didn’t necessarily want to get out of film entirely, [was appealing],” Cornyn said. “I was just trying to find my place, my niche [with film].”
Cornyn, who volunteered at Ebertfest as a student, believes her education and work experience in production will be a great asset in her new role.
“Producing is project management. It’s certainly having an eye for the creative and making space for the creatives to do what they do, and it’s also managing budgets, timelines, paperwork, and all the various people,” she said.
Her goal will be to balance the needs of all parties involved, from sponsors to vendors to attendees. Above all, she wants to maintain the integrity of the festival and the vision co-founder and host Chaz Ebert, wife of Roger Ebert, has for it.
Cornyn said continuing Ebert’s legacy through Ebertfest is very important for the film industry and the community at large.
“I think a big part of what Roger Ebert wanted from this festival was to educate people and give them the opportunity to see movies that are really phenomenal, that they might have never heard of, and having people who are involved or educated [about film] who can talk about them is so fantastic,” Cornyn said. “It’s important to remember people like him. He’s from this community, he cared about it, and gave a lot to it.”
A diverse selection of films that generate empathy have been curated for the 23rd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, running April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign. Ebertfest—co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert—will honor the 10th anniversary of her husband Roger Ebert’s death by screening films and bringing filmmaker guests who exemplify the theme of “Empathy at the Movies.”
Roger Ebert, a renowned film critic, University of Illinois journalism alumnus, and Urbana native, spoke often about the power of cinema and its ability to transform perspectives. Chaz said his guiding principle was empathy.
“For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy,” said Roger Ebert. “If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams, and fears.”
“Empathy can be generated through pathos and humor and by sharing communal experiences,” said Chaz. “This year in Roger’s memory we will gather together in what Roger has called the temple of cinema to reaffirm our connections to each other.”
(Credit: Victoria Labalme)
Joining this year’s Ebertfest will be director Frank Oz, known for creating and performing many beloved characters on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, bringing to life Yoda in the Star Wars series, and directing numerous films, from Little Shop of Horrors to What About Bob? to The Stepford Wives.
“We are eager to welcome this special guest whose work is the very embodiment of empathy,” said Chaz.
Oz will accompany the screening of his film Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (2020), a biography that explores identity and illusion while the storyteller and magician attempts to answer, “Who am I?” The film originated as a play written and performed by DelGaudio and directed by Oz, which ran Off-Broadway for 72 weeks. Derek DelGaudio and Janet Pierson, director emeritus of SXSW Film Festival, will also be in attendance.
THIS YEAR’S LINEUP ALSO INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING FILMS AND GUESTS:
The German cinematic masterpiece Wings of Desire (1987) made director Wim Wenders’s name synonymous with film art. “You’re seduced into the spell of this movie,” wrote Roger Ebert in his original review. The film, which was shot in black and white and color, features Bruno Ganz as Damiel, an angel who is willing to give up his perch high over Berlin, his ability to hear thoughts, as well as his immortality to return to earth after falling in love with a trapeze artist. Created shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ebert wrote that “the film is like music or a landscape: It clears a space in my mind, and in that space I can consider questions. Some of them are asked in the film: ‘Why am I me and why not you? Why am I here and why not there? When did time begin and where does space end?’” Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, will attend.
Directed by Emmy and Peabody Award-winner Rita Coburn, Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (2022) explores the life of the African American singer and civil rights pioneer, who died in 1993 at the age of 96. The film highlights Anderson’s career, art, and legacy as a Black classical singer with a breathtaking and rare vocal range as well as her work to further civil rights. The film allows viewers to hear Anderson’s own voice and point of view through archival interview recordings, photographs, and personal correspondence with family and friends, including Martin Luther King Jr., Josephine Baker, and Langston Hughes.
Director Rita Coburn and producer Brenda Robinson will attend. Following the screening will be a live performance by Viveca Richards, an opera soprano from the University of Illinois Lyric Theatre.
After a series of award-winning short films and music videos, Japanese Brazilian writer and director Edson Oda delivers a heartfelt vision on the meaning of life in his film directorial debut, Nine Days (2020). The ultra-original American fantasy drama that invites viewers to reconsider their worldview was a winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. In the RogerEbert.com review, Oda was praised for centering the film around “the eternal issues of the human condition: What does it mean to be alive? How do we appreciate life while we are here? Is it even possible?”
This year’s selection from the Ebertfest audience choice movie poll is Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story(1953). In Roger’s review of the film—which he called “one of the greatest films of all time”—he wrote, “Ozu is not only a great director but a great teacher, and after you know his films, a friend. With no other director do I feel affection for every single shot. … It ennobles the cinema. It says, yes, a movie can help us make small steps against our imperfections.”
An expert on Yasujiro Ozu’s work (to be announced) will be in attendance.
Continuing Ebertfest’s tradition of hosting a live music performance with a silent film, the Anvil Orchestra, based in Vermont, will accompany the German Expressionist silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), directed by Robert Wiene. It depicts the story of an insane hypnotist who uses a somnambulist (a sleepwalker) to commit crimes. The Anvil Orchestra—fondly named after a misspoken introduction by Roger Ebert at the Alloy Orchestra’s first Ebertfest appearance—is comprised of two-thirds of the Alloy Orchestra, which has since disbanded.
Additional films and guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
Passes to see all films with reserved seating are available to purchase online or at the Virginia Theatre box office, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, 217-356-9063. Individual movie tickets will go on sale on April 3.
Ebertfest is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Media and Chaz Ebert.
Note: Anyone interested in supporting the event as a festival sponsor may contact Molly Cornyn, the festival’s project coordinator, at mcornyn2@illinois.edu.
After a 24-year career at the Charlotte Observer, journalism alum Rogelio Aranda has become assistant news editor with the American Heart Association. He will continue to be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In his new editorial role, Aranda will help to raise awareness around heart disease and stroke through the AHA’s news service. He will also contribute to the AHA’s Spanish-language news site, overseeing the translation process.
Aranda worked in a variety of positions at the Charlotte Observer, including news and sports copy editor and designer, wire editor, interim sports editor, and, most recently, local news editor.
Before moving to North Carolina in 1998, Aranda worked at the copy/design desk at the Daily Herald, suburban Chicago’s largest daily newspaper.
Anderson Cobb facilitates workshop on her play about insurrection
Nicole Anderson Cobb (MS ’16, journalism) recently facilitated a community workshop about her play Homegrown: An Insurrection Play, following a free screening at the First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana.
The play had previously run at the Station Theatre in Urbana in December and was also available to view virtually in February.
During the workshop, community members gathered to discuss the themes of the play and how they relate to a person’s civic duty.
Learn more about her play in this News-Gazettefeature.
12/15/22
Nicole Anderson Cobb (MS ’16, journalism) was recently featured on Illinois Public Media radio program The 21stto discuss her play, Homegrown: An Insurrection Play. The play ran December 2-11 at The Station Theatre in Urbana. During the interview, she discussed the insurrection and the process of writing and producing the play.
Anderson Cobb, an author, historian, and playwright, said Homegrown: An Insurrection Play considers the impact of January 6, 2021, on a fictional church community grappling with the pandemic, political polarization, and racial protest. She holds multiple degrees from the University of Illinois: BA ’95 in political science, MA ’99 in history, and PhD ’07 in history.
Congratulations to all of the College of Media faculty and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students!
