Top Film Schools

dancersmom
Sat, 05 May 2007 23:18:43 +0000

The school in Florida that you are thinking of is most likely Florida State University. This past week FSU announced another prestigious win at the 2007 College Television Awards. I have copied the press release below:

FSU Film School wins another one: 2007 College Television Award
With a recent top-three finish at the 28th Annual College Television Awards in Hollywood, Calif., the Emmy-winning tradition continues at Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts—best known as The Film School.

Its latest win makes 22 times in 16 years that works written, produced and directed by FSU film students have beaten hundreds of entries from other prestigious film programs across the country to claim a first, second or third prize from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Along the way, FSU set an Academy record by winning five of the College Television Awards in 2004 alone, the most ever for one school in a single year.

This year, The Film School took home third-place honors in the highly competitive Drama category for “Abe”—the mini-saga of a dog’s life after the death of his owner forces him to find a new home. The eight-minute-long film was produced by FSU graduate student Erika J. Harvey of Madison, Wis., and written and directed by fellow grad student Khen Shalem of Kibbutz Nir-David in Israel. In fact, Shalem wrote “Abe” as part of his Film School application.

The College Television Award-winning production began as a “D3” assignment for the students—meaning it had to be shot in three days. Harvey and Shalem did just that at locations throughout the Tallahassee area such as downtown’s Galley Alley, the Florida A&M University campus, the Leon County Animal Shelter and the neighboring town of Monticello.

The Humane Society helped Shalem find the film’s star—an engaging Golden Retriever called “Ammo”—though he notes that “Abe” features other (human) actors as well.

By far the most challenging part of the filmmaking—besides a three-day shoot on a $2,000 budget—was directing a dog, Shalem said. “Once, Ammo answered a call of nature during a shot. Then there were the jealous neighborhood dogs that wouldn’t stop barking….”

For Harvey, the best part was working with Shalem—including the late nights at Tallahassee’s All Saints Caf