When you’re a college professor, the summers go by in a blur — particularly when almost half the summer still pertains to all of the various Outdoor Vision Fest® extensions and permutations that have evolved, including OVF@Currents, OVF@ArtFeast, OVF@Hobbs and OVF@FantaseFest.
The rest of the summer was dedicated to a couple of under-wraps script projects — and here we are in the Fall already, halfway through the semester’s multiple screenwriting courses that I teach, and deep into Season 4 of The Film School‘s Shoot the Stars!® initiative.
I oversee the script development cycle for Shoot the Stars!® (bringing Hollywood name talent to topline student films), which starts with students developing scripts throughout the summer — and then continues after scripts are selected, all the way through the entirety of pre-production, until principal photography commences in late November.
As pre-production ramps up, I also co-mentor the production of EPK (electronic press kit) promotional videos and materials for Shoot the Stars!®. Among other tasks, this includes concepting videos and then serving as story consultant throughout production and post-production, as discussed in an earlier post.
Of course, there are departmental strategy meetings, departmental tactics meetings, assessment meetings, curriculum meetings, meetings with students, meetings with prospective students (and their parents), and a lot more.
And then there are the other promos we make for The Film School. In 2014, actor Wes Studi (Avatar, The Last of the Mohicans) was available to participate in several promos for us. I had the opportunity to interview him and then chat with some of our current students about how they landed in Santa Fe. Great stories — which led to several promo scripts and the finished results: “Clarity”, “Prep” and “The Dream“, which you’ll see below. Student-shot, student-produced, and student-edited (with the guidance of faculty colleague Brad Wolfley).
Terry Borst: Screenwriter 