Since its inception in 1993, the School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has been a creative addition to the forty-six-year-old conservatory located in the Piedmont city of Winston-Salem, NC. For the past four years, the department has been under the leadership of Dean Jordan Kerner. A graduate of Stanford University, Dean Kerner was previously a guest artist who was tapped by former UNC President Erskine Bowles to be Dean of the Film School while maintaining his career as a film producer. The film school went from being relatively unknown outside the Carolinas to ranking twelfth among film institutions worldwide (according to The Hollywood Reporter, July 27, 2011). On September 20, 2011, I interviewed the Dean via telephone.
When Dean Kerner arrived at UNCSA–which was formerly known as North Carolina School of the Arts–he observed that the school was educating students in technique, but felt that more was needed on the academic side. He wanted the students to be “thinkers as well as shooters.” One of the programs the Dean implemented was the “Shadow Intern” program. During production of the Dean’s recently produced film The Smurfs (2011), approximately eight students a week “shadowed” crew members during all phases of production. This enabled different students to experience firsthand the making of a big-budget feature film. This program, which is unique to UNCSA, has been well received by students and crew members alike, and it will continue when The Smurfs 2 begins shooting this year. Another development is the American Immersion project. Third-year students visit places where they normally would not go (such as a Veterans Affairs hospital), they meet people they normally would not meet, and they keep journals detailing their experiences. The students who take part in this project increase their worldly experience, which helps to improve storytelling abilities.
Dean Kerner feels that bringing in guest artists who are top in their field also enhances the students’ experiences. For example, Peter Bogdanovich (Paper Moon, 1973; Mask, 1985) currently teaches direction. Other faculty members include Michael Chapman, Tom Ackerman, Bob Gosse, and Wade Wilson. Guest artists have included Kathy Bates and Spike Lee, and upcoming guest artists include James Cameron and Douglas Trumbull. Since UNCSA’s faculty members are full time, they are encouraged to keep working so they’re able to bring students with them into the field.
By offering such innovative programs and such a great assemblage of faculty, Jordan Kerner feels that the film students will not only gain valuable knowledge, but also become a more enriched generation of storytellers. He has strived to integrate academic learning into production education, thus giving the students a well-rounded education that will enable them to work anywhere in the world. At the same time, Dean Kerner believes that the North Carolina film industry will be enhanced as well. New innovative methods are needed to keep the curriculum up-to-date (other unique programs to UNCSA include the animation/gaming program), and Dean Kerner wishes to keep pace with them so that the students may have the best learning experience. By exposing the students to more educational advantages, Dean Kerner hopes that they will “have bigger brains and be bigger-hearted filmmakers.”
Author Biography
Melinda Miles is a New York City native who graduated from John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington, North Carolina and attended Rutgers University in New Jersey. She currently lives in Wilmington with her two children and one grandchild while she attends the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
