Alumni News
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Written by Seth Gantman
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It's been nearly a year since Cannes 2008 and that feel a bit strange to me, I've been nostalgic lately for those days at the festival, eating banana's and trying to avoid the pastry's and a very weird version of expresso that Euro McDonalds makes... I started to get addicted to that weird concoction.. I get the feeling its about as close to coffee as their chicken is to real chicken.
The Studio was such a rush last year, and i cannot believe its taken me nearly 12 months to write that in this blog. The day of my flight to Nice was my graduation from art school, 3.5 years in a very interesting climate of deadly competition, wounded egos, wild inspiration and insane ambitions. I loved it there.
When I arrived in Nice i remember how much i thought that it smelled like europe, for some reason most of France's smells epitomize Europe for my nose.. I know that makes no sense but its something I experience every time of think of Cannes.
There really isn't much justice i can do through writing to communicate my full experience at the studio. it was just one of those bends you take one the road that you never forget, where you find things about yourself and your capabilities as an artist and an image maker, creator that change you, and you happen to meet individuals that continue to play influential and enriching roles as you move forward with life, a career and experiences... The studio was amazing and i cannot thank the facilitators, the mentors and the sponsors enough for the opportunity and the overall experience.
When I returned from the studio I really had nothing to do in the area of a job or responsibilities so I immediately picked up again and toured a few cities looking for a motion graphics position. New York, SF, London and Los Angeles. In all actuality I went to L. A. very reluctantly only interviewing here because I knew the industry was so big and as it turns out it was where i moved. I started freelance when I first got out here and it was a sort of crash course lesson in the realities of living and working in L.A. Not exactly horrible but i definitely crashed for the first little bit which I think is something important young filmmakers, artists etc. need to realize.. sometimes finding the path to doing what you love is a pain in the ass and you may have to cut your teeth before things get easy or clear. But its worth it, if you have passion for this line of work and vision, if you really want it just go for it. I honestly think you can make what you want of it.. so make it!
I'm transitioning to a more Sr. Designer position at Motion Theory which sounds a bit loaded.. a title is a title and sometime its easy to use that as a container for your ego.. don't, its not worth it, there is so much to gain from collaboration and an open minded work ethic in this industry. you can learn so much from other creatives keep yourself wide open to that.
I'll have more to write soon, particularly about the all night Green Day video shoot I had the opportunity to stay awake for. Very awesome considering they needed help shooting DV footage and quite of bit of what I shot ended up in the final video. More later.
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Written by seth
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Life after Sundance 2009
Nearly two months later and I am still enthralled by my Sundance and Slamdance experience. I competed on two teams for the documentary competition and I felt both were huge successes, and with only minor set backs. I am happy to report that one of the documentaries I worked on, "8" has taken a new life. Myself and fellow team mates Raghav Tandon (Director), Katrina Bolletta (Editor), and Killian Gray (Cinematographer) are currently working on turning "8" into a feature length documentary. We are still in pre-production so stay tuned for updates! I was fortunate enough to meet Raghav and Katrina at the Cannes 2008 Film Festival, and It was awesome to finally get to work with them on a project.
Currently, outside of work I am involved with three other projects, all with Real Ideas Alumni at the helm. I am working on production titles for Matthew Charles Hall for his film "Dark Horizon", which premieres March 19! Visit http://www.darkhorizonmovie.com for details.
I am also working with the 2008 RIS Cannes Film Festival Emerging Director Mark Sloss on his film "Vanille", which is currently in post-production from shooting in Paris. I am really excited to be working with both of these guys, they are going to be amazing films!
And my third Alumni project is working with 2009 RIS Slamdance Emerging Director Lauren Tracy on her new project to help female film makers get into the industry. XFactor Film is an organization giving grants to female filmmakers for film school educations. Did you know only 7% of the Directors Guild is female? Check out here efforts at http://www.xfactorfilm.com
Before you go, make sure to check out the other Alumni profiles and see what our Alumni, as well as Mentors are up to. There are some great projects being produced by the members of the Real Ideas Studio so be sure to check it all out.
Feel free to contact
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if you have any questions about the Real Ideas Studio. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 March 2009 18:55 |
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Written by Glenn McManus
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 Hello there,
We're just back from the Real Ideas Studio Slamdance 2009 program, and it was very successful! It was great to see it come out so well after all the prep work we had done to make it happen, and the students were very skilled filmmakers, so that helped! Our PR people did an excellent job on the ground--thousands of postcards with our info were dished out around town, our screening at the Slamdance Film Festival had the highest attendance of the whole fest, and I even spotted Walt from the show Lost walking around with one of our Real Ideas Studio hats on.
Park City during festival week is an excellent networking environment, because it's this small ski town in the mountains, but so many industry people converge on it at once, and everyone is nice and willing to talk--because they're looking to network as well! So if you come with us or on your own, a word of advice is to bring business cards to exchange with people.
I already feel like I have been with Real Ideas Studio for a long time now, but looking back, I just became involved with RIS last spring, when I went through the Cannes program myself, as a cinematographer for the winning group. I missed my graduation ceremony at my university, but this was simply too great an experience to pass up--worth every penny. I met some of my closest friends there, and it's great to have a network of talented, like-minded people, involved in all aspects of filmmaking around the world. It truly is a global collective, and I can't wait to collaborate more with them!
This is just my first blog post, however I'd love to answer any questions people have! Feel free to email me at
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and I'll respond when I can, thanks. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 09 February 2009 16:39 |
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RIS Alumni
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General Alumni
Information about the successes of RIS alumni
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Glenn McManus
Glenn McManus is a master's student in Directing and Cinematography.
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Heidi Berg
Heidi received a BFA in Graphic Design from the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco.
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Raghav Tandon
Hailing from Toronto, Canada movies have always been a big party in my life.
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Seth Gantman
Seth Gantman is designer, motionographer and a student of life.
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Tim Lobes
Tim Lobes is one of the most chill yet ambitious Computer Graphics students you will meet.
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