WHAT'S NEW?

Kelly Browne, screenwriting alumna, has written the book 101 Ways to Say Thank You: Notes of Gratitude for All Occasions. It was released this month
by Sterling Publishing.

Event: Book signing, Lecture, Q&A and Party

Time: 2:00pm

Date: March 22nd 2008

Location: Dutton's Brentwood
11975 San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310-476-6263

website address: www.KellyBrowne.net

 

The college is pleased to announce the hiring of six new tenure track professors who will begin their career at CSUN in the fall of 2007.

ART DEPARTMENT

Mark Farquhar
Assistant Professor, Animation

Mark Farquhar has been working as a CG Character Animator in the animation industry for the last 17 years. He has an MFA in Animation from the School of Cinema and Television at the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Telecommunication with an Art minor from Michigan State University. During his career, he has worked at Dreamworks Pictures SKG, Disney Feature Animation, Sony Imageworks, Pixar Animation Studios, and Warner Bros. Studios on feature animation productions. His experience ranges from animation development to feature production. Some of his film credits include Surfs Up, Open Season, Beowulf, Monster House, Chicken Little, Shark Tale, Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas, Toy Story 2, Osmosis Jones, Iron Giant, Marvin the Martian in the 3rd Dimension, and Mars Attacks.

In 2000 and 2006 Mark Farquhar was a featured conference speaker at Yunlin State University, Taiwan. In 2002 He spoke at animation conference held at Woosong University, Korea. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television and the University of California, Los Angeles Extension Program. He has also taught animation courses at Glendale Community College and Studio Arts. While working at Warner Bros., Dreamworks, and Sony Imageworks, Mark Farquhar has been active in studio training programs to retrain traditional animators and as a guest speaker for the studio internship programs. He remains active in the animation industry taking a consulting role for CG animation in a live action feature film and other freelance projects.

Meiqin Wang
Assistant Professor Art History: Asian Studies

Meiqin Wang earned a M.A. degree in Art History in China and a PhD in Art History from Binghamton University. Her area of Specialization: modern and contemporary Chinese Art; and contemporary art of Asian world and international exhibitions. Dr.Wang’s dissertation is innovative and wide reaching, and has allowed her both to interview numerous contemporary Chinese artists and to do research in several fields, from museum history to the politics of international art exhibitions, to the impact of rising globalization on art production. She has delivered scholarly papers at ten diverse academic conferences in the U.S. between 2003-2006 (an extraordinary amount for a full-time graduate student).

Her current research is centered on marketization, globalization, and cultural nationalism and how they are introduced to contemporary media, formats and issues, as well as Western modes of curating exhibitions.

Meiqin teaches undergraduate courses in Contemporary Arts of China and Asian Art & Globalization, and has taught art at vocational and elementary schools in Fujian, China. She has worked as a curatorial associate and co-curator for touring contemporary Asian art exhibitions, and has published a book "Paul Klee on Art", (in Chinese) in 2002.

 

CTVA DEPARTMENT

Quinn Saunders
Assistant Professor, Television Production

Writer/Director Quinn Saunders was most recently an Assistant Professor of Media Production at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and taught previously at the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Professor Saunders graduated with an M.F.A. in film directing from the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California. While at U.S.C., he was one of the only students ever chosen for a prestigious mentorship by director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump).

Under this mentorship process, Mr. Saunders wrote, directed and produced the short film Fortunate Son about a Vietnam War veteran who starts to believe that his young son’s imaginary friend is the ghost of a boy he murdered in Vietnam. Fortunate Son went on to appear in film festivals around the world, and won Best Short Film at several, including the $10,000 Grand Prize in the inaugural Haydenfilms Online Film Festival. Mr. Saunders is currently attached to direct his first feature film, Remorse, starring Katherine Moennig (Showtime’s The L-Word), as well as the independent feature F***, Marry, Kill.

In addition to directing, Mr. Saunders is also a screenwriter. His script Stripper: The Saga of America’s #2 Erotic Male Revue (formerly titled The Armoires) was a semi-finalist in the 2006 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship competition, and is currently being packaged by Maverick Films.. Mr. Saunders also works in television in various capacities, he is currently a Director/Technical Director for the non-live segments of the CBS reality show Big Brother 8. He worked on the series as a Camera Operator for the four previous seasons.

Previous employment includes work as a Camera Operator and Editor for shows on Fox Reality, A&E, and others, and working as the Director of Development at Barbara Lieberman Productions, where he helped develop several TV movies including The Dead Will Tell, with Anne Heche for CBS, and the ABC movie Trump: Unauthorized.

JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT

Marcella De Veaux
Assistant Professor, Public Relations

Marcella De Veaux is a communication and media specialist, with acknowledged expertise in developing and executing strategic media relations and community outreach campaigns targeting ethnically diverse audiences. Following a distinguished career in corporate communications and media relations for Public Television, she formed DVG Communications in 1993, which services non-profit, women-owned and entertainment entities. Her prior experience includes working for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), KQED-TV an NPR affiliate in San Francisco, and WGBH-TV in Boston as a public relations practitioner. Professor De Veaux earned an M.A. from Pacifica Graduate Institute, an M.S. from Lesley College, and a B.A. from Bradford College.

 

Lori Baker Schena
Assistant Professor, Public Relations

Lori Baker-Schena has over 25 years of experience as a reporter, copy editor, and public relations practitioner. Prior experience includes working as a copy editor for newspapers in Maryland and California. After working as the director of marketing and public relations for UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, she formed Baker Schena Communications in 1987 where she offers a broad range of public relations services including servicing a variety of health care clients. Professor Baker-Schena earned an M.B.A. and a B.A. from CSUN.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Dmitiry Rachmanov
Associate Professor Piano

Dmitry Rachmanov has performed at venues such as London's Barbican and South Bank Centres, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, New York's Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and his recent festival appearances include Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Germany, Soesterberg in Holland, Upbeat Hvar in Croatia and International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York. His wide-ranging repertoire and his interest in historical performance practice have brought him to the Massachusetts' Frederick Historic Piano Collection where he has made regular appearances performing recital series dedicated to the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff on original pianos.

Rachmanov's awards include high honors at the Frinna Awerbuch, Senigallia, E. Pozolli and Maryland Piano Competitions, a Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the George Schick Award for Outstanding Musicianship presented by the Manhattan School of Music. In 1995 Rachmanov became a recipient of the ArtsLink grant, enabling him to travel to Russia for a series of successful performances.

Dr. Rachmanov studied at the Moscow's Gnesins School of Music and has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School and the DMA from Manhattan School of Music. An experienced educator and master class clinician, he has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Long Island Conservatory, SUNY.

HIGHLIGHTS

Class of 2001 student signs distribution deal
Producer / Writer/ Director Armen Kaprelian (class of 2001) has just completed a distribution deal with Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Pictures for North American rights to his feature film CLOSING ESCROW: A Comedy About Real Estate

Theatre Professor is presented with Live Design Product of the Year Award
Professor Barry Cleveland, production manager in the Theatre Department, is sharing a Live Design Product of the Year Awards presented at the Lighting Dimensions International Trade Show in Las Vegas. The Keystroke, a box that can execute different theatre effects, was created by Professor Cleveland and theatre and engineering faculty and students at Colorado State University.

CTVA Students Wins Video of the Year at the AMV Awards
CTVA Senior Television student, Brandon Bonfiglio, won MTV's AMVs Video of the Year at the AMVs awards September 9th in NYC. He was producer of the video "Write Sins Not Tragedies," for the band PANIC AT THE DISCO. Jennifer Lopez presented the award.

Music Professor Wins Award of Merit
The American Music Therapy Association has presented Professor Ronald Borczon, MM, MT-BC, from the Department of Music, with the Award of Merit in recognition for his significant contribution to the music therapy profession.

CTVA Professor Sells Screenplay
Professor Eric Edson and his writing partner have sold an original screenplay, "Passion's Web," to Lifetime cable, and principle photography starts November 13 in Vancouver. A tentative air date is set for March.

CTVA Professor Finalist in Literary Award
The teleplay for Fathers and Sons (written by Rodrigo Garcia, Jared Rappaport, and Rob Spera -- produced by Showtime) was a finalist in the PEN Center USA 2006 Literary Awards competition. For more information, go to http://penusa.org/go/awards/winners/804.