The narrative and documentary films that opened the Sundance Film Festival last month were both directed by Chapman University film school alumni. A third Chapman graduate directed the Grand Jury winner at Slamdance, Sundance’s edgier Park City cousin.
It’s a parlay on the order of Leicester City, Brexit and President Donald Trump. Sundance is the largest indie film festival in the U.S. Films picked to screen first this year were chosen from more than 5,000 submissions.
Carlos Lopez Estrada’s “Blindspotting,” an Oakland story that Variety critics call “the most exciting cinematic take on race relations since ‘Do the Right Thing,’” got picked up by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. for an undisclosed price.
Derek Doneen’s documentary “Kailash,” on Nobel Prize-winning, anti-child slavery crusader Kailash Satyarthi, won the Grand Jury U.S. Documentary prize. Ditto for debut director Trevor Stevens’ Slamdance narrative, “Rock Steady Row,” a dystopian tale of a college freshman avenging a stolen bike.
You can read all about those films and watch them soon on Netflix, Amazon, or the big screen. Representatives for “Kailash” and “Rock” are in negotiations. “Blindspotting” is sure to get a wide theatrical release from well-heeled Lionsgate.
The festival success is a testament to the filmmakers and their alma mater. At Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, the hits keep coming.
The Hollywood Reporter ranks it No. 6 of U.S. film schools. Matt and Ross Duffer—class of 2007—created “Stranger Things,” a runaway Netflix hit.
It’s happened in a generation.
Dean Bob Bassett had a business plan when the school debuted in 1996—feature the latest technology, focus on production, teach the business of the business, and put a “camera in your hands, day one.”
Park City 2018 is the latest validation.
“When we launched the film school, students didn’t want to wait to start shooting,” Bassett explained. “Today that’s truer than ever. Kids are making good films in the fourth grade.”
From Mistakes
“I made a lot of bad films,” Doneen, class of ’09, said. But when he got his first shot at a feature, with full funding, he was ready; his art had caught up to his work ethic.
He interned at Participant Media (“Inconvenient Truth,” “Spotlight”) while at Chapman, shooting the obligatory behind-the-scenes. And he stayed connected, with Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim (“Waiting for ‘Superman’”).
Participant initially staked Doneen with development cash, enough to shoot for a few weeks in India, “prove we could go on these raids, and also make a relatable film.” Gladly. His nine-minute sizzle proved to Participant executives that he could make the feature. And he got to direct a first film “where everyone got paid. A lot of discounts, though,” he said.
Stevens, class of ’15, also got his debut film financed, albeit on “micro budget.” How micro? “Under a million.”
How under? “Way under.”
Stevens was not to the film manor born, the rare junior-college transfer to Chapman. Almost never happens at a film school that admitted students to a target 2017 freshman class of 75 from 1,100 applicants.
Post-college, Stevens shares a “Hollywood bunker” with his writing partner and another Chapman director. And “to chase these dreams, I do a lot of freelance work. Videography, editing. A lot.”
Stevens made lots of films in Old Towne and absorbed core marketing tactics. “Get eyeballs on your films.”
He got his thesis film showcased on “Short of the Week,” an online platform for new filmmakers.
“It’s about getting momentum for your next film.”
He got the ’Mo going after meetings with studio Super Gravity Pictures, now Gunpowder & Sky. It gave him the greenlight for “Rock Steady Row.” Everyone got paid—and his 77-minute calling card came in at micro-budget.
Stevens and Doneen sold full distribution rights to their production companies, got a “few points on the back end.” Perhaps the deals of a career.
‘Cashing In’
Justin Simien, class of ’05, wrote and directed the satirical comedy “Dear White People” and brought it to Sundance in 2014. It won the Special Jury award, he sold it to Lionsgate, then developed the TV series for Netflix.
“It’s become a multimillion-dollar franchise,” Simien said, as he works on season 2 of DWP, likely to drop in spring.
Like Stevens and Doneen, he worked for years to fund the dream.
“9 to 9ish … as a PR assistant and eventually manager at Focus Features … then Paramount, Sony and Participant over eight years,” Simien recalled. “All while workshopping scripts, creating web series on weekends, nights and early mornings.”
Like talking up a no-hitter in the ninth, Stevens and Doneen don’t even whisper about being on the verge of success—much less riches—in one of the toughest professions to break into.
They’re artists.
“I want to professionally be a kid for the rest of my life,” Stevens said. “But I’d like to be able to survive making this art.”
He’s back home, back at work with writing partner and childhood friend, Bomani Story.
For documentary maker Doneen, it’s “always about feeding the passion, shining the light.” He talks up Participant’s “double-bottom line,” of profit and social impact.
“I have lots of stories to tell, and hopefully now I’ll have more conversations with folks, with investors, who can help me tell them.”
Their nascent success traces back to Chapman’s model: make films, learn production. Not only did Doneen start making “bad films” at Chapman, he “learned how to take apart a camera.”
Stevens worked with cinematographer Nico Aguilar, class of ’15, on his first college project. Made lots of films with him. Aguilar won the ASC Heritage Award in 2015—the country’s best student cinematographer. And a few years later he shot “Rock Steady Row.”
“In fact, 90% to 95% of my crew was Chapman,” Stevens said.
A plan come together.
