Schools Pursue Growth in Media Studies, Eye State Budget Woes
By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO
The lure of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour has hit Orange County students.
A growing demand for majors in film production and media studies majors has prompted three universities, University of California, Irvine; California State University, Fullerton; and Chapman University, to increase their film programs.
Chapman bought about 17 acres of land blocks away from its main campus with hopes of building a new film and television school.
Those plans still need city approval. They include a cluster of new buildings totaling several hundred thousand square feet that are set to open in 2004-2005.
One of the buildings will include an 18,000-square-foot professional sound stage.
Bob Bassett, Chapman’s School of Film and Television dean, said in a past Business Journal interview that “there’s been tremendous growth.” The private college’s film program started in 1996 with 200 students and counted 900 in 2002.
“There’s a lot of interest from young people that want to get into the film business and realize being in Southern California is crucial to that,” Bassett said.
Marla Friedler, executive producer of Irvine-based Post Modern Edit and a Chapman professor, said production is big talk in the classroom.
“Many of my students are advertising students who want to learn more about production from a filmmaker point of view,” she said.
A number of local production and post-production shops use local universities as recruiting grounds.
Orange-based Post Factory, for instance, recently worked with an intern from Chapman and hopes to lure the student back with a job after he graduates, said executive producer Michael Boyd.
Cal State Fullerton also has a number of students that want to stay in OC, according to Edward Fink, chair of the school’s Radio-TV-Film Department.
About 75% to 80% of each graduating class sticks in Southern California, including L.A. and OC, Fink said. That ratio also applies to film and television students, he added.
Last spring, Cal State Fullerton’s program had 446 students, up from 375 in fall 2001, Fink said.
Numbers aren’t yet available for this semester, but Fink said “the trend is up” despite budget constraints.
The program’s growth prompted the college to form a separate film, radio and television department last January and add a few new classes and two full-time instructors, Fink said. Previously, film students were part of Cal State Fullerton’s communications department.
Meanwhile, UCI is making changes of its own.
Assistant professor Victoria Johnson said the college in July created a separate film and media studies department, instead of being simply a concentration in the Humanities department.
Enrollment growth sparked the change.
In 2002-2003, there were 232 film and media studies majors, up from 100 in 1998-1999.
“As you look across liberal arts programs in major public universities, there’s been a real growth in film and media studies as a major, ” Johnson said. ” Students come in already very savvy about media and critically aware. We give them tools to communicate clearly about film and media and provide tools for hands-on production.”
UCI incorporated television and new media studies into its program and offers a lab for hands-on practice. Students also earn credits for internships.
“Now that Orange County is a real venue for production in new media, we’re positioning ourselves and our students to understand new media from the production and critical theory and history side,” Johnson said.
The rapid growth in film and television departments at universities nationwide “is an odd thing” since it is “an expensive endeavor,” Johnson said.
“There’s always a struggle for resources,” she added.
The public schools run the risk of seeing some of their most aggressive plans scaled back amid California’s budget woes.
But there are bright spots. The price for editing software has gone down.
UCI, which is facing tight budgets, “has been very smart” about its growth plans, Johnson said.
