Tara Billik, F/V alumnae, works for GK Films (The Departed, Aviator, Blood Diamond) in Santa Monica.
Rylend Grant, F/V alumnus, is the winner of Final Draft's 2004 International Screenwriting Contest. His screenplay, "Drive," bested the nearly 3000 entries. As the winner, he receives a check for $10,000 plus a screenplay analysis by Syd Field and meetings with industry professionals and agents.
Zack Evans, F/V alumnus '04, finished Trailer for a new Horror film. Zack Evans and his producing partner Drew Masters and have optioned a unique and disturbing feature-length horror script called Outlier, by two immensely talented writers. They want to get other people as excited about it as they are, so they shot and edited a trailer for the script. Check it out at http://www.outlierthemovie.com/{mosimage}
Elise Freimuth, F/V Alumnae, works for mPRm Public Relations (www.mprm.com)in Los Angeles. mPRm Public relations is one of Los Angeles Business Journal's Top Five Independent PR Firms.
Ben Ketai, F/V Alumnus, has been working as a content creator for Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures in Beverly Hills, writing and producing web series and short films. He recently directed my first web series for Ghost House which just began airing on FEARnet.com. It's called "30 DAYS OF NIGHT: DUST TO DUST" and is a spin-off from the graphic novels on which last years feature film, "30 DAYS OF NIGHT," was based. The official link is www.fearnet.com/dusttodust.
Adam Knee '82 is an Assistant Professor and MA Program Coordinator Ohio University School of Film. Adam just completed 6-month stint as a Fulbright Scholar (in film studies) at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.
David Knott F/V '92, been working in animation since '94, working for 2 years at Hanna-Barbera before it was swallowed whole by AOL-Time-Warner, and have been working steadily at Disney TV Animation since 1996. Some of the highlights include storyboard supervisor on the Recess Movie, storyboards on "Kim Possible," season 2 and 3, and most recently he is finishing directing the series "The Emperor's New School," based off the movie "The Emperor's New Groove" due to premiere on the Disney Channel in January. Contrary to what a lot of production-hungry students think, the study of films and the theory accompanying them was an invaluable tool in developing his story-telling style. He said, "you can't intelligently make films without that knowledge and background. Thanks for continued news of the ole program! It sure has grown since I was a student! Keep up the good workFilm & Video."
Michael O'Leary, 2005 graduate of the Film & Video program, won an Emmy in 2007 for his producing role on the NASCAR Images production Beyond the Wheel ( a national Sports Emmy and not a regional or student award). O'Leary was also a member of the University of Michigan men's lacrosse team. His spot on the team, along with skills behind the camera were perfect components for the production of the programs' “team video”. After earning rave reviews for his first attempt, the annual video became one of the most anticipated items of the year for his fellow Wolverines. According to O'Leary, the efforts spent on the team documentaries didn't just pay off with the thanks and gratitude of his teammates, “Producing the team documentaries was the experience that let him step into Beyond the Wheel so quickly. Each video allowed him to grow creatively and he really made an effort to learn as much as he could about camerawork, writing, editing and interviewing. He used those DVDs as resumes and it was that production experience that opened a lot of doors at both NFL Films and NASCAR Images." The "team documentaries" that are referenced were actually independent studies through Film & Video and that's really what gave him his start.
Mike Williamson, shot a mini-series called "30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust" for director Ben Ketai (also a SAC alumnus). The first episode premiered last week. It's being presented by Fear.net both on the web and on-demand cable. There will be a new episode each week with six parts in total. Here's the link: www.fearnet.com/dusttodust
Mike premiered his thesis film "Niña Quebrada" at the American Film Institute where he studied cinematography. Please also take a look at his new website www.mikewilliamson.net
Phil Ranta, is working as the executive producer of a mobile video content service that powers two channels on Verizon's V-Cast and over 20 other mobile phone video channels worldwide. It's kind of like producing for two dozen public access channels at once!
Dan Shere, U-M Alumnus and current Screen Arts & Cultures 310 Screenwriting Faculty. sold his original comedy screenplay, WE ARE FAMILY to 20th Century Fox to be produced by Ralph Winter and Debbie Liebling.
Gaurav Sikka, F/V Alumnus '06, works at Virgin Comics (www.virgincomics.com) in New York City.
