A High-Tech Alternative for Hollywood Hopefuls
By JAMES WARREN
Published: February 6, 2010
James Warren is a columnist for the
Chicago News Cooperative.
This article is part of our expanded
Chicago coverage.
“House lights up!” proclaimed the
silver-haired former lawyer who, with blue jeans, black T-shirt, black safari
jacket and Nikes, looked oh-so Hollywood in an oh-so Chicago bastion, the
Merchandise Mart.
As four understudies from the Second
City comedy troupe entered the sound stage, they were trailed by film students
climaxing three weeks of labor by taping a half-hour faux “Saturday Night Live.”
It featured comedy sketches, droll pre-taped mock commercials and a live
performance by Rhymefest, a hip hop artist.
The students get academic credit by
handling sound, cameras, lights and the funny people, all with the help of
professionals, and their polished handiwork, “Live at the Mart,” may soon be
shown on NBC locally or nationally. It
underscored the glitz, teamwork and market-driven pragmatism at the core of
Chicago’s Flashpoint Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s
most curious and disorienting educational institutions.
Imagine Pixar, Disney, Nintendo and Dreamworks all melded
into a vocational setting. Started in 2007, this is a pricey ($25,000 a year)
two-year school intended for those not motivated by high school, or brief
college stays, but who are captivated by technology.
“I was bored by high school,” said
Craig Reuss, 18, a red-haired, somnolent-looking first-year student from Lake
Geneva, Wis., who wants to work in video games.
Focused in four areas — students can
earn an associate of applied science in recording arts, visual effects and
animation, game development and film — Flashpoint has drawn visits and
testimonials from directors like Ken Burns, Harold Ramis and Quentin Tarantino,
as well as executives from Microsoft, broadcast producers and video game
development firms.
Howard Tullman, the ex-lawyer with a
sleek West Coast look and air, runs the academy on a belief that too many
students are “demotivated” by technology-poor four-year schools, and that the
convergence of digital technologies necessitates a cross-disciplinary
curriculum, mandated collaboration and faculty from high-tech industries.
A workaholic P.T. Barnum with an
eclectic modern art collection that is on display throughout the hallways, Mr.
Tullman is unabashedly derisive of old academia. He labels “a joke” the
tradition of professors’ lecturing, and finds most university film schools a
waste, producing “coffee fetchers.”
The academy has 450 students, 26
full-time faculty members and a core curriculum of basic communications skills,
English and math. Students work 30 to 40 hours a week producing video games,
films and animation. Microsoft and others use the school to test
next-generation technology.
“This is the Julliard of digital
technology,” said Lyn Niemann of Downers Grove, a former Chicago Tribune
reporter and, at 45, one of the older students.
Start-up costs were $20 million,
with 90,000 square feet at the main building at 28 North Clark Street, and
50,000 square feet at the Mart. Even pros are taken aback by the facilities:
two large performance and broadcast stages; four sound recording studios; five
36-station computer labs for film, recording arts, animation and game
development; 10 classrooms with multiple projectors and surround sound; a vast
digital media storage infrastructure and a screening room also used by big-time
movie productions filming in Chicago.
Amanda See, 21, an aspiring film
producer from Huntley, Ill., spent a year at the University of Iowa,
and then decided to go to Flashpoint. “They just couldn’t keep up with the fast
pace of the industry,” she said of Iowa.
Nicholas Gerger, 21, of Barrington,
spent three semesters at Harper College. “I didn’t do well and didn’t apply
myself,” he said. He was entranced during a tour of Flashpoint and delighted
when he got a camera and a mandate to “go out and do something” on his first
day of cinematography.
Classes meet three times a week for
nine weeks. Flashpoint said it placed 70 percent of its graduates — most
impressive, given the economy — and it was just awarded degree-granting
authority from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, a key step in the
ultimate goal of formal accreditation.
Local employers lauding the academy
include Josh Tsui, president of Robomodo, a Chicago video game developer who
created the latest version of the popular Tony Hawk series. Bruno Cohen,
general manager of WBBM-TV, finds Flashpoint inspirational. “It’s all about
preparation, focus and hard work,” Mr. Cohen said.
Ultimately, the academy appears to
be a welcome experiment: a vocational school not for traditional blue-collar
trades but for creative tasks.
Mr. Tullman is probably too harsh in
his assessment of the many inspiring professors in liberal arts lecture halls.
But the market will be the final arbiter.