FSU College of Motion Picture Arts 2014-2015 Publication 2014-2015 | Page 2
What’s Inside
Renovations
Reshape College 4
Cover Story:
The Maze Runner
Wes Ball and T.S. Nowlin share the
story of their transition from film
school to Hollywood
Meet our New
Faculty
16
Kelsey Scott on
12 Years a Slave 10
BFA in Animation and Digital Arts 12
Learn what makes this undergraduate program
competitive in the industry.
Recent Alumni
Success Stories 6
Alumni
Check-in
On the cover: two main characters run into
a daunting maze on poster art for The Maze
Runner (provided by Fox Studios).
Associate Dean
Five FSU films win top prizes at the College
Television Awards.
2 - FSU College of Motion Picture Arts
22
Message from the
Dean
3
Dean Frank Patterson
Sweeping the Student Emmys
8
20
Reb Braddock
Assistant Deans
Andrew Syder
Fred Salancy
Editor Nick McKaig
Contributors
Brenda Mills
Paul Razza
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
I
t’s been an exciting and busy year for the
College of Motion Picture Arts. We’ve implemented new curricula, installed additional
production facilities and classrooms in our studio,
and recruited more industry members to join our
faculty, all with the goal of providing the best
and most current educational experience for our
students.
This summer we completed the largest facility
renovation in the twenty-five-year history of our
College, with new and remodeled spaces on every
floor. This type of investment into our studio
helps ensure that students receive the most relevant, modern, and real-time introduction to the
motion picture industry for years to come. Our
new spaces are designed specifically to support our
unique curriculum, a project-centered approach to
learning and storytelling that makes Florida State
stand out from other film schools. We’ve also hired
several members of the industry to join our faculty,
professionals from all over the country who are
eager to mentor students through the process of
bringing their stories to life. And, this year we are
preparing to graduate our first class of Animation
and Digital Arts students, whose contemporary
and specialized skillsets are in high demand.
We recognize that our commitment to students
entering the motion picture industry is a commitment to change. However, in the midst of all
of these changes we remain focused on providing more of what makes us unique: high quality,
hands-on instruction in
an intimate conservatory
setting. The structure of
our curriculum allows our
graduates to enter the industry with festival-quality
films and the preparation
required to create, produce,
and contribute to the highest quality professional productions. As a result,
our students have won over 2,000 awards, honors,
prizes and featured screenings at national and
international festivals and competitions, and our
alumni can be found working at every level of the
industry, all around the world.
I invite you to meet our faculty, read more about
the success of our students and alumni, and
explore the many and diverse projects that the FSU
College of Motion Picture Arts has produced in the
past year. We are very proud of our students and
their successes, and we sincerely hope that one day
you will become a part of our College of Motion
Picture Arts story!
Best Regards,
Frank Patterson, Dean
College of Motion Picture Arts
film.fsu.edu - CMPA News - 3