2008 Woodie Awards
Film festival comes through SRU for first time
By Dara Salley
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: Entertainment
The first annual Harry M. Warner Festival of Short Film and Video came to the Slippery Rock campus on Thursday.
The festival featured several events such as a campus discussion, book signing, workshop and the showing of films. Professor John Shumway was the organizer of the festival.
"The mission statement of Warner Film Institute is enlightenment, education and entertainment through film and related media," Shumway said.
Several noted figures in the independent film industry came to discuss the importance of independent films. Cass Warner, a director and writer, is the granddaughter of Harry M. Warner, one of the original Warner Brothers. Dr. Frank Castronovo is a professor at Youngstown State University and a lecturer of film. Bud Adams is the CEO and co-founder of Sonic Films. John Yost is an actor who you may have seen on "The West Wing" or "Guardian."
"I just got born into this family," Warner said. "I landed in a family that was involved in film. I think that was where I got bit by the bug. I saw all those artists come together to make this film. They were a close-knit group. Not that there wasn't fighting, there is fighting in any family. But it was magical. I was an actor until I had four children and decided that wasn't the lifestyle for them. I started doing writing and production."
As a professor who teaches theater, Castronovo has a special relationship with film. Movies such as "Chicago" show that film and theater are closely connected.
"My background is in theater. Film is a natural extension of that. Film is a point of interest for me," Castronovo said. "My students are interested in film because that is where most of the jobs will be. Most film comes out of pop culture. Film is a cultural icon, a nexus point. Film is business."
Many people think that in order to get into the acting business you must quit school and move to New York when you are 18. But the success that Yost and Adams enjoy shows this is not true.
The festival featured several events such as a campus discussion, book signing, workshop and the showing of films. Professor John Shumway was the organizer of the festival.
"The mission statement of Warner Film Institute is enlightenment, education and entertainment through film and related media," Shumway said.
Several noted figures in the independent film industry came to discuss the importance of independent films. Cass Warner, a director and writer, is the granddaughter of Harry M. Warner, one of the original Warner Brothers. Dr. Frank Castronovo is a professor at Youngstown State University and a lecturer of film. Bud Adams is the CEO and co-founder of Sonic Films. John Yost is an actor who you may have seen on "The West Wing" or "Guardian."
"I just got born into this family," Warner said. "I landed in a family that was involved in film. I think that was where I got bit by the bug. I saw all those artists come together to make this film. They were a close-knit group. Not that there wasn't fighting, there is fighting in any family. But it was magical. I was an actor until I had four children and decided that wasn't the lifestyle for them. I started doing writing and production."
As a professor who teaches theater, Castronovo has a special relationship with film. Movies such as "Chicago" show that film and theater are closely connected.
"My background is in theater. Film is a natural extension of that. Film is a point of interest for me," Castronovo said. "My students are interested in film because that is where most of the jobs will be. Most film comes out of pop culture. Film is a cultural icon, a nexus point. Film is business."
Many people think that in order to get into the acting business you must quit school and move to New York when you are 18. But the success that Yost and Adams enjoy shows this is not true.
