Rod Lurie Coming To SHSU
This article is courtesy of Cari Kenealy of Raven Films, a student film organization within the Mass Communication Department of Sam Houston State University (SHSU).
Rod Lurie, film director, writer, and journalist who’s topics often involve politics and women in power will be coming to the campus of SHSU from Thursday November 1st through Saturday November 3rd.
The College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication, Mass Communications Department and Raven Films will be hosting Mr. Rod Lurie and viewing of The Contender, a political thriller . President Barack Obama cited President Evans. the character in ‘ The Contender’ as his favorite fictional president.
Mr. Lurie will be giving a Q&A moderated by Peter Rousell of the MCM Department at SHSU and former Presidential Press Secretary immediately after the screening.
Lurie wrote and directed the widely praised Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award nominated political thriller The Contender.
The film was also honored by the Broadcast Film Critics.
In addition, Lurie created and served as an executive producer on ABC’s highly acclaimed hit series, Commander in Chief.
Imaging a world in which the President of the United States is a woman, the popular series stars Geena Davis and also executive produced the ABC one-hour FBI drama, Line of Fire.
Mr. Lurie has directed actors Robert Redford, Genna Davis, Joan Allen, James Gandolfini, Matt Dillon and Mark Ruffalo and many others.
Before becoming a filmmaker, Lurie completed a career in the military and enjoyed success as a film critic, entertainment reporter and investigative reporter.
Lurie graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984 and went on to serve for four years as a Combat Arms officer in the U.S. Army.
He broke into journalism as an entertainment reporter for the New York Daily News, as well as a frequent contributor to Premiere, Movieline and Entertainment Weekly.
Most recently, Mr. Lurie directed the remake of Sam Peckinpah’s classic ‘Straw Dog’s’ and this month as a guest director on AMC’s Western series “Hell on Wheels”.
Leading up to this even, MCM & Raven films will be hosting a viewing of Rod Lurie movies starting today from 5-7p.m. with “The Last Castle.”
Then on Oct. 29th from 5-7 p.m. “Resurrecting the Champ,” Oct. 30th from 6-9 p.m. “Straw Dogs,” and Oct. 31st from 5-7 p.m., “Nothing but the Truth.”
These events are free and open to the public and will be held in room 306 in the Dan Rather building on the SHSU campus.
SHSU’s Version Of “Call Me Maybe” Goes Viral
by Cheval John
Carly Rae Jespen’s single “Call Me Maybe” has been a huge hit since it was released in November of 2011.
The catchy tune has been remade and posted on YouTube by professional organizations ranging from the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders to the U.S. Olympic Swim Team.
Now, Sam Houston State University can be added to that list as their remade ‘video’ was released on YouTube on Wednesday and has over 27,000 views.
I caught up with Brandon Cooper, Associate Director for Student Activities to get his take on the video and find out how it all came together.
Vallano Media: The video has took off like wildfire. How do you feel about that?
Brandon Cooper: We are very excited about the publicity and the views that the video has gotten. Really, it was made to promote “The Bearkat Fanatic Contest.”
The contest was the idea of Frank Parker, Vice President for Student Services.”
How it works is students will submit a Bearkat spirited photo with a caption to us and we decide who is the top fourteen out of that group.
Those fourteen that are chosen will get a ticket to the student suite at Reliant Stadium in Houston for the “Battle of The Piney Woods” game between SHSU and Stephen F. Austin State University on October 6.
VM: Who came up with the idea of the video?
BC: Debbie Nichols, assistant to Mr. Parker, was the person who came up with the idea.
She saw the “Call Me Maybe” video and believed that it was the song to be replicated from for the video.
She contacted me and I agreed with the idea.
From there, we got Patric Sleightholm, of Sleightholm Productions, to participate in the project.
We were the directors. He shot and edit the scenes.
After it was finished, we put it out there and the rest is history.
VM: What was Mr. Sleightholm’s take on it?
BC: Mr. Sleightholm is an alumnus of SHSU.
We have hired him quite a bit in the past to do promo videos for us.
When we approached him with this idea, he was excited about the project.
He did a really great job.
VM: How did you get the Bearkat football team to participate?
BC: We contacted Bobby Williams, director of athletics to see if they would be interested to participate in the video.
He was able to get them on board.
They were eager to participate.
We shot their scene on Labor Day after they finished taking their team photos.
VM: Do you think the video will lead into the promotion for the “Battle of the Piney Woods?”
BC: Yes, I really believe that it will.
It has taken on a life of it’s own and it is great for SHSU as a whole.