"My dad would've had a coronary if I'd told him I was majoring
in this," the alum said to the undergraduate at the first-ever
Department of Film, Television and Theatre Reunion, September
15-17, 2005. Variations on this remark could be heard at nearly
every event held during the gathering of Notre Dame alumni working
in the arts and entertainment industry.
In fact, this may have been the first departmental reunion at
which most of those reuniting were not departmental alumni. They
were -- to borrow a term from the industry -- cross-overs.
While students at Notre Dame, they prepared for respectable careers
in law or business, considered by their tuition-paying parents
to be more practical fields of study, but spent much of their
time building sets in Washington Hall or editing films in the
loft of O'Shaughnessy.
"In a lot of ways, this was like a coming-out party," says Ted
Mandell '86, the FTT alum and faculty member who organized the
reunion. He credits the new Marie P. DeBartolo Performing Arts
Center (DPAC) with "making these people feel like they can come
back to Notre Dame and be proud of working in the arts."
In the year since the DPAC opened, Mandell says, the number
of FTT majors has increased by nearly a hundred -- though double
majors in FTT and accountancy are still common among students
with nervous parents. He imagined the reunion as a way to showcase
the department's growth, its impressive new home and the sizeable
contingency of alumni at work in every corner of the industry.
Nearly 200 executives, writers, actors, directors, animators,
stand-up comedians, and nonprofit theatre directors returned to
campus for the three-day assembly.
The reunion began Thursday night with the ND Alumni Film Fest;
a performance of Twelfth Night by Actors from the London
Stage; and a screening of The Late Shift, a behind-the-scenes
look into late-night talk shows written by Bill Carter '71. Friday's
schedule included seven panels on acting, producing, editing and
writing, followed by a cocktail reception, a performance by Bruce
Hornsby, and the FTT production of Arthur Kopit's Wings, directed
by faculty member Mark Pilkinton. Participants also networked
with such industry players as John Walker '78, producer at Pixar;
Rich Cronin '76, president and CEO of the Game Show Network; and
Lydia Antonini '97, creative executive for TV Land and Nick at
Nite.
"I saw it as an opportunity for current students to network
and alumni to reconnect," Mandell says. "That's often the hardest
thing for people in the arts. They don't like to sell themselves.
But you have to go out and pound your chest a little bit."
During a lunchtime panel on Friday, Linda Gase '86, former English
major and current co-executive producer of Crossing Jordan,
confirmed: "You want to think it's all about your work, but
that's not true. You have to make contacts and meet others in
the business."
Gase presented "Teaser and Four Acts in 43 Minutes: Writing
for Prime Time Dramatic TV" with her former Farley Hall neighbor
and fellow English major Susan Hamilton Brin '86, who has written
scripts for Baywatch and Viper.
After graduation, Gase moved to Los Angeles. Instead of going
to law school as promised, she went cold-calling for entry-level
jobs in the industry. Her big break: She was hired to drive the
casting executive on a Michael Cimino movie. She can trace every
job she's had since then -- including years as a staff writer
for ER -- back to the connections made on that first
menial gig.
A sampling of potentially career-making connections made during
reunion weekend: Jeff Spoonhower '99, a video game designer whose
animated short Intelligent Life was the highlight of
the alumni film festival, met Walker, who produced of the Academy
Award-winning animated feature The Incredibles. Broadway
producer and director Bill DeSeta '58 thought stand-up comic Michael
Somerville '94 would be perfect for a part in the script he was
reading for his wife, who owns a casting agency in New York. And
a current student got a lead on an internship from Mike Schmiedeler
'94, who produces documentaries for the History Channel and A&E.
Networking can get a foot in the door, but a bachelor's degree
in business may come in handy yet: "You have to be able to sell
your own work," Gase noted.
At "Theatre in Society: Making a Living and Making a Difference,"
Christian Murphy '92, Josef Evans '95, Francis Kelly '95 and Kassie
Misiewicz '91 echoed the need for artists to develop an entrepreneurial
spirit while preserving their idealism. Since graduation, all
four have forged unconventional career paths in theatre. Evans
lamented being cast as a rapping robot, but said he mostly loves
working for Theatre Corps, a division of AmeriCorps devoted to
bringing issue-based theatre to high schools and colleges. Misiewicz,
a former Holy Cross Associate, described working in children's
theatre as the perfect marriage of her social justice interests
and her theatre training.
The weekend concluded with a tailgate, a heartbreaking overtime
loss to Michigan State ("Can we get a screenwriter to rescript
the ending?" someone joked), and an alumni variety show. Fred
Syburg '62 M.A., an emeritus associate professor who has directed
nearly 50 student productions, delivered the closing remarks.
"One of the beautiful things about this weekend has been reaffirming
my memories," said Syburg, who reconnected with students from
the first and last plays he directed at Notre Dame.
While Devon Candura '05 sang "For Good" from the Broadway musical
Wicked ("We are led / to those who help us most to grow
/ if we let them / and we help them in return" -- one last ode
to networking), ND Theatre: Our History, a photomontage,
was projected on a screen that dropped from the ceiling.
Shots from productions through the years got laughs, but
the final, lingering image of the famously haunted Washington
Hall invited a nostalgic hush. It's hard to imagine a ghost haunting
the sparkling new DPAC.
The facilities send a clear message that Notre Dame is taking
the arts seriously, says Mandell. This is important because people
tended to see FTT as "the home of starving artists or, worse,
as fluff -- not a serious career. That was the greatest thing
about this event for our younger students. They saw that you can
be really successful, have a great life, doing what you love."
Jessica Mesman's writing has appeared in many publications,
most recently the anthology Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing
from Rising Generations. She lives in South Bend with her
husband, Dave Griffith '98.
(January 2006)
