🚀 go-pugleaf

 Brought to you as a service of the Duke University News Service,
Box 90563, Durham, NC 27708-0563, Phone: (919) 684-2823, Fax: (919)
                        684-5760/681-7334.

    This and other stories and information can be found on Duke
  University's gopher server DIABLO.  Point your gopher client to
                         DIABLO.DUKE.EDU.

===================================================================


For immediate release                   Contact: Virginia Boyd
Aug. 15, 1994                           (919) 681-8065
                                        boydv@mail01.adm.duke.edu


ART AND INDUSTRY IN N.C. FILM AND VIDEO
SUBJECT OF SEPTEMBER CONFERENCE IN DURHAM


     DURHAM, N.C. -- The cultural and economic impact of North
Carolina's film and video industry is the subject of a three-day
conference scheduled for Sept. 9, 10 and 11 in Durham.
     The conference goal, organizers said, is to provide a forum
-- through panels, screenings and discussions -- for participants
to explore the past, present and future of film and video in
North Carolina. The conference will be attended by
representatives of independent and commercial film, secondary and
higher education, state agencies and film commissions,
     "The film industry is extremely important to North
Carolina," said Tom Whiteside, assistant director of the Duke
University Film and Video Program.  "It brought in over a half
billion dollars to the state's economy in 1993.  At the same
time, we want to stress the cultural importance of film.  How do
most North Carolinians interact with the film industry?  What is
the history of North Carolina film? 
     "During the past six years, the state has also taken a giant
leap in film education with the organization of the School of
Filmmaking at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-
Salem, Duke's film and video program and the department of
communication studies at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill."
     Addressing these recent developments is one of the purposes
of the conference, "Future Arts II: The art and industry of film
and video in North Carolina," said Whiteside, one of the
conference organizers.
     "North Carolina has reached a momentous stage in the
development of its film culture," said Sam Grogg, dean of the
N.C. School of the Arts' filmmaking school.  "In other states,
such as Florida and California, industry ties with academic
programs have been vital both in terms of economic development
and culture of the region.  
     "While this has not been true in North Carolina in the past,
the day has come.  This conference will be an important milestone
in developing a cooperative environment between industry,
education and the state."
     Conference organizers and sponsors include the Duke
University Film and Video Program, the North Carolina School of
the Arts School of Filmmaking, the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill Department of Communication Studies, and the Wake
Forest University Department of Speech Communication.
     The conference begins Friday, Sept. 9, with activities that
focus on the state's academic film production curricula such as
student-made films, faculty filmmakers and job opportunities for
recent film school graduates.  These events will take place in
the Bryan Center on Duke's West Campus.
     On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10 and 11, all conference
events will be held in downtown Durham in the recently renovated
Carolina Theater and the Durham Arts Council building.
     Lenoir native Ruby Lerner, executive director of the
Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers and publisher of
the monthly magazine, The Independent, is one of the featured
speakers.
     Other participants include Mary Smith of the National
Endowment for the Arts Media Arts Program, who will conduct a
grant writing workshop for film and video makers; Bill Arnold,
director of the North Carolina Film Commission, who is the
chairman for a meeting of N.C. film commissioners; and Robert
West, curator of film and video at the Mint Museum of Art and
director of the Charlotte Film and Video Festival, who will lead
a panel on exhibition and distribution.
     Two filmmakers-in-residence at the N.C. School of the Arts
and recent newcomers to the state will talk about their
experience in the industry.  Joe Minion, a screenwriter whose
credits include "After Hours" (directed by Martin Scorsese), will
discuss the role of the writer in American film.  Marco Williams,
whose feature documentary "In Search of Our Fathers" played at
film festivals around the world, will talk about documentary and
fiction directing.
     Additional panel topics are non-linear editing, the
information superhighway, public access cable, screenwriting,
motion picture archives, and media education in primary and
secondary schools.
     Screenings scheduled for the conference include several
North Carolina films of historic interest: a retrospective of the
"Movies of Local People" made by Lexington's H. Lee Waters in 118
towns during 1936-1942; "The Lost Colony Film" produced by the
state of North Carolina and written and directed by Elizabeth
Grimball and Mabel Evans on Roanoke Island in 1921; and "Pitch a
Boogie Woogie" made by Lord-Warner Pictures in Greenville in
1947.
     George Stoney, a native of Winston-Salem and professor of
film at New York University, will present "The Uprising of '34." 
Not yet complete, this documentary is about a textile workers'
strike which began in Gastonia in 1934.  Much of the film has
already been shot in North Carolina.  
     The work of several independent filmmakers will be shown. 
Bob Landau of Carrboro's Maceo Productions will screen his
dramatic short "Sweet Dreamer"; Jeff Leighton and Kim DeCoste of
Raleigh will show "Good Night, Alden"; and Durham video artist
Doug Deneen will exhibit a video installation.
     In keeping with the mountains-to-the-coast coverage of
"Future Arts II," Francine DeCoursey will show clips from her
work-in-progress, "Making Production: A Community of Filmmakers,"
a documentary about the film industry in Wilmington; and Jerry
Williamson of Appalachian State University will present findings
from his study on the history of filmmaking in western North
Carolina.  His book on the subject, "Hillbillyland," will be
published by the University of North Carolina Press during the
spring of 1995.
     "It's important to North Carolina's culture to stress that
the people who work here, live here," Whiteside said.  "We want
people to know that if they go to film school in North Carolina,
they can stay here and work afterward -- they don't have to go to
California to find work."
                              -----
     Conference registration is $10 if received before Sept. 2. 
After Sept. 2, registration is $15.  Meals cost extra. 
Registration fees can be sent to Future Arts II c/o Film and
Video Program, Box 90671, Duke University, Durham, N.C. 27708.
     For further information, contact the Duke University Film
and Video Program at (919) 684-4130.
                               ###