OC students take on Hollywood

Experiencing the magic of Hollywood filmmaking is a dream to some, but for two Oklahoma Christian University students that dream has come to life.

Seniors Travis Pauley and Cheryl Jorgenson are currently attending the Los Angeles Film Studies Center as part of a a faith-based program called BestSemester, which offers 12 unique scholarship and study abroad opportunities from China to Nashville.

LAFSC is a 16-week program that gives students real, hands-on experience in the various aspects of filmmaking. Jorgenson is taking a professional scriptwriting class in which she writes a full-length, feature film during the course of the semester.

“I always knew I wanted to go into film,” Jorgenson said. “I’ve been writing since I was 11 and it was kind of just here and there and then it turned into novels … when we got to choose our track there was no doubt in my mind what I wanted to do.”

While attending the program, students take part in a production workshop that brings them to the center of the film industry: Hollywood.

In Hollywood Production Shop, four groups will prepare four short films. Students can choose either a major position such as director, producer and writer or below-the-line positions including editor, colorist, production design, sound design, or director of photography.

Pauley is the director in his group. He said his favorite part of the program is how much of it is hands-on.

“I’ve gotten to make two short films that I directed and wrote – I co-wrote one of them – and those are done,” Pauley said. “I’m only a month and a half into the semester here and I have two short films done.”

Jorgenson said she had some hesitations about leaving her position as Eagle Angle Director and also about the costs of the program, but eventually she decided this was what she wanted to do.

“Caleb Henry, one of the students last year, actually went on it, and he had nothing but good things to say about it and that reassured me,” Jorgenson said.

The program is 16 credits and costs $50 to apply. The total cost for attending, including room and board, is $17,300 – although most of that money goes through the school you attend.

The other core aspects include a Faith and Artistic Development in Film course and an internship. The internship provides opportunities for the students to learn about roles in their area of interest. This year students are interning at CBS, DreamWorks and Lions Gate Entertainment.

“The idea behind this is that we get to see how the industry is run with professionals and build our network of contacts for when we leave the program,” Jorgenson said.

The faith class seeks to empower students and their voices, while helping them along their faith journey.

“It’s a lot of discussion, we really explore topics about our identity,” Jorgenson said. “… It’s a safe place for students to ask the deep questions, especially in a town that has a reputation for being very close-minded.”

Pauley and Jorgenson both said they loved film from an early age, and that carried through into their adult lives. Pauley said his favorite thing about film is the impact it can make.

“I’ve been the audience so many times and gotten to sit in a movie theater, and as the movie ends I can feel a change,” Pauley said. “I can feel something is different about me since I watched that film. … And I love how movies can empower people. I think art has a unique way of doing that like nothing else can.”

Students who attend the program are not required to be a film major. However, LAFSC is supposed to serve as a launch pad for a future career in the film industry. It gives opportunities for networking and rubbing elbows with professionals in the field.

Jorgenson said she recommends the program, but students have to really be serious about working in Los Angeles.

“If you’re not 100 percent committed to coming out to Los Angeles then you might have a hard time adjusting,” Jorgenson said. “The great thing about the program is that there are so many alums willing to help you, so it is really good in that sense. If you’re on that fence, just find someone to talk to. I have never met a single person from the program that had a bad thing to say about it.”

BestSemester programs are open to any upperclassman affiliated with a Christian college.

“I already feel more like a filmmaker than I did before I came here,” Pauley said.

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