“I was in the everglades and being chased by an alligator, and I was stark naked in brackish water,” Augie Kennady, GS, explained, remembering an experience he had while acting in a piece for Animal Planet. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘This sucks. Maybe I should start telling my own stories.’”
Kennady is one of many students from the School of General Studies who was drawn to Columbia’s undergraduate film studies major. GS students comprise about one-fifth of the film major, and, for many, the program is more than something that looked interesting on the course directory. The students want to make films.
But what distinguishes many GS students from other undergraduates with filmmaking aspirations is that many come here with filmmaking experience, seeking to use the theory-based curriculum to add depth to their existing production skills.
After his Animal Planet epiphany, Kennady redirected his focus from acting to making short films, and he eventually made music videos for MTV Latin. When choosing a school, he was not deterred by the theory-based major. He applied only to Columbia instead of production programs at the University of Southern California or New York University.
“If you come from a production background, I think you benefit here more than elsewhere,” Kennady said.
Rob Caudy is another GS student who brings ample experience to the class, as he has supported himself and his family since age 16. At 19, Caudy started his own production company, working on commercials and live sporting events. “I’ve been hustling since I was 12 years old,” Caudy joked. “So I hustled and got contracts, and it was a pretty successful business.”
To add to his earlier technical filmmaking experience, Caudy sought the complexity a theory-based program could offer, claiming theory is more esoteric and difficult for students to grasp on their own. “Production stuff is easy,” Caudy explained. “You can read a few books and grab yourself a camera and do the things to get the experience.”
Jason Eldredge, GS, entered the major from a musical background. Before coming to Columbia, Eldredge was a disc jockey with a Saturday night radio show on KCRW in Los Angeles, which eventually lead him to music supervising for film and television. One of his earliest jobs was as a music coordinator for the HBO series “Six Feet Under,” and he eventually worked on shows for MTV and VH1. This practical experience adds depth to his directorial aspirations. “Being a music supervisor really taught me, which I already knew how important music can be to film,” Eldredge said.
Friends and contacts recommended Columbia to Eldredge, praising the film program and academic flexibility. “I have been on sets and kind of know what’s going on,” Eldredge said. He added that he was drawn to the theory-based program because “you start to realize that a lot of different working directors are working on that same level and have an understanding of it.” The GS program at Columbia also gives Eldredge the option to double major in film studies and psychology.
This academic latitude is also attractive to GS students with a less extensive production backgrounds who want to explore film along with other academic tracks. Jack Haggis, GS, came to Columbia after volunteering for the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Albany and is still considering his options. “I’m still undecided. The two things I’m interested in are completely different,” Haggis explained of his conflict between Russian and film studies.
The academic environment at Columbia is also a draw. Debra Moore and Russell Calkins came to GS together after working with animation studios in Portland in addition to other freelance filmmaking jobs. Moore, who has previously studied production-based curricula, applied to Columbia for the general “caliber of education,” adding that, “at an institution like Columbia, part of what you’re paying for is your peer group.”
The rest of the undergraduates in the film major also benefit from studying alongside GS students, whose production experiences add important insight into the theory-based major. “I’d like to think that I’m bringing something of a practical value from my six years of experience working on film sets,” Calkins said. “When I have an opinion about something, it’s not out of nothing.”
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