Students, community members call for film school

The recent Academy Award ceremonies struck a chord with many Boise State University students. Many aspiring filmmakers have come to realize that no BSU student, at present, will ever grace the stage at the Oscars having been educated at a BSU film school-that’s a fact.

Boise State’s educational curriculum is being placed in question as students and faculty debate among themselves as to whether BSU should add an accredited film studies program to its current educational repertoire. The debate has gone on for several years and many people stand on both sides of the aisle on the subject; there are many perceived obstacles that have plagued the vision of starting a new department. Many fear that Boise State will be unable to recruit a qualified teaching staff and many also question if there will be enough student interest.

One of the driving forces igniting this debate is the realization that, every year, students interested in studying film are forced to leave the university for other options. Jimmy Bowman, award winning writer, actor and native Idahoan is currently a film student at Champman University in southern California. Bowman was disappointed after graduating from high school when he realized BSU did not offer a film program.

“I was disappointed because I did not wish to leave the state and the network that I developed in the artistic community, but was forced to if I wanted an opportunity to study film,” Bowman said. His story is not a rarity in Idaho. Todd Hunngerford, music major and sophomore here at Boise State, first intended on being a film major before he, too, realized his options were closed at Boise State.

“I love the music program here, but I am disappointed that I am not able to study both film and music and pursue both those interests,” Hunngerford said.

Some find it unfortunate that students gifted in certain creative disciplines such as theater, art, writing and communications programs can find their voice at BSU, but those with the skill and desire to pursue film find that the school and its programs come up short.

“It’s almost as if people think these other forms of study matter but that film does not,” Jessica Gordon, a freshman theater major, said. “I think that the theater program would benefit greatly from a film school. It would give us an opportunity to act in more independent and student-made films. It would also set up a community of actors and filmmakers working side by side together here at BSU.”

In the past three years, Boise has emerged with a unique and growing film community. Many of this community are local high school and college-aged young people trying to get connected to the film community any way they can. Every year, dozens of films are produced and independently made here in the state of Idaho through the local film community.

Most of these students do not have the means to leave the state, let alone pay for expensive out of state college programs, so they move in and out of small classes, seminars and workshops which are often taught by former BSU students. Local filmmaker Thomas Ross said he has not been interested in attending BSU because they do not have a film program.

“If BSU had a film program, I could see myself there, but with no such program, there is no reason more for me to attend,” Ross said. “Creating a film program at BSU would definitely open many doors with local film professionals happy to step in and lend a hand with their expertise.”

Boise State has long aspired to earn national respect as a thriving, intellectually astute metropolitan university. The university seems to be coming along well, but it can never take its place among the more elite class of schools unless it competes head on in such a culturally impactful medium as film.

In addition to losing many of students to California and New York, BSU is beginning to lose ground even to neighboring state schools. Washington, Oregon, Utah and Montana all boast well-funded and highly-completive film-school programs. Even cross-town neighbor, Northwest Nazarene University, has a film school, studio, editing suites and Arnie Ytride as chair of the program. So, why doesn’t Boise state have a film school?

“It is essential to the growth of this community that Boise state supports and fosters the local film community by providing young people the opportunity to purse a degree in this important course of study,” Heather Rae, award-winning filmmaker and current Boise state adjunct professor, said.

Filmmaker and Biola University film department chair, Craig Detweiler mentioned that an ongoing challenge within film departments is “where they go within the university curriculum.”

Often times, film programs are “orphans” within the university setting. Straddling the line between communication, art, English and the theatre department, many universities have struggled to find just exactly where a film department should go.

Many believe BSU needs to consider that small first steps could open big doors for potential film studies. After all, the Boise community has long proven to be supportive of the arts. From the Esther Simplot Center for Performing Arts, to the Shakespeare Festival, to the Boise Contemporary Theatre, to the Boise Little Theatre downtown run by the cities Parks and Recreation, to the Morrison Center here on campus, Boise State have the talent, latent energy and patronage to kick off a quality film-studies program.

DANIEL PRIDDY
Special to the Arbiter

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