‘Seinfeld’ Producer Teaches UA Students in Hands-On Film Project

March 4th, 2002 - Filed under: Cover Story

Students in telecommunication and film are experiencing a rare opportunity to learn from the experts. Tom Cherones, right, best known for producing and directing the first 86 episodes of the popular sitcom "Seinfeld," is teaching students production and direction. UA students Kate Turnipseed, production manager, and Michael Walker, actor, are among the students creating a 30-minute film from beginning to end.

Students in telecommunication and film are experiencing a rare opportunity to learn from the experts. Tom Cherones, right, best known for producing and directing the first 86 episodes of the popular sitcom "Seinfeld," is teaching students production and direction. UA students Kate Turnipseed, production manager, and Michael Walker, actor, are among the students creating a 30-minute film from beginning to end.

By Laura Medders

About 15 students are scattered across the room as their advanced video production class begins auditions for the cast of “Speck,” a 30-minute film written by two University of Alabama students. The students, each consumed with a different responsibility, seem surprisingly relaxed. Several are finishing dinner as the class starts. Most of them are in comfortable clothes — jeans and old T-shirts. They are making jokes and laughing with the instructors.

But this particular class in the UA department of telecommunication and film is a one-of-a-kind experience. The students’ instructors are Tom Cherones, best known for producing and directing the first 86 episodes of the popular sitcom “Seinfeld,” and his wife Joyce Keener, an accomplished screenplay writer. Cherones comes to the College of Communication and Information Studies (C&IS) as a Hearst Visiting Professional in Residence.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to work under the supervision of an award-winning producer/director,” said Dr. Loy Singleton, telecommunication and film professor and chair. Singleton said Cherones’ class would give students more and better experience than a university could normally provide.

In this month-long class, Cherones’ and Keener’s students will produce a short film under their supervision. The class operates just as it would on a soundstage in Hollywood — minus the perks.

Cherones makes technical suggestions and keeps the students organized, but these serious TCF students are doing all the work.

“I appreciate that they treat us like equals — as if we were all hired to work on a production — while at the same time providing a beneficial learning experience for us,” student-producer Kate Turnipseed said.

The students are running the audition. The actors and actresses direct all their questions to Anthony Jones, the director, instead of Cherones or Zona Ray, a casting director from Los Angeles.

The students described Cherones and Keener as approachable. “They’re pretty easy to work with, but they were maybe a little imposing at first because they’ve done so much,” senior Lane Bowen, the art director, said.

Junior Julie Guest said even at the first class they were laid back and open to new ideas and questions. “They don’t have the Hollywood ego that I thought they would,” she said.

It is an intensive experience for the students. The three-hour credit class lasts four weeks and meets Monday through Thursday from 6-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays are dedicated to shooting.

“It’s pretty much taking up all of my time,” Guest, the production manager, said. Guest is enrolled in five classes this semester. She said she goes to class from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. After 2 p.m. she works on the production until about 10:30 p.m. She’s responsible for planning the shooting schedule, managing the small budget and making sure the work is completed on time.

The students also seem to be having fun. “I love it. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. I love making it come together,” Guest said.

Last semester, students completed applications and submitted a resume to the TCF department, and 15 students were accepted for the class. Singleton said the students selected demonstrated a serious interest in the project and had previous production experience.

Originally, several students submitted scripts, and Cherones and Keener decided the class would produce John Allan McLeod and William Matt Stewart’s short drama, “Speck.” The film is about two brothers’ efforts to cope with their dysfunctional lives — one has problems keeping a job and the other has difficulty maintaining personal relationships.

On the first day of class, the students read through the script. Cherones and Keener then interviewed the students for crew positions. Before shooting started, the crew auditioned actors and held rehearsals.

“The goal is not just to have a filmmaking experience; we want them to have completed a film project,” Keener said.

Cherones and Keener said the greatest challenge the students will face is time — they only have four weeks to produce the 30-minute film. “That’s perfect — that’s the way it is in real life,” Cherones said. If he were doing this project in Hollywood, he would have 60 crew members instead of 15.

Keener said working on this production will be like working on an independent film. The project has a limited budget. The crew and actors will not be paid. The local businesses will volunteer their locations for the shoot.

When the film is completed, the class intends to hold a public screening, possibly later in March. Plans are to enter the film in a number of competitions.

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation endowed the professional in residence program to enrich education by facilitating campus visits by media professionals in the journalism and telecommunication and film departments. “The program builds bridges between those who teach and those who practice,” Bonnie LaBresh, the C&IS director of development, said. “The professionals who come report learning as much as they teach,” LaBresh said. Keener said they hoped to learn a lot about digital technology from these students.

“I owe the University something. I enjoyed my years in college, and I had help from people — it’s kind of a payback,” Cherones said.

Cherones grew up in Tuscaloosa and received much of his education at UA. He completed his bachelor’s in journalism at the University of New Mexico, and he received his master’s in broadcast and film communication at UA.

“What I learned here those first two years are the same basic things I’ve been doing all the time,” Cherones said. He did a lot of work for PBS programs and affiliates before making his way to the major broadcasting networks. He worked as production manager on ABC’s “Welcome Back Kotter,” associate producer of CBS’s “Another Day,” and as producer of NBC’s “Rollergirls.”

He also directed several other NBC shows: “Caroline in the City,” “Boston Common” and “NewsRadio.” Cherones, who enjoys directing comedies, said working on “NewsRadio” was his most enjoyable job.

Cherones has won numerous awards for his work, including an Emmy, a Director’s Guild Award, a Golden Globe, a Peabody and a Christopher Award. He was recently inducted into the C&IS Hall of Fame. In 1993, Cherones was named the TCF department’s Outstanding Alumnus.

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