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THE BATTALION
3A
Thursday, April 11, 2002
inkstei,'
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{ggies dream of the movie-making industry
By Mike Whitlow
THE BATTALION
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ls h on hislitil While the process of movie making is a
caught theonij ystery to most, some Aggies have pulled
To this day, hi ackthe veil and entered the world of film
it he actuallJ oduction. Dan Steele, a junior English
I iajor, recently directed his first film,
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pectives of the
hakespeare class ” Steele said. “It’s about
filmmaker trying to make the perfect
Ihakespeare adaptation. Now I’m working
Inacouple of films that I intend to screen
j: festivals.”
■ Steele said he became interested in
Immaking when he saw Jurassic Park.
“While all the other kids were saying
iVow,dinosaurs!’ I was saying ‘Wow, how
id they do that?”’
Through a high school teacher who
new a sound mixer in the film industry,
teele was able to visit the set of Miss
ongeniality.
“I spent so much time with the people,
icluding Sandra Bullock, that I knew
lere was no other choice in life for me,”
iteele said. “My lifelong goal is to make a
ilm in every single genre.”
Recently, Steele attended the Worldfest
ilm Festival in Houston, as well as several
mailer festivals around the state, building
is connections within the industry.
At the Worldfest, Steele met R. Lee
rmey, who played the drill sergeant in
iill Metal Jacket, and at an Ahstin film
estival, Steele met Russell Crowe.
“R. Lee Ermey stood up at a party and
Kgan reciting his entire opening mono-
from memory. Everyone cracked
tip,” Steele said. “Crowe and I hung out
for several hours, and I realized that
tee stars are just normal people who
enjoy being around other human beings.
“Russell seemed to let me stick
around because he liked my name,”
Steele said. “He introduced me to people
by saying, ‘This is Dan Steele. Isn’t that
a great f—king name?”’
Steele also helped with the produc
tion of a film about a newspaper
thief. The Eagle: Learning to
Fly Again, that was directed
by Julian Londono, a senior
mechanical engineering
major, and Casey Pinkston,
a senior environmental
design major.
The Eagle was screened
at the Texas Film Festival
and won a Special Audience
Award.
“Failing to Adjust is our
newest project and deals with
a condition called sleep
paralysis,” Londono said. “We
hope to finish production by the
middle of summer.”
Both said they look forward to
future careers in the film industry.
“We want to keep making short films
like this until we have written the perfect
feature-length script,” Pinkston said.
“Then we’ll start pitching it.”
“With a little luck we’ll be ready to
make a feature-length movie by the end of
2005,” Londono said. “Former Aggies,
please go grab your checkbooks.”
All three have worked with the Aggie
Screen Writing, Acting and Movie
Production club. S.W.A.M.P. is a student
organization open to anyone with an inter
est in these three aspects of film produc
tion. The group, which has a membership
of about 50, also produces television pro
gramming for campus
channels 80 through
88. It always has at
least one film project
underway and offer
feedback among its
members on the cre
ative process.
Other students have
been exposed to film
through courses offered
at Texas A&M.
Jennifer Langam, a
sophomore elementary edu
cation major, attended the
Worldfest Film Festival after
Film Studies 201.
“My father’s side of the family has
always been in the entertainment industry,”
See Filmmakers on page 5A
FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION
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