University of Wisconsin students attending a communication arts lecture can now see firsthand the connection between Madison and the entertainment industry.
“The American Film Industry in the Age of Television — The Madison Connection” is a new course this semester that brings in lecturers who have “made it” in showbiz, spanning from Broadway in New York to Hollywood to the cable industry.
Today’s lecture, open to the public and held at 4:30 p.m. in Vilas Hall’s Mitchell Theater, will feature UW alums Rocco Landesman and Rick Steiner, both veterans of Broadway plays. Steiner is best known for his work with “The Producers,” “Smokey Joe’s Café” and the 2003 Tony Award-winning production of “Hairspray.”
Landesman has also worked on “The Producers,” “Smokey Joe’s Café” and the classic musical “Grease!”
Other prominent guest lecturers to come include Hollywood heavyweights and film producers Walter Mirisch and Jerry Zucker, author and critic Richard Schickel and media consultant Lee deBoer. DeBoer worked with premium cable company HBO, where he spent nearly two decades nurturing the current-day giant from its infancy.
March 24 will also see “Mona Lisa Smile” and “Maid in Manhattan” producer Deborah Schindler lecture the class about her experience in the entertainment industry.
Professor Tino Balio, who teaches the class, said the class originated after a series of classes taught by design consultants of the Overture Project proved very successful. In these classes, well-known individuals from the entertainment industry lectured. This prompted the UW Foundation to ask Balio if such a program could be extended into another semester’s worth of class.
Balio said a big question before the class was put into the timetable was how UW would engage the entertainment figures who have been absent from the Madison landscape for years. Though it sounds difficult to get a hold of busy media associates and convince them to come back to their alma mater to lecture students, Balio said it was relatively easy.
“For the most part, they’re all excited about the idea,” Balio said, adding the only problems he has encountered so far have been scheduling conflicts.
Balio, who is also director of the UW Arts Institute, said the lecturers are encouraged to speak on their UW experience.
“[We always wonder] what was it about their UW experience that made them successful,” Balio said, adding many say their professors were some of their biggest influences.
Balio said these successful lecturers are often portrayed as role models to the students taking the course because they have made it in one of the hardest businesses.
Balio also made sure to point out that the alumni did not all come from Wisconsin, just attended UW, and many did not graduate with a communication arts degree — some had degrees in economics, history or English.
Dennis Chaptman, a UW spokesman, said Balio is really excited about the idea. He thinks it will be interesting to find out what all the famous alums have to say about UW and why they have gone into high-profile careers.
