Riverside City College Hosts Classic Horror Film Festival

PRLog (Press Release) - Dec. 2, 2012 - Media Contact:

Bud Tedesco

Professor Emeritus

Riverside City College

E-mail:  Bud.Tedesco@rcc.edu (mailto:Bud.Tedesco@rcc.edu)

Office:  (951) 222-8352

Julie Pehkonen

Director, CTE Projects

Riverside Community College District

E-mail: Julie.Pehkonen@rcc.edu

Office:  (951) 222-8026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 28, 2012

Riverside City College Hosts Classic Horror Film Festival

The Riverside City College Film, Television and Video discipline will hold its semi-annual student film festival on Friday, Dec. 7. This year, the festival featuring the works of students enrolled in FTV’s Associate Degree and Certificate program, will serve as a launching point for a year of activities that will culminate with RCC’s first-ever Classic Horror Film Festival in 2013.

The activities begin with a special guest appearance at this year’s festival by Ron Chaney, the great-grandson of silent film actor and special effects make-up pioneer, Lon Chaney, and the grandson of Lon Chaney, Jr., legendary actor in the classic horror films including Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, Dracula and the Wolf Man. Chaney will challenge FTV students to put their creativity to work on developing “classic horror with a modern twist” for the upcoming classic horror film festival, set for Oct. 5, 2013.

Chaney heads the Palms Springs-based Chaney Entertainment, an organization dedicated to preserving and perpetuating the Chaney family film history. He will provide festival attendees with a peek at some of his family’s extensive collection of film artifacts, a sampling of what’s in store for the 2013 Classic Horror Festival that will feature a full display of artifacts, film posters and classic horror memorabilia.

The 12th Semi-Annual Student Film Festival will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7 in RCC’s Digital Library and Learning Resource Center Auditorium. Attendees can expect to see up to 20 one-minute films produced by first-year students, and approximately 10 film shorts of five- to eight-minutes produced by senior production students.  Admission is $3. Tickets are available at the door, but organizers say the popular event usually sells out fast.

FTV instructors Bud Tedesco and Sharon Gillins share over 40 years of teaching production skills at RCC. The two connected with Ron Chaney through special effects make-up artist, Lynda Shaeps, a regular guest speaker in FTV classes. Shaeps also teaches make-up techniques at College of the Desert in Palm Desert.

The relationship with Chaney, plus the students’ apparent interest in and producing thrillers, led Tedesco and Gillins to plan the classic horror film festival.

“We noticed that a lot of students were creating horror films, but they were primarily slasher-type films,” Tedesco said. “We want to expose them to the classic horror genre that depends more on the impact of psychological thrills than the visual shock of blood and guts.”

Adrian Rodriguez, 26, of Riverside, is one of Tedesco’s students who is already well aware of classic horror films. His favorites include early King Kong, Dracula and Werewolf movies.

Rodriguez has won awards at several previous Riverside City College student film festivals, including for “The Ritual’s End”, a zombie film he directed, that won best film, best director and best make-up awards.

Rodriguez, who aspires to direct or produce feature films, is thankful for the hands-on learning environment in RCC’s film and television program.

“Almost right away you are using the equipment,” Rodriguez said. “And you are given a lot of freedom. They really support you and work with you to make what you want happen.”

The Riverside City College Film, Television and Video program provides hands-on practical instruction taught by industry-experienced professionals.  The Associate Degree and Certificate program is designed to give students the skills, experience and professionalism they need to succeed in production careers and also prepares them to continue their education.  For additional information on the FTV program, classes or the 12th Semi-Annual Student Film Festival, contact Bud Tedesco at 951-222-8352 or the Applied Technology Department at 951-222-8491.

*****************
About the RCCD CTE Community Collaborative: The Riverside Community College District CTE Community Collaborative is a grant funded effort to strengthen California’s workforce development efforts by linking the State’s investment in economic development with its investment in public instruction and other significant public investments.  CTE Community Collaboratives can be found throughout the State.  The role of the collaborative is to create seamless, non-redundant education and training in the region that corresponds to economic demand; strengthen CTE sectors; establish career exploration programs for middle school and high school students; and meet critical professional development needs and capacity building needs as it relates to career and technical education.

CTE Community Collaborative Partners: Three community colleges: Moreno Valley College, Norco College, and Riverside City College; Riverside County Office of Education Career Technical Education Unit; and six unified school districts: Alvord USD, Corona-Norco USD, Jurupa USD, Moreno Valley USD, Riverside USD, and Val Verde USD.

More information about the collaborative, contact Julie.Pehkonen@rcc.edu