“The chance of a lifetime” is a rather cliche statement, but that is just what senior Amy Morris feels like she has been given.
Morris, who is an electronic media production major at Harding, has been given the opportunity to attend film school for a semester in Los Angeles.
She will study at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, a faith-based program that is taught from a Christian perspective. She will take 16 credit hours; six hours of internship and three other classes. Morris will be making three or four short films over the course of the semester.
“I’m excited to get to learn filmmaking because I wouldn’t get the opportunity here at Harding,” Morris said. “I’m excited that it’s all I’m going to be doing. There won’t be other classes interfering that I may not care about; the whole semester will just be film.”
Morris was notified about the program last semester by instructor of communication Ginger Blackstone. Usually in order to be eligible for the program, potential students must attend a school that is a member of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, but Harding is not a member. As a result, Morris said she had to go through a long process to be approved to attend.
In the past, students who wanted to go through the program had to transfer to a school that is a member for that semester. Morris said she did not want to do that because she wanted to graduate from Harding.
“I didn’t want to transfer for my last semester,” Morris said. “I wanted to come back and graduate with all my friends I went through Harding with, and I wanted to graduate from Harding.”
Morris will start the semester this spring. She said the program cost is about the same as an overseas program, and includes all of her classes and a furnished apartment near the film studies center.
For her first two classes, Morris will be taking Hollywood Production Workshop and Faith and Artistic Development in Film. For her third class, she has the option of choosing from three electives. She has decided on Narrative Storytelling. Also required as part of the program is an internship in Hollywood. The program will help her find one upon arrival, during orientation.
“There’s only so much we can do in Searcy for aspiring Christian filmmakers,” Blackstone siad. “The LA program not only teaches hands on skills, but it gives them the opportunity to build contacts with Christians working in the industry.”
Morris said she is excited she gets to be the first from Harding to go through the program.
“I’m really excited that I get to sort of be the guinea pig for this,” Morris said. “Maybe if it works out well for me, they’ll let other people go.”
When Morris graduates, she said she would like to work in independent filmmaking. She has thought about Hollywood, but said it would not be her first choice.
“I don’t know if I really want to work in Hollywood,” Morris said. “If I got a job there I certainly wouldn’t turn it down. Really though, I’m more interested in independent filmmaking. There’s too much pressure in Hollywood to make movies for certain demographics or groups.”
Morris said she is considering being a director because she enjoys screenwriting and coming up with her own story ideas, and that it is easier to do in independent filmmaking than it is in Hollywood.
