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Illinois almunus Steve Sample attends Hollywood gala |
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by Michael Green Fonte
Email: michaelfonte (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
02 Oct 2004
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Michael Green Fonte is a former writer for The Herald News in Joliet. He graduated from the USC school of Cinema-Television in 2003. He spent the summer of 2003 studying at the libraries at U of I to finish his final critical studies paper on cinema and Darwinian evolution. |
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LOS ANGELES -- “Don't forget—I am your father,” George Lucas told Darth Vader Sunday evening on the stage of Bovard auditorium at the University of Southern California. Lucas and other members of the Trojan mafia celebrated the 75th “Diamond” Anniversary of the founding of film education. Throughout the night there was no doubt that Lucas is the USC Cinema Don.
But behind the scenes was USC President Steven B. Sample, an Illinois native who also received all of his degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois. Sample made a brief appearance on the stage with Lucas and Spielberg thanking them for their support of the cinema school.
“It's good to know there is another Illinois connection,” Sample said at the after party under the stars. He said this in response to finding out that recent Grainger Scholar Adam Zook—a Shorewood native—is friends with USC cinema alumni from Illinois including the writer of this article and Andrew Kimble of Minooka, Illinois.
From veterans including Frank Pierson and Clint Eastwood, to today's new stars including Mischa Barton of the OC, the top of Los Angeles consumed a grandiose show hosted by Will Farrell and executive produced by Brian Grazer and Stephen Spielberg. After the show, guests dressed in cocktail attire filled the palm-tree blanketed outside after party under the stars at the center of campus.
“I didn't even know there was a USC film school until I lived here for ten years,” Eastwood told the audience.
Frank Pierson on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—the founding partner of the cinema school—presented an award to what is dubbed a movie education program more difficult to get into than Harvard.
The glass pyramid-shaped trophy including the image of Oscar in the center, was presented to Dean Elizabeth Daley.
“Joining Daley are well-known members of the USC mafia,” Pierson said of Lucas, Spielberg, Grazer, Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard.
Afterwards, the glamorous mix of youth and Hollywood icons drank chardonnay at the party between USC's Bovard Auditorium and Doheny Library.
“I think Marissa would choose to go to USC because it has a great film school,” said Mischa Barton of her OC character's college plans. “I would hope she would be more like me and study something like art history or even film studies,” she added while standing at the party escorted by her mother.
The show that has continued the Californication of the world, was created by Josh Schwartz, a 1999 USC cinema alumnus.
Rachel Bilson, also spoke of Summer's academic future. “She would choose USC over UCLA because Trojans are a condom” she said.
Under the leadership of President Sample, USC has renovated vast amounts of its campus including a new quad outside its newest library. The quad is nostalgic of the U of I quads where Sample once studied. The USC-UIUC connection begs the question, “Is there a such thing as Callinois?” |
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