Hench Stories

Oakie Masters Series
Comic Genius James L. Brooks Inaugurates Annual Lecture Event
May 13, 2008
USC students enjoyed a wide-ranging lecture and discussion with Oscar and Emmy award-winning writer/director/producer James L. Brooks on May 2 as part of the inaugural event of the Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Masters Lecture Series.

Press Start
Interactive M.F.A. Projects Challenge Convention
May 13, 2008
This year’s Interactive Media Division (IMD) M.F.A. graduates challenged themselves to discover new technology mediated experiences that could keep pace with their imaginations. The result—an array of 11 projects that range from a videogame incorporating time travel to a new way to battle traffic congestion—are on display at the “Press Start” thesis show running from May 10 to 15 in the division’s atelier at 555 W. 23rd Street.

The World In 2050
IBM Research and Cinematic Arts Envision the Future
May 05, 2008
On the evening of April 30, five of IBM’s top research scientists joined with School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) students, alumni, faculty and members of the entertainment industry to brainstorm about the art of the possible—circa 2050. The reception and discussion kicked off a collaboration between SCA and IBM to inspire a new generation of film, television and interactive artists, as well as suggest creative directions for researchers.

TV Turns 10
Trojan Vision Celebrates A Decade Of Service
May 05, 2008
When it started 10 years ago, Trojan Vision was short on facilities, personnel and equipment, but long on the dream of what could be. A decade later, the dream has become reality, with the station serving the university, winning national awards and providing hands-on experience that has enabled students to launch their careers.

First Pitch 2008
Alumnus Matthew Weiner (Mad Men, The Sopranos) Hosts
April 21, 2008
The freshest film and television writing talent from USC will go one-on-one with reps from leading agencies, management firms and production companies during First Pitch, hosted on Monday, May 5 by alumnus Matthew Weiner, Dean Elizabeth M. Daley announced.

Art Against AIDS
Hench-DADA Students Help To Prevent HIV/AIDS Among Youth
March 19, 2008
Working in partnership with doctors from the Keck School of Medicine, students from the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts (Hench-DADA) have put their creative powers to use by generating a series of public service announcements to fight against the incidence of HIV/AIDS in youth.

Tentacled Pirates
Oscar-Winning Alumnus John Knoll Shares Effects Techniques
February 15, 2008
Academy Award-winning alumnus John Knoll ’84 lent his visual effects mastery and creative advice to SCA students who filled Lucas 108 to capacity on February 13 for an engaging discussion of the groundbreaking work in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Dream Advice
Jeffrey Katzenberg Gives Students An Inside View Of The Industry
November 12, 2007
Undergrads and grads alike took advantage of the unique opportunity to ask questions and solicit advice from the DreamWorks Animation SKG CEO, who visited campus on November 2.

Complex Cam
A Bird's-Eye View Of The School's New Facilities
August 14, 2007
Over the course of the summer, visitors to the University Park campus have watched the construction on the new cinematic arts complex make great strides. Now, as construction heightens, any one can track its development thanks to a 24/7 camera.

Experimental Animation
A Unique Opportunity To Experience Different Realms
July 11, 2007
If you’re ready to discover how your creative mind works and create productions that cross over into realms you haven’t imagined, then get ready to stretch the boundaries of your work this fall with a combination of music and animation.

Prison Cel
Hench Associate Professor Draws The Light On Social Justice
June 21, 2007
Using methods most people attribute to movies involving green ogres and penguin habitats, a new documentary from John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts Associate Professor Sheila Sofian entitled Truth Has Fallen is set to highlight a crusade to free those wrongly convicted of capital crimes, while educating audiences on the current state of the American justice system and its issues including racism, the death penalty and the susceptibility of eyewitness testimony.

Quick Draw
Hench Team Competes In 32-Hour Animation Marathon
June 08, 2007
Three M.F.A. students from the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts will put their skills—and their bodies—to the test this August when they attempt to create the best character-driven animation possible, from scratch, in less than 32 hours.

Rollercoaster Ride
Eric Anderson '01 Charts The Ups And Downs To Success
April 16, 2007
Entertainment industry lore is filled with scores of “overnight sensations,” but in reality success is often the culmination of years of persistent effort, as Eric Anderson ’01 is discovering with his animated short Horses on Mars.

Monster Maker
Legendary FX Artist Ray Harryhausen Receives Pickford Award
March 30, 2007
Ray Harryhausen, creator of the special effects that made mythological monsters come to life on the big screen, will receive the Mary Pickford Foundation Award at the USC School of Cinematic Arts 2007 commencement ceremony, Dean Elizabeth M. Daley announced today.

Gemini Max
Ben Shalom’s Thesis Uses Full Palette of Digital Animation Tools
March 27, 2007
While the movies have often brought women searching for Mr. Right to comedic or terrifying heights, Animation M.F.A. graduate student Ben Shalom has mixed his imagination with high end animation software and digital arts science to take the familiar scenario to new levels of animated proportions.

Scene at Sundance
SCA Films Screen at Prestigious Festival
January 30, 2007
Though Park City temps were sub-zero, School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) alumni, students, and faculty were in the glow as they celebrated the official USC screenings selected for this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Capture This
Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis Teaches Performance Capture Class
January 09, 2007
What’s it like to make a live-action film with characters and settings that can never be filmed? This spring, a group of 12 School of Cinematic Arts graduate students will learn just that when director Robert Zemeckis ’73 and SCA Digital Systems Specialist Eric Furie teach the inaugural semester of CTAN 599: Motion Capture Performance.

Animation Dedication
John C. Hench Bequeaths $5 Million To Animation & Digital Arts
January 03, 2007
The legacy of using creativity to both inspire and inform people around the globe thrives at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts, which was officially named after the great Disney artist on September 10 through a $5 million endowment gift from the John C. Hench Foundation.

Much Ado About Dodos
Two USC Filmmakers And A Flock Of Extinct Birds Put The Debate On Evolution And Intelligent Design In Focus
January 03, 2007
The dodo, that famously dumb and dead bird, has been brought back from extinction in a feature film garnering praise everywhere it plays since its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Now, the acclaimed film will have a special USC screening on February 10, 2007 at the Norris Theatre.

Record-Breaking Groundbreaking
School of Cinematic Arts Celebrates New Name and Complex
October 05, 2006
With hundreds of students, alumni, faculty, and supporters on hand, USC’s cinema program made history on October 4, celebrating a record-breaking $175 million gift from George Lucas’ Lucasfilm Foundation that will fund new buildings and launch a major endowment campaign.