| Alumni, Staff and Student news September 2008 |
| Written by Keyan Tomaselli | |
|
Dear Students and graduates
This year has seen few CCMS Newsletters due to the very busy period we have been experiencing, including a periodic School Review, Ruth's redeployment as Deputy Dean (Research), and due to our new and exciting plans for CCMS which have resulted in us last week securing major teaching and research funding for the next five years. This relates to our graduate student research tracks in development communication, entertainment education and public health communication. We will soon make a number of new appointments to drive this section of CCMS. I will report back on this new phase later.
Do send me your news for the next Newsletter.
For the moment, here are some updates from our graduates - each of whom offers a model for success
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FROM Iain Evans ' );
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who represented SA at the 2004 Olympics:
I've spent the last 3 and a half years at Atoll Media which have been incredible. I have risen rapidly through the ranks to a point where I can either apply for the GM position at Atoll, or go up into our parent companies (Touchline Media, Media 24 and Naspers) but I have reached a point where I want to work independently from the corporate world. I'm now the publisher of blunt magazine and the associate publisher of Zigzag surfing magazine and Saltwatergirl Surf magazine. We also have websites and mobizines for each brand. I have been the publisher of SA Paddler magazine (for which I won a PICA award) ,published a coffee table book on paddling and also worked on Mark Shuttleworth's magazine HIP2B2. In a nutshell, I have gained tremendous experience in print, online and mobile media - both from a product perspective, but also a business and management perspective and think this could be invaluable to your department. I could add value to your teaching programme, but I know there's a research project in there too, specifically "Changing habits of youth media consumption - if it's not free I don't want it". A study on the decline in paid for media among 14-24 year old South African consumers" -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am relocating to JHB as I have found employment in the public relations field.. I want to thank you for being awesome to work with, it has made my short stay at Tabloid a productive one. Please keep in touch-my personal mail address is: ' );
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and my cell number is:084 6266 838. Forward all future mail and enquiries to Val: ' );
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.
I trust that I have forged relationships which transcend geographical boundaries so leaving is something I embrace.
See Bianca's page attached.
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FROM OUR MAN (ZUNAID) IN HOLLYWOOD
It's been a long time since I last wrote. First things first - it is unbearably hot here in Southern California!!! The temperatures here have been higher than I have ever experienced in my life...
And this is not fun at all when you are trying to write and stay creative and in the world of your characters!!!!
Some unbelievable things continue to happen to me here at Chapman - next year we will be having an Academy Award winning screenwriter supervise our creative theses (feature screenplays) along with faculty! That's going to be great! The first year is over and I am attending compulsory summer school and working my internship in LA . So much to tell about that, in good time though!
Right now I am in the process of finishing my feature length screenplay and then one of my short scripts goes into production with a budget of 20 000 dollars provided by the school! It's very low key with the emphasis being on story and not fancy shmancy effects.
I think I have said this before in another email , film school is tougher than anything I have been through in my life! There are times when you feel like ripping your hair out when you can't seem to decide on the path to your story. My professors here are the best - drawn from NYU, UCLA, The American Film Institute and Columbia - all are thoroughly conversant in the "secret recipe of Hollywood screenplays" - which I have just learned. They really push me to stay awake all night until the story is perfect!
There is a lot of pressure as well from your peers, some of them are professors of English literature and History and psychology, and are older than me!!! But what I love about them is how willing they are help and offer feedback - there is no conniving spirit amongst students here - which is a feature of Chapman thats attracting great popularity to it.
Lots of pressure, next semester I will be diving into TV writing where we will have established Emmy winners as guests letting us know about their experience as screenwriters.
The amazing thing about schools here is how integrated they are with industry - there are literally hundreds of internship opportunities here at every place you ever wanted to work at - and they take students as a matter of policy to attain credit! I was spoiled for choice between Oprah's film company (Harpo), CBS' The Bold and The Beautiful, New Line Cinema, NBC Universal and a number of production companies headed
by actors and directors who have first-look deals with larger financing companies!!!
I am working hard and remembering you all with love and fondness. There are innumerable things I miss - Chicken Licken, isiZulu, and a sense of formality - here you are expected to come in jeans to an interview at a film company! And not forgetting, CCMS!!!
Last but not least, there is a book called A New Earth by German writer Eckhart Tolle - it has produced a publishing phenomenon here. Some have already said it might take over the bible in circulation. It is a spirituality book that discusses how crucial it is for man to awaken to higher consciousness. The book was promoted actively by Oprah in January and was her most popular book in her club history, spawning a first -ever worldwide internet class on the subject which was facilitated by Oprah and Eckhart. I enrolled for the class, which was free, and read the book and must say that I am sharing this with you because this is not some Pop Cult fad or New age garbage - it has proven to help me right here in the US on a daily basis and it is helping millions here too. The book's central message is that we must dissolve our egos and start living in higher consciousness - Egoic consciousness, though necessary at one point in our social evolution, is now a destructive liability. I love how he mentions that there are some people who live in thinking and thus never experience what it is to be - which is your life! A pragmatic way he has helped me is regards public speaking - As much as this is a passion to me, it makes me nervous to the bone each time. Tolle says that nervousness is selfish energy - you want the speech to be all about you! So if you surrender the task to the higher purpose, it will disappear. This worked for me at a summit recently - I never thought about it that way before!. My favorite quote of his "behind every negative self-concept lies the desire to better than everybody else which is the egoic drive actually speaking" Tolle's previous book is the Power of Now - which is a fundamental starting point in this field. Tolle's books do not preach religion, neither does it discount it. I am becoming a better Muslim and person because of it and wish to share it with you. Each week night Tolle and Oprah have discussions on her radio channel and it is chilling how the book is helping people in similar ways!
I promise to write more, right now I have many crucial deadlines to meet.
All good,
Zunaid
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FROM SARAH, AN INTERN ON THE ARROW PROJECT
Dear CCMS,
The end of March brought to an end the Durban portion of the
Durban-Plymouth Youth Story Exchange, a project I have developed and am facilitating in partnership with the Durban and Plymouth, UK hubs of ARROW (Art: A Resource for Reconciliation Over the World). I am documenting the project in part through a blog on ARROW's website: www.art-peace.co.uk
I want to thank CCMS for taking me into its folds for seven weeks and for
giving me a small taste of life as a UKZN student. The impression I formed was of a nurturing department – nurturing both of critical scholarship and of a sense of community among students and staff - within a diverse and vibrant institution. I feel privileged to have been a part of this environment for almost two months. I would especially like to thank Keyan and Karen for enabling my access to campus facilities, Eliza for allowing me to participate in Communication for Social Change lectures, and Mary Lange for facilitating my work with the young people at Bechet High School and for making my trip to South Africa possible.
Best wishes,
Sarah Miller CCMS Visiting Researcher MA Candidate, Theatre and Media for Development – University of Winchester, UK
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FROM UKZN
Dear Alumnus
The Alumni Affairs Office requests graduates to please send in "Class Notes" for publication in the University of KwaZulu-Natal's alumni publication: UKZNTouch. "Class Notes" is a collection of short biographies sent to us by alumni from all over the world highlighting their personal and professional achievements. Through these notes alumni manage to keep in touch and find old friends. We look forward to receiving your information for Class Notes. With best wishes, The Alumni Affairs Team Finn, Corlia, Zanele, Esme and Desiree |