Mentoring Future Filmmakers

Story by: Callie Gisler
Photos by: Joshua Rainey

Juliana Lukasik (center) with Cinema Studies students

Juliana Lukasik (center) with Cinema Studies students

The future of a filmmaker is built in and outside the classroom. This fact is one that has inspired many industry professionals to give back as mentors to current students. The Cinema Studies Program helps connect its students with professionals, in Oregon and across the country.

It is extremely important for all new filmmakers to have a mentor.” 

Juliana Lukasik, Principal and Director of @Large Films Inc.

“Having a mentor can help orient students in the industry. It’s an important resource for students, no matter what stage they might be in,“ explained Shauna Riedel-Bash, UO Cinema Studies Program Student Services Assistant Director. “The Cinema Studies Program is fortunate to have a great professional network of mentors to support it and its students.”

Mentors help students realize what they are capable of as young professionals and future filmmakers.

“It is extremely important for all new filmmakers to have a mentor,” said Juliana Lukasik, Principal and Director of @Large Films Inc., a Portland-based production company.

Lukasik began mentoring Cinema Studies students after visiting campus as a guest speaker; now she regularly invites students to join her at @Large Films Inc. for “job shadowing” and other career opportunities.

Lukasik understands how a mentor might have impacted her own career. In the 15 years before her debut as a director, Lukasik never had the opportunity to work alongside a female director. According to Lukasik, female directors make up only five percent of the directorial population.

“I really never considered it an option for myself until I owned the production company. Women need to see other women directing,” said Lukasik.

Many University of Oregon alumni have found a way to give back to the Cinema Studies Program by mentoring students. For Pixar Film Editor Greg Snyder, early mentorship “helped [him] get to where [he] is today.” Snyder graduated from the University of Oregon in 1992 and has remained connected with the school and campus throughout his career.

“It’s a gift that people give when [they mentor]. That gift was given to me, and it’s nice to give it back,” said Snyder.

Snyder and CJ Hsu, who works alongside Snyder at Pixar and attended the UO in the early 1990s, visited the University of Oregon campus in December 2013 as part of the Cinema Studies Program’s Working Filmmaker Series.

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Greg Snyder speaks with students during the Working Filmmaker Series.

 

 

It’s a gift that people give when [they mentor]. 
That gift was given to me, and it’s nice to give it back.” 

Greg Snyder, Film Editor, Pixar Animation Studios

 

 

 

“Mentorship can show students that they can succeed after school,” explained Hsu. In his role as a First Assistant Editor, Hsu is a key asset in the success of Pixar’s editorial team. Hsu has shown students an important side of the editorial process that young filmmakers might not have previously understood or considered. More importantly, Hsu’s role as a mentor has helped students see that “struggling in the beginning is all right, and it’s something that we all have to go through.”

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CJ Hsu, First Assistant Editor, Pixar Animation Studios

Through campus visits, job shadow opportunities, and one-on-one sessions, professionals like Lukasik, Snyder, and Hsu play important roles in the education of Cinema Studies students. Mentorship enriches the program’s academic curriculum while guiding students toward potential careers after graduation.

Industry professionals interested in becoming mentors are encouraged to contact Shauna Riedel-Bash, Student Services Assistant Director, through email: shaunar@uoregon.edu.