Registration Open Now for Summer School Course on Filmmaking

Here’s a reminder of the course I’ll be co-teaching this summer at Regent’s pretty fabulous Summer School.

Remember, Regent’s summer school is not what you might think it is. It is not “remedial” for those who failed the regular courses (!), nor is it generally the grind associated with many summer schools. (I’ve taught a few of those courses, too, but not at Regent!)

Instead, Regent’s very popular summer school (which runs in two sections: spring and summer, from May to August) is more like “summer camp for grown-ups” and is comprised mainly of one- and two-week courses for just two or three hours a day. Those who sign up for credit have 45 days to go home, do the reading and assignments, and then mail it all in. Those who audit pay less (!) and don’t do the homework at all!

In between the courses there are noonhour concerts, evening public lectures, salmon barbecues on Vancouver beaches, architectual tours, and more. Bring the family and spend your vacation blessing mind, body, and spirit. Check it out here.

Now, this blog entry is about the course I’m going to be doing with my friend Ralph Winter. It’s just one week, so we will have to cover a lot of ground in a short time, but I think it’ll be a blast. It’s simply called “The Ethics of Filmmaking” and it will cover how money, sex, power, and ideology affect commercial filmmaking, with particular reference to Hollywood but to other other film centres (such as Vancouver itself) and, indeed, to other media as well.

Your servant is the theologian-cum-ethicist who has a nodding acquaintance with the cinema. My partner is the very successful producer Ralph Winter. Some of you will know his name. Most of you will know his films: the last couple of Star Trek movies, the X-Men series, Fantastic Four, and more. (Ralph once was called in to help work on a little film called Hackers that gave the world a young actress named Angelina Jolie. You can credit or blame him on that score as you wish!)

Only a few will be allowed to take the course for credit, but we expect a number will want to audit the course. Visit Regent’s website, then, and see if this course—or one of the dozens of others—will suit your interests and stimulate your mind and heart. It would be great to see you here next summer!