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April 2012
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MOVIES
Rules for the first interactive feature film.
Hollywood’s first interactive social film -- 7-11
Cooper Thornton, CCM '92, (known as Ray while a student) played agent McArthur in “The Inside Experience,” billed as “the first interactive social horror film experience.” Film, videos and social media interactions lived organically on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, where audience members were able to tweet clues, comment via YouTube and post Facebook advice to the protagonist whose only connection to the outside world was her laptop.
Presented by Intel and Toshiba, new videos (or episodes) were released as viewers solved pieces of the puzzle. Consequently, no one knew how long it would take to complete the movie, which began in July 2011. Once the mystery was solved, all the episodes were combined into a final movie and released in September.
Links:
- The movie website
- The entire film on YouTube
- See Cooper’s extensive list of TV credits and movie credits
"The Rum Diary," "X-Men” -- summer '11
Dawn Swiderski, CCM ’89, was art director for the movies "The Rum Diary" with Johnny Depp and “X-Men: First Class" with Kevin Bacon. See Swiderski’s other 10 movie credits.
"Thor" -- 2011
The Emmy-winning makeup artist Brad Look, MFA (CCM) '88, worked on Kenneth Branagh's film featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins. See Look’s other 11 movie credits.
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" -- fall '11
George Hull, DAAP '93, was conceptual designer for "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," which opened in the fall of '11, starring Shia LaBeouf, John Malkovich and Leonard Nimoy. See Hull’s long list of movie credits.
TELEVISION
Jay Peterson and TV host Alex Trebek. Photo/CBS
Jeopardy!" win -- 10-11
Jay Peterson, M (A&A) '98, an assistant English professor at Atlantic Cape Community College in southern New Jersey, appeared on two episodes of "Jeopardy!" on Oct. 20 and 21, 2011. He won $26,201 on the first episode, but lost on the second one. (Read the story.)
"Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero" -- 9-11-11
Jennifer Honn-Rennie, CCM ’92, was editor of Steven Spielberg's six-hour, commercial-free documentary on the Discovery Channel. See Honn-Rennie’s extensive TV-documentary credits.
MUSICIANS
Alumni play for Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett -- 11-11
Four CCM jazz alumni recently performed in Lady Gaga’s duet with Tony Bennett for her Thanksgiving TV special on ABC. Playing on “A Very Gaga Thanksgiving” were Steve Kortyka, CCM '04, saxophone; Brian Newman, CCM '04, trumpet; Alex Smith, CCM '01, piano; and Scott Ritchie, CCM '02, bass.
- Read about other alumni musicians.
BROADWAY
Magazine cover -- 7-11
Broadway actress Savannah Wise, CCM '06, made the July 2011 cover of Dance Spirit magazine. See the magazine cover and read about her Broadway accomplishments.
VOCALISTS
Chanticleer - 12-11
If the Chanticleer’s holiday tour comes to your town, look for Cortez Mitchell, MM (CCM) '06, a countertenor who originally sang opera, but joined the internationally acclaimed men's a cappella group in 2008. Read about his professional accomplishments and watch two videos.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra - 12-11
Two alumni are involved in Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s "A Christmas Carol in Concert," Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17. Scott Coulter, CCM '93, is a featured soloist, and Alisa Klein Hauser, CCM '93, wrote the lyrics. Read more about Scott Coulter and other UC alumni musicians.
ENTREPRENEUR
Alumnus entrepreneur named to Forbes "30 under 30" -- 12-11
Twenty-six-year-old Austin Allison, Eng '04, JD ’11, is co-founder and CEO of DotLoop Co., a software design firm that provides a seamless, online solution to effectively automate real estate transactions. Forbes magazine named him in its prestigious "30 under 30" list in December 2011 the technology category.
Links
Read UC Magazine story.
Read College of Law feature on Allison.