Movie Producer Jones Joins Faculty; Oscar Grant to Fund New Internships

Steven A. Jones, producer of 13 feature films who has worked with Hollywood legends Martin Scorcese, Robert DeNiro and Bill Murray, has joined the faculty of DePaul University’s innovative Digital Cinema program this fall, adding another link between one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing cinema programs and the movie industry.

Separately, the program received a grant from one of Hollywood’s most respected institutions to fund new West Coast internships for its students.

Jones is teaching “Producing the Feature Film,” a new course in DePaul’s digital cinema curriculum. He has produced numerous feature films, including “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” starring DePaul Theatre School alumnus Michael Rooker; “Mad Dog and Glory,” co-produced with Scorcese and starring DeNiro, Murray and Uma Thurman; and “Wild Things,” starring Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon and Neve Campbell. He has three films due for release later this year or in 2008: “Drunkboat,” starring John Malkovich, John Goodman and Dana Delaney; “Quebec,” filmed in Chicago and starring DePaul Theatre School alumnus John C. Reilly; and “The Merry Gentleman,” Michael Keaton’s directorial debut.

Matt Irvine, director of DePaul’s Center for Cinema and Interactive Arts, noted that Jones’ addition to the faculty will help further the program’s goal of providing students with practical learning in all phases of media production.

“Steve is one of the most valuable creative forces in the local motion picture industry and will be a huge asset to both the students and faculty in DePaul’s Digital Cinema program,” Irvine said. “Having someone like Steve engaged with our students elevates our program as well as the future of local media production, and will help students to plant their creative stakes here in the Midwest and develop their careers locally.”

Jones is the latest in a line of award-winning film industry veterans to join DePaul’s Digital Cinema program’s faculty. Currently teaching at DePaul are Academy Award-winning sound editor David Stone, Emmy Award-winning dialogue editor Lou Kleinman, award-winning independent filmmaker Dana Hodgdon and National Clio Award winner and PBS documentarian Scott Erlinder.

Meanwhile, the program’s connections to the motion picture industry continue to expand. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that hands out the famed Oscar statuettes each spring, recently issued a $7,000 grant to the Digital Cinema program at DePaul to fund two Los Angeles-based internships for students during the 2007-08 academic year. The grant will help to cover student stipends, travel expenses, housing and a per diem for the students while living on the West Coast.

In addition to building a bridge between the hub of the film industry in Los Angeles and DePaul’s campus in Chicago, the internships will allow the students to obtain practical experience of all aspects of the motion picture production process and to expose them to day-to-day life in production studios and leading global entertainment companies. The new grant is part of the Digital Cinema Internship Program, which launched in 2006 and has placed students with CBS, Paramount, Harpo Studios, Fox Chicago, Midway Games, the Chicago International Film Festival and several feature films shooting in the city to date.

DePaul launched the Digital Cinema program – the most comprehensive of its kind, representing a convergence of cinema, technology, animation and gaming – in 2004 with two bachelor’s degree programs. Two graduate degree programs were added in 2006. This fall, more than 350 students at the university are majoring in the four degree programs, and Digital Cinema has already become the most popular undergraduate major in DePaul’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI).

DePaul CTI is one of the most innovative and wide-ranging information technology and digital cinema schools in the country. The undergraduate programs enroll more than 1,050 students and offer 14 different degrees. More than 1,950 students are enrolled in its 18 graduate programs. CTI also features a doctoral degree program in computer science. For more information, visit www.cti.depaul.edu.