Governor and film school make a fitting match

B.W. COOK

Chapman University officials called it “a milestone in the history of

the university.” The groundbreaking ceremonies for the Marion Knott

Studios and the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media

Arts took place last week on the Chapman campus under a blazing sun.

The Chapman connection to the residents of Newport-Mesa has always

been vital; however, the largess from the Knott and Dodge families,

both of Newport Beach, not only created a milestone for the

university but for the entire county as well. In fact, the ambitious

plans for the future of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

under the direction of Dean Robert Bassett may have a national

impact. The program at Chapman will strive to become a leader in

media education rivaling such stalwarts as the USC film school and

the film program at NYU. Even before a single new building has been

constructed, the university enrollment in the program has reached

nearly 1,000 students. Many of them turned out last week to cheer the

groundbreaking.

The ceremony began with a VIP luncheon honoring Chapman trustees,

donors and supporters at large in the Bush Conference Center in

Beckman Hall on campus. Some 200 dignitaries, many of them longtime

associates of the university, shared chicken salad and listened to

the accolades bestowed by Chapman educators led by Jim Doti,

chancellor of the university. In the luncheon crowd were guests

including Doy Henley, the distinguished couple Don and DeeDee Sodaro

of Lido Isle, Mike and Jan Salta, Sally Crockett of Pelican Point,

Helen Walker, Russell Werdin, the handsome couple Nancy and Donald

Wynne of Big Canyon, and former California State Secretary of

Education Marian Bergeson of Corona del Mar. Also in the crowd were

Adrianne Brennen, president of the Fashionables, a support wing of

Chapman University; Leslie Cancellieri; Olivia Chami; and Michelle

Freeman.

The luncheon ceremony was highlighted by presentations by students

enrolled in the program discussing their current projects and sharing

their future dreams. One graduate student spoke of his upcoming

journey to India to film a documentary. Others talked of their hope

to make an inroad as screenwriters in the Hollywood mainstream.

Perhaps the most important message offered by the Chapman staff was

the emphasis that the overall university places on what they regard

as “value-oriented education.” Otherwise stated, the goals at both

the Dodge college and the university in general are to provide

students an atmosphere to question, to evaluate and to learn in a

university atmosphere that places tremendous importance on common

human values such as a simple respect for differences among people.

Many in the crowd applauded this approach, commenting at the

luncheon that inasmuch as the media and entertainment are such strong

messengers in contemporary society, the importance of educating young

people in the field in a manner attempting to promote loftier values

may surely be something that all of society my benefit from.

It is a most intangible goal, the results of which will not be

evident until the next generation. The spirit of hope and promise was

nevertheless infectious as the crowd was escorted from the luncheon

to the site of the groundbreaking on campus, which is presently a

parking lot and old warehouse building. Chapman organizers erected a

makeshift arena with bleachers surrounding ground-floor seating

fronting a main stage that would reveal the contemporary design of

the new Dodge college. More than 1,000 additional guests joined the

200 dignitaries from the luncheon to celebrate the official

groundbreaking ceremony that would introduce Marion Knott and her

husband Tony Montapert, Kristina and Larry Dodge, Chapman trustee

Paul Folino and his wife Daranne and other special guests prior to

the arrival of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

California’s high-profile governor entered the arena surrounded by

security with tremendous ceremonial energy. Wearing a perfectly

tailored, tan-colored, three-button suit, the governor delivered star

sizzle extraordinaire, perfect for the groundbreaking of a film

school. His comments were brief, his ad-libs were perfectly timed,

and the crowd was charmed beyond reproach. With a countdown from 10

to one led by Doti, the governor joined the Chapman family in the

official unveiling of the new Dodge college made possible by a

$20-million donation from Kristina and Larry Dodge, a $5-million

donation from Marion Knott for the studios to be constructed within

the new school and millions more in generous donations from friends

in the crowd including such Newport-Mesa residents as Charles and

Twyla Martin, Ron and Gail Soderling, Terry Goldfarb-Lee, Kelly

Hague, Marilou and Jerry Harrington, Eve Kornyei and Stan Hanson, Sue

and David Hook, Mark and Barbara Johnson, and Nora and James Johnson.

Other generous Chapman supporters in the crowd included Joann and

Robert Koontz, the glamorous Debbie Simon of Harbor Island, former

Disneyland president Jack Lindquist and his wife Belle of Linda Isle,

Joan and Tom Riach, Rebecca and Carl McLarand, Bryan Murphy and his

distinguished parents the Breene Murphys, representing the Rose Hills

Foundation and Cecile B. DeMille’s granddaughter and film activist

Cecilia Presley and her husband Randall.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.