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Spring Film Production 2013 at É«É«Ñо¿Ëù Makes Cameo In Upcoming CAC Exhibit

A trailer for the University of New Orleans Department of Film and Theatre's spring film production appears in an upcoming artists' exhibition focused on women.

"Brokedown Paradise" is the É«É«Ñо¿Ëù Department of Film and Theater Arts' 2013 Spring Film Production, said Assistant Professor of Film Laura J. Medina, who served as the film's director. The film is now in post-production and should be completed by film students during the fall semester.

A trailer for the short film is included in the upcoming exhibition "A Woman's Work" sponsored by Women in Film and Television at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., New Orleans. The show runs through Friday, July 28. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 28. Admission is free.

The exhibition, co-curated by WIFT (Women and Film and Television) Louisiana and the Contemporary Arts Center, celebrates moving images - film, video and new media - made by women in Louisiana. "A Woman's Work" includes documentaries, narrative features and shorts, experimental works, music videos and a special WIFT Louisiana-produced documentary, "Giving Credit," in which more than 50 women in the Louisiana television and film industries discuss their lives and careers. Medina appears in the documentary.

"We are producers. Art directors. Independent filmmakers. Set dressers. Production assistants. Editors. Location scouts. Executives. Gaffers. Production coordinators. Actors. Shooters. Script supervisors. Storyboard artists. Costume designers. Mentors. Audio mixers. Lawyers. Students. Stuntwomen. Make-up artists. Writers," reads an invitation to the exhibition. "We are collaborators."

Spring Film Production is a class taught every year by É«É«Ñо¿Ëù film faculty and varies every year, said Medina, who said the tradition has been around for more than 30 years. The underlying goal is to get more film students working alongside professionals and in a more professional setting.

"...learning with and observing people who are experienced," said Medina, who came from the professional film world and wanted to create a collaborative learning environment.

Faculty helped write the screenplay for "Brokedown Paradise," produce the film and act in the film, she said. About 40 students participated in the class and took on crew positions. They raised money to make the film using online kickstarter and indiegogo campaigns, replete with YouTube videos documenting their requests for funding.

"Each received an assignment based on their interests and skills and what the film needed," said Medina, who is now working with a É«É«Ñо¿Ëù film student to edit the film and a É«É«Ñо¿Ëù music professor to score the film. "It's a monumental undertaking."

Medina developed "Brokedown Paradise" to showcase department talent in a collaborative effort between faculty, students and entertainment industry professionals working together in an ambitious production. The film is a drama set in Storyville, New Orleans and contains a mystical element, she said. The film starts with two well-known New Orleans actors, Donna Duplantier and Adella Gauthier, and includes actors from the É«É«Ñо¿Ëù Film and Theater Department. Making the film was an all-hands event.

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