CSU Announces $1 Million Donation for School of Film & Media Arts

L to R: President Harlan M. Sands, Lee Zapis, Ageleke Zapis, Trevor O. Jones, Trustee, Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, Pamela M. Eichenauer, Grants Manager, Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, David H. Gunning II, Chairman of the CSU Board of Trustees

Transformative gift will upgrade production facilities and create summer film camp

Cleveland State University’s School of Film & Media Arts has quickly become a regional hub for film education and training, while greatly enhancing the growing local movie and television production industry. The School will be able to take the next step in its development thanks to a transformative gift from Lee and Ageleke Zapis and The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. The combined $1 million donation will support an upgrade and expansion of the School’s production facilities on the sixth floor of the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, along with the creation of the Odyssey Program, a summer film camp for area youth designed to introduce them to careers in the industry.

On January 16, President Harlan Sands, along with members of the Cleveland State University community and city officials, gathered at the School of Film & Media Arts to congratulate the School and thank both of these donors for their generosity.

“The tremendous generosity of the Zapises and the Smith Foundation will allow us to further develop our state of the art film labs, production facilities and classrooms, while helping to inspire our next generation of filmmakers and creators,” says Harlan Sands, President of Cleveland State University. “I want to personally thank them for their commitment to CSU, to arts education and to our community as a whole.”

The Odyssey program will launch with an online summer camp in 2020 and move to an in-person camp starting in 2021. This program will immerse participants in film and media arts, providing instruction from practitioners in the field with the opportunity to create an original film as part of the experience. In 2021, the 3 week-long camp will also allow high school students from across the region to stay overnight in CSU dormitories, experience campus life, and explore the city of Cleveland. The first camp will be held online starting in July and will start with a cohort of 20 students and move to 60 students beginning in 2021.

“We know that the Odyssey Program will have a positive impact on aspiring storytellers,” says Lee Zapis.

“Stories shape cultures, and the ability to tell stories via film and media arts is what will continue to impact our cultures in the years to come,” adds Ageleke Zapis.

The capital grant from the Smith Foundation will name The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Studio and will support the start of the third phase of renovations for the Film School’s facility in the Idea Center®, which will be highlighted by the development of a 75-seat Screening Room. The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Studio is a 2000 square foot sound stage with fiber connections to a control room that allow it to be used as a single camera, “film style,” or a multi-camera, “broadcast style,” production facility.

“The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation is proud to support CSU’s School of Film & Media Arts,” says Ellen Mavec, the Foundation’s president and chair. “Education has been a pillar of our philanthropy and we look forward to the impact the Studio will have on CSU students interested in film and media opportunities, a new field in which we hope Cleveland will become a destination.”

The School of Film & Media Arts opened in 2018 thanks to a $7.5 million appropriation from the state of Ohio, and is the only stand-alone film school in Ohio. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and its School of Film & Media Arts are grateful to Lee and Ageleke Zapis and The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. This $1 million transformational gift will enable the School of Film & Media Arts to continue offering innovative, experience-based instruction in directing, screenwriting, cinematography, acting and digital media, and takes advantage of numerous industry and community partnerships to provide a wide variety of opportunities for students to work on current film, TV and digital productions.

THE ODYSSEY PROGRAM AT CSU

Cleveland State University School of Film & Media Arts Odyssey Program is an immersive summer film camp for students ages: 13-14, 15-16, 17-18.

Create films with the students and faculty of the School of Film & Media Arts! Learn acting, directing, cinematography, editing, producing, and screenwriting as you create your own original films!

For more information on this summer program, please visit csuohio.edu/odyssey/.