D AV I D D U N C A N
Stephan Schultze is director of the new Center for Cinematic Arts.
BY MITZI BIBLE
Liberty University’s new Center for Cinematic Arts was launched this spring, with courses in screenwriting, motion picture directing and cinematography. This new program offers students the opportunity to gain real-world experience in a hands-on, product-driven education model. Executive Director Stephan Schultze is actively involved in the film industry and remains in high demand, particularly in cinematography and screenwriting. Schultze did his undergraduate work at Appalachian State University and graduate studies at Northern Arizona University. Before coming to Liberty, he was the founding director of The Zaki Gordon Institute, a film school in Sedona, Ariz., that trains hundreds of new filmmakers for careers in the industry.
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After a short-lived career in advertising, Schultze decided to pursue his real passion for making movies. His desire to develop his writing and photography talent naturally fit within the structure of the film industry. His first job was in Gaffney, S.C., working on The Abyss. He started as a Production Assistant, but by the time the filming was completed, he had moved to Los Angeles and into the camera department. He quickly moved up the ranks to become Director of Photography. In between films, he began focusing on screenwriting. Schultze learned filmmaking from the best while working on projects directed by James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and Ron Underwood. He has worked in every possible aspect of the industry, including major motion pictures (Tremors, The Abyss, and
Henson Productions), television (Drew Carey Show, HBO, and Showtime), music videos, commercials, industrial videos and countless independent films, including The Lesser Evil (1998), which he co-authored and co-produced with Jeremy Levine (MGM). As an educator, Schultze holds high expectations for Liberty’s new film school. His passion for art and for spreading the Christian message drives him to put forth his absolute best and expect the same from students. “God’s first action was to create. He is creative and so arts should represent the spirit of creativity and the beauty of God, and in so doing it ought to represent the qualities that exist in that relationship, and that quality ought to exceed the expectations of the marketplace. Simply put, the stories, technology, production,