Screen Gems In front of the camera and behind the scenes, UHS alumni have helped shape contemporary film and television.
this time jumping from playwriting to screenwriting. She now spends her days creating cinematic landscapes. “When we did Secretary,” she remembers, “and I walked on set, it was like walking inside my own imagination. It was pretty cool.”
by Megan McCrea
GRANT SINGER ’13 A lot can happen in 24 hours. Grant Singer, a director and film student at USC, knows this all too well. He made Remember This View—the stirring short that won Singer top directing honors
DAMANI BAKER ’92 “One day,” Damani Baker says, “I might be teaching my class at Sarah Lawrence and finish at 1. Then, I’m on my way to a set
ERIN CRESSIDA WILSON ’82
near the U.N., where I’ll spend 20 minutes
Erin Cressida Wilson can pinpoint
interviewing Bill Clinton for a film project.”
the day when it all began. “I was 6
Days like that aren’t too unusual for
years old,” she recalls, “and I saw The
Baker—director, producer, and film
Godfather. I thought, ‘I want to do
professor. In the 20-odd years since he first
that. I want to be a director.’” Today,
hefted a VHS camcorder to his shoulder
Wilson is, in fact, making movies—as
as a UHS student, Baker has logged some
a screenwriter. She has created such
landmark days. There was the day he
films as Secretary, Chloe, and last year’s
received his MFA from UCLA. The day he
The Girl on the Train.
played Howard, one of the sons of Sethe,
TOM KELLER (WILSON), JON FINE (BAKER)
An avid photographer, Wilson
Oprah Winfrey’s character in Beloved. And
graduated from UHS and headed to
there was the day when Baker and his
Smith College to pursue visual art. To
dear UHS friend Alex Vlack ate lunch with
fulfill the requirements for her major,
music legend Bill Withers and convinced
she had to take a playwriting class.
him to give an on-camera interview. “He
“At first,” she says, “I didn’t know how
agreed to one sit-down,” Baker says. One
to approach the assignments. Then
interview became two and eventually,
I realized, I don’t hear the words as
after three years and 300 hours of
many writers do. I see the drama.”
shooting, Still Bill, a full-length feature on
Wilson harnessed that visual sense to
Withers (above left, with Baker) was ready
pen her first play, When the Girls Come
for the screen.
Out to Play. And with that, she was
Over the years, Baker has made films
hooked. After graduation, she dove
about African medicine, government
headfirst into the New York theater
transparency, and the U.S. invasion of
world: acting, writing plays, and
Grenada—which he witnessed firsthand.
puppeteering and assistant directing
But no matter what subject he is exploring,
for the legendary Julie Taymor, who
Baker’s goal remains the same. “We have
directed and designed the costumes for
this tool, filmmaking,” the director says.
The Lion King.
“And I think that it is our duty to use our
In 2001, Wilson took another leap,
voice to tell the truth.”
at USC’s Ed Wood Film Festival—in just one day for a 24-hour film competition. Singer, along with two teammates, had seriously constricted time to conceive, write, storyboard, cast, shoot, and edit the film. To beat the deadline, the crew used every resource available, including a nearby diner. “We didn’t have enough extra batteries to shoot the whole way through,” Singer explains, “so, at 2:30 a.m., we went to this 24-hour diner, ordered an omelet, and edited the first half of the movie while we charged the battery to shoot the second half.” It wasn’t the first time the fledgling filmmaker has gotten creative on deadline—nor the last. Recently, while making his short tragicomic film Ticked, Singer searched everywhere for the right song to finish the film. He knew exactly what the song should sound like, but simply couldn’t find it. “Then I realized,” he says, “maybe I’m going to have to make this myself.” Singer cowrote the music and lyrics for “Maybe C,” played guitar and drums, and recruited two friends to sing and play bass on the track. The result? He got the song that he needed and submitted his film on deadline. The young director is looking forward to the next red-letter date on the calendar: May 12, graduation. Continued on page 31
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