Hollywood came to Tempe Wednesday night during a video-chat Q&A session with “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” director Peter Sollett.
The ASU Herberger Institute School of Theatre and Film hosted Sollett at Neeb Hall on the Tempe campus as part of its Hollywood Skype Series.
The discussion, which took place through the video-chat service Skype, featured Sollett talking about his body of work and taking questions from students.
Adam Collis, visiting theatre and film professor, moderates the Skype forums.
“I thought the film students would get a kick out it and learn a lot,” Collis said.
The Hollywood Skype Series kicked off last semester with Lawrence Sher, director of photography for the 2005 film “Garden State.”
“I thought ‘Garden State’ was a movie many students would connect with, and it was fantastic,” Collis said.
The Skype series has hosted a variety of filmmakers and production specialists, such as Academy Award-winning documentarian Mark-Jonathan Harris (“Kindertransport”) and editor/producer Jeff Bentancourt (“The Grudge,” “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle”).
In April, the Skype Series will host producer Larry Franco, who has directed big-budget action films such as “Hulk” and “Batman Begins.”
Collis said Skype has facilitated what otherwise would be a difficult event to organize.
“If it weren’t for the technical revolution, we couldn’t pull off something like this,” he said.
Film senior Brett Dellandre helped Collis with the audio-visual equipment for the event, which simply involved Collis opening Skype on his laptop, connecting with Sollett’s home computer in Los Angeles, and projecting everything on the Neeb Hall video screen.
“It’s not a big set-up and there’s not a lot of money involved,” Dellander said. “Our only expense is the pizza served outside.”
Film senior Danelle Benton-Smith said she came to the talk because she is a big fan of Sollett’s work.
Benton-Smith said she hoped to hear about Sollett’s personal experience in the film industry.
“I’d like to get some insight on being in the business, and how to get connections in Hollywood,” she said.
Collis said that in addition to film students, many other students have attended the talks and enhanced the scope of the discussion.
“One time we had an architecture student who was drawing parallels between the way a cinematographer designs a film and the way the student might design a building,” he said.
Collis was thrilled with the interest the event has found outside of the School of Theatre and Film.
“There’s an interdisciplinary cross-pollination that takes place and it makes for a very lively conversation,” he said.
Justice studies sophomore Nick Raimo was curious about Sollett’s experience with improvisation and non-comedic actors.
“I want to know how these elements apply to comedic filmmaking,” he said.
Film and media production senior Niki Sandz said she aspires to write and direct films, and the Skype series brings the knowledge of Hollywood to Tempe.
“We can be exposed to all kinds of people in Hollywood who are not only working but are successful,” Sandz said.
Reach the reporter at chase.kamp@asu.edu
