Peter Hawley

That’s my friend JulieAnn Graham!  We talk about teaching movement courses in the Columbia College Chicago Theater program. We also discuss just how hard it is to be a freshman in college. But wait there’s more! After the interview, Juliann said, “we’re done? I wanted to talk more about that! So we fired it back up and you get some bonus material.

I have known “Jules” for a long time, but this is the first time we really got into the weeds about teaching.  She is so passionate about teaching, I wish we were filming the conversation so you all can see her in action.

I also answer an email about my influences as both a filmmaker and teacher, and the Lesson of the day is some advice for soon to be Freshman.  Short version: eat well and try to get some sleep.

Listen here:

Teacher Man

Teaching in the Arts has tenure! Actually, we have John Philbin, my first guest who is a tenured faculty member. John and I talk about the GVSU Summer Film Project, John’s journey from Oak Park, IL to New York, L.A., graduate school at Southern Illinois University, and finally tenure at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI.

The Summer Film Project at GVSU will celebrate 25 years next year, and John has directed almost half of those films, and be sure to check out Lucky Jay, his award-winning web series. https://www.gvsu.edu/vma/film-and-video-summer-films-220.htm

At the end of the interview I say to John, “Let’s get lunch!.”  This is a post-lunch picture of us outside of Wishbone, fast becoming the Teaching in the Arts apre-podcast eatery.  We also had a drink- John a Bloody Mary, me a Mimosa.

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Teacher Man

This is Yuri and me late last Friday night.  I was shooting a project for a client and staying at a suburban Chicago hotel.  When I recorded the podcast, I forgot to get a photo.  Lucky for me, Yuri was kind enough to find me.  This explains the yellow hotel lobby feel, and the bags under my eyes.

Great talking with Yuri- a fascinating guy, and damn good teacher.  We talk about Yuri’s journey from Belarus to the United States, about differences between the Russian and U.S. education systems, Berklee College of Music, and our own approaches to Teaching in the Arts.  And, as graduation season is upon us, the Lesson of the Day is about graduation speeches.

Listen here:

Teacher Man

Marisa Dickens and Asha Lodhia were in my Intro to Production class this spring at Loyola.  After grades were posted and they were no longer technically my students, I wanted to have them on to talk about being a student in the arts.

This was an interesting class for many reasons- I haven’t taught an Intro Production class in a decade, I had non-majors (Asha is a Finance major, film minor) in the class, and I had a really compressed schedule to teach camera, sound, lighting, editing, and have them produce decent projects.

We had a nice chat, and near the end they talk about the Peter Hawley Experience from the student perspective.

See the films they made in my class here:

And listen here:

Teacher Man

That’s Perry Harovas in a sound studio at World Wrestling Entertainment Headquarters in Connecticut.  Perry does animation and VFX for WWE, but I know him from when we were colleagues in Chicago at Flashpoint Media Arts Academy.  Perry was the founding chair of the VFX program the

We talk about his Greek heritage, how Star Wars was a huge influence, his high school Latin teacher, and what it was like to start a college.  It was a great chat, and good to see him again.

At the end of the podcast I talk about one of my favorite non-teaching in the arts things- the Kentucky Derby.  I am working on a documentary on horse race announcers, and the Derby is a highlight for me each year.  More on my doc and links later.

I also talk about “It’s time for me to get a drink.”    People ask me, what’s the drink.  Often it is a Martini, but Teacher Man likes to mix things up.  The traditional Kentucky Derby drink is a Mint Julep, but  I passed and had a Margarita, up and chilled, the way I like them.  It was Cinco de Mayo After all.

Listen Here:

Teacher Man

Look at those scarves!  It was cold in Chicago last Friday when Andrea Bunch from the Old Town School of Folk Music came by for a chat.

Andrea has been at Old Town since 2001.  We discuss her journey from Iowa to a doctorate from Northwestern University, and stops in between at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and USC in Los Angeles.

Andrea teaches Yoga, Guitar 1 – 4Ever, Pop Divas Ensemble, Women’s Acoustic Ensemble, The Decemberists Ensemble, ‘80s and ‘90s Ensembles, and The Here & Now Ensemble.

We also discuss her bands Congress of Starlings and the Heart cover band, Little Queens.  Check out Congress of Starlings here http://www.congressofstarlings.com

It was a great chat.  Listen here:

Teacher Man

On this week’s episode I have a great chat with Amy Berk from the San Francisco Art Institute.  She runs the City Studio Program at SFAI, which serves Bay Area youth

We talk about City Studio as well as her own career and background as an artist, her influences as a teacher, and her latest endeavor ReAP.

Here are links to Amy’s various projects:

City Studio: http://citystudio.org/

ReAP: http://www.reapprojects.com/

Hey, That’s Joe Pollock!

Joe Pollock was my student during the summer of 1996 at Columbia College Chicago, and he was the first student I selected to be my teaching assistant.

Joe has taught K-12 Art, and is now teaching film and graphic design at the college level in North Carolina. Joe was a student of Peter’s in 1996, and later his teaching assistant. They talk about Joe’s journey from Chicago to L.A. to Wisconsin public school teacher, and now Teaching in the Arts in North Carolina.

We also get to the bottom of the Jerry Lewis shoot we talked about in episode two. It was great catching up and talking with him.

Listen here:

Teacher Man

All the way from Bournemouth University in England Brad Gyori joins me to talk about his journey from being the head writer of Talk Soup to getting his PhD from ASU, to teaching in Chicago and now Bournemouth. We also work in a little Mary Shelley.

I hired Brad at Tribeca Flashpoint College back in 2011.  I was impressed by his professional career in Hollywood, his PhD, and his fearless attitude towards experimenting in the classroom.

He is also a pretty good time at the bowling alley- but that’s another story for another time.

Teacher Man

Another double header day!  This time two folks from the (relatively) new Harold Ramis Film School in Chicago.  First up, Program Director Jack Newell.  Jack tells us all about the school, and their focus on comedy films.  Then Dania Kahn, a graduate of the first HRFS class.  A great conversation and I learned a lot.

Plus, I answer listener email.  Today’s question was how do you teach in the You Tube era when there are so many resources available to students.

Teacher Man