Albuquerque Film Uses CNM Students to Crew Up Their New Production, I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer
Contact: Gregory Pleshaw (505) 514-4774 (gregoryptm@gmail.com)May 13, 2009, Albuquerque, New Mexico When CNM student Nathan Lane first signed up for the school’s Film Technician Training Program (FTTP) in 2007, he assumed he’d be taking some classes in film production and maybe working on a few shorts. Imagine his surprise when he was among fifty other students to be chosen to work their trades for a real feature-length movie called “I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer” – getting credit and experience working beneath Union-qualified department heads.
“It’s a real thrill and honor to be getting this type of experience,” said Lane, who is working as a camera operator to help produce the film’s Electronic Press Kit. “I am hoping that this experience will enable me to get film work when I graduate from the program.” Lane is not alone in this hope. Approximately fifty students from the FTTP program will be plying their “below-the-line” trades in the film. Below-the-line departments covered by this arrangement includes Gaffer, Key Grip, Key Costume, Key Hair & Makeup, Key Sound, and Production Design/Art Direction. “The FTTP program was developed primarily to ensure that local film technical talent would have the training they need to work on films and eventually become full-fledged members of the film union,” said Jim “Grubb” Graebner, director of the FTTP program at CNM. “Building relationships between the program and locally produced films like “I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer” is part of what we’re aiming for in the program.” Produced by Albuquerque filmmakers Ryil Adamson and Gavin Gillette, “I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer” will be shot locally in June and July of 2009. A family-oriented action-adventure film, “Dragon Slayer” features a cast of children including Arthur, Natalie and Tim, who spend their time playing role-playing games in the city’s sewers, befriend a lovable Troll named Bart, and battle bullies, a Dragon and an evil vice-principle
