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One of the great aspects of Columbia that you don’t often think about when reading the brochures is how beneficial it is to have access to such a large, talented pool of students at the school: creative collaborators who can meet whatever needs you have for a project.

For producers this is especially important, as the success and quality of our work literally depends on the efforts of others.  The creative team that we assemble can make or break a project, and so when we are selecting people to work with us, it’s very important that we have access to as large a pool of applicants as possible.  It’s a numbers game: the bigger a pool you have access to, the better your odds of finding people who are a fit for your project and who will do excellent work.

Fortunately for us Creative Producers, Columbia is one of the largest film schools in the world, boasting an undergraduate program with over 2,000 students.  Many of these (especially those in the cinematography program) create professional quality work, and we producers are encouraged to work with undergraduates.  Having such a large pool to reach out to makes it even easier to be selective in the hiring process.

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This semester I’m producing a short film, currently called “The Last Race,” that is based on a story I’ve written.  The film has some highly specific needs: it tells the story of a sexually frustrated teenage track star that crosses the line when he pushes his unwilling girlfriend to have sex with him.  Then, in trying to win her back, he realizes that there are some choices in life you can never take back.

The heart of this story centers on sexual violence, specifically looking at the often-blurred line between sex and rape and the fact that even genuinely nice guys are capable of crossing that line.  In the past few weeks I’ve been searching for a screenwriter who can help me revise and polish the script for “The Last Race,” and given the story’s sensitive subject, any writer who works on it would clearly need to be up for the task.

Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to contact many in my search: after asking my advisor and professors for recommendations, I received lists of names, as well as the opportunity to pitch my story directly to two advanced screenwriting classes.  As a result I’ve been able to meet a handful of good writers.

While I haven’t yet settled on who I will bring on, with so many writers to reach out to, it’s only a matter of time until I find the right match.

It’s wonderful to be in a place that sizzles with so much creative collaboration and opportunities to make connections!