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Linda Essig
Director, School of Theatre and Film: Arizona State University
Posted 3.31.2007
Arizona State University (ASU) has just received a sizable grant from the Kauffman Foundation to facilitate a campus-wide entrepreneurship effort. How will this support impact the School of Theatre & Film?
The Kauffman Foundation’s grant to ASU is designed to foster cross-campus entrepreneurship education at every level. A small but very significant part of the grant is coming to the School of Theatre and Film to further our efforts in arts entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial activities. We have taken an entrepreneurial approach to performing and media arts education for some time, but the grant has provided the incentive for us to organize those efforts more coherently under one umbrella, which we are calling p.a.v.e: The Performing Arts Venture Experience.
Could you describe p.a.v.e?
As our website states, p.a.v.e paves the way to the future of the theatre and film arts by investing in student innovation and creativity, supporting arts entrepreneurship education, and undertaking entrepreneurial activities.
Essentially, p.a.v.e has four components, the largest and probably most impactful of which is direct investment in student entrepreneurial activity. Modeled on an existing ASU student entrepreneurship “incubator” called Edson Student Ventures, p.a.v.e will provide both financial and in-kind support for student generated arts ventures. Although we are still a few weeks away from our deadline, I believe we’ll see proposals for an alternative theatre festival, several film production companies, and a media education initiative.
We’ll also be able to enhance our arts entrepreneurship curriculum and open it to a cross-campus audience through a series of visiting artists/speakers/entrepreneurs. Additionally, we’ll assist in supporting faculty re-training in arts entrepreneurship (which is leading to our first cross-campus course in arts entrepreneurship next fall).
Finally, through p.a.v.e, we will be able to establish a business infrastructure for student film production and other off-campus performing arts projects.
What where the School of Theatre & Film efforts in arts entrepreneurship education previous to p.a.v.e?
We have had a curricular philosophy that focuses on the artist as an integral member of society and on training the student artist to develop and support their creative opportunities. This approach is seen in our film producing curriculum and theatre courses such as Theatre Organization and Management and Theatre for Social Change. We’ve had a class for several years called Student Production Board, which is designed to provide guidance to a completely student-organized and run production company.
Could you describe some of your student's entrepreneurial projects?
Well, the deadline for the first round of p.a.v.e submissions is not until April 2, 2007 but projects that preceded the grant deadline included the establishment of a theatre company for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender teens (QSpeak Theatre) and a self-supporting film festival.
Is the p.a.v.e project a part of larger effort by the Herberger College of the Arts to offer or integrate entrepreneurship education to Fine Arts students beyond Theatre & Film?
The College does not have an entrepreneurship program per se, but the p.a.v.e program is geared to ALL performing arts entrepreneurs, not only those in the School of Theatre and Film. There are some incentives built in to encourage cross-departmental and trans-disciplinary projects.
How is the rest of the campus supporting the p.a.v.e project?
We’ve been working closely with Julia Rosen, Assistant VP for Research and Economic Development, as well as Kimberly Loui who leads the University as Entrepreneur program, to link with existing programs like Edson Student Ventures. Also, and quite importantly, we’re connected with Skysong, ASU’s Entrepreneurship Center. Skysong is a new mixed-use development in south Scottsdale that will be the physical location of many of ASU’s entrepreneurial endeavors, including, at least in part, p.a.v.e. It isn’t scheduled to open until 2008, however, so right now its run out of my desk drawer, so to speak.
What role does creativity and innovation play in p.a.v.e? How will it be taught and evaluated?
I know that “creativity studies” is a hot topic right now, but in the arts, we teach creativity in everything we do. Creativity is not a separate discipline. Similarly, "innovation" can’t be taught, but it can be supported and nurtured. While we have no intention of seeding projects that are “just another student film,” the p.a.v.e steering committee established the following criteria for projects:
• Advance innovative forms of creative expression through filmmaking or live performance
• Combine existing disciplinary knowledge in unique and original ways
• Make innovative use of existing technologies to support the creation of filmed or live performance projects
• Develop new technology for the creation, delivery or dissemination of filmed or live performance
• Initiate the creation of new business models to advance and support the theatre and film arts
• Create and develop innovative arts education concepts and programs, either within ASU or in the broader community
Because the p.a.v.e committee consists of a cross-disciplinary group of professionally active faculty, we will be able to assess the “newness” of venture ideas as well as feasibility.
What are your student's and faculty's thoughts about p.a.v.e? How involved were Theatre & Film faculty in the planning process?
Most faculty members are enthusiastic; a few are indifferent; none are opposed. Whether they are film producers or theatre specialists, all of our faculty artists have been and continue to be in the position of creating their own opportunities. So, they are excited about having a platform in place to pass that knowledge on to their students. There is a group of five faculty who make the p.a.v.e. steering committee. We’ll review student and faculty proposals, program guest speakers and – eventually – symposia.
Some student groups (Student Production Board, ASU Filmmakers Association) have been fully briefed on the project and are looking forward to diversifying their entrepreneurship education (as well as tapping into some additional funds!). I’ve started in a more general sense to work p.a.v.e. and arts entrepreneurship into the large Orientation to Theatre and Film class I teach. Students are intrigued.
Could you describe the desired student outcome for the p.a.v.e project?
The School of Theatre and Film mission statement calls for the education of imaginative, knowledgeable skilled and responsible artists, scholars, teachers, audience members and advocates for the future of the theatre and film arts. If we can help students develop an innovative project in a financially and artistically responsible way, we will have done our job.
You can respond directly to Linda Essig here.