Calvin class produces film on local food movement

Summary: A Calvin College communication arts and sciences class teamed up with
the Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities to produce a one-hour
documentary exploring the local food movement in west Michigan. The film will
premiere on Friday, April 23, 2010, on Calvin's campus.

For several trailers of the film, visit www.eatinginplace.net

Communication arts and sciences professor Jake Bosmeijer's Calvin Media
Company (CAS 222) class functions as a production house, a place for students
to get real-world, hands-on experience in filmmaking.

The classes' most recent project, "Eating in Place," a one-hour documentary
which explores the past and future of the local food movement in west Michigan,
premieres at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 23, 2010, in Calvin's Prince Conference
Center. (Note: Friday's premiere is now closed to new registrations, but the
film will make its television debut at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2010, on
WGVU.)

The Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities received a grant from the
Michigan Humanities Council-an affiliate of the National Endowment for the
Humanities-in February 2009 and asked Calvin to produce the project, which
became "Eating in Place." Bosmeijer thought it would be a great teaching
opportunity for his students.

"To go from concept to delivery of an entire project is an excellent
opportunity for students to live and work through that process," said
Bosmeijer.

The class works in a client-agency relationship, which includes meeting with
the client, putting together a proposal and then packaging a project to fit the
client's needs.

Dustin Smith, a senior media production major from Hamilton, was the producer
and editor of the project. He said that each of the 11 students in the class
worked on different segments of the documentary. Then Smith, with the help of a
few other students, pulled it all together into a professional-looking,
one-hour film.

"I had no idea how important this was," said Smith. "Everywhere we went people
were so proud we were doing it. It's been fun."

Bosmeijer said that his students were given this opportunity, in large part,
due to Calvin's recent capital campaign, which allowed for technology upgrades,
including the equipment used in making this documentary.

For more info on the documentary, visit www.eatinginplace.net or contact Nurya
Love Parish, executive director of the Grand Rapids Area Council of the
Humanities, at 616-774-1776. For more info on the Calvin Media Company, contact
Jake Bosmeijer at 616-526-8706.

–end-
Received on Wed Apr 21 11:36:41 2010