22 articles by Evan Koons RSS Feed
Compass Rolls Cameras for Hospice of Michigan
Compass Cleans-up in Aisle 11. Literally. More than twenty Compass alumni and current students gathered at a local West Michigan Meijer recently. . They were all working as crew on a Hospice of Michigan (HOM) public service announcement and music video to celebrate HOM’s 30 years of service.Sponsored by Meijer, Blue Care Network, and Compass [...]
Close Up: Jeremy Waterbury
Thousands of years from now, it’s quite possible that Jeremy Waterbury’s name will still be on lips of Christian artists throughout the world. The 2009 Compass graduate from Muncie, Indiana, is a testament of blind faith, complete trust in God, and his calling to be a filmmaker.
Shortly before the 2008-2009 classes began, Waterbury and his [...]
CFA Board of Advisors Adds Four More Experts
Compass Film Academy continues to strengthen its position as the region’s premiere film school with the addition of Mark Clayman, Dick Rolfe, Joel Schoon Tanis, and Dr. Paul Worfel to its Board of Advisors.
Clayman, a Los Angeles-based producer, initiated development and served as Executive Producer on Sony’s box office hit, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” The [...]
CFA Certification Featured in Grand Rapids Business Journal
It’s getting more difficult for Compass Film Academy to fly below the radar.
The 10-year-old private vocational school, which instructs students in movie script writing and film production and is located on Fifth Street near Seward in northwest Grand Rapids, was certified in late May for Title IV financial aid from the federal government. Title IV is offered to college students through Pell grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants, Perkins loans and other subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans.
High School Film Camp Produces “Future Ken Burns”
Blake Cortright is all smiles. And he should be. Because it’s almost unheard of for a 16-year-old to produce a documentary and have it air on PBS television. Blake took the skills he learned from Compass Film Academy’s Summer Film and Acting Camps, and used them to produce The First Encampment. [...]
Compass Film Academy Represents at Doorpost Film Competition
The Doorpost Film Project’s 2010 Short Film Contest is underway, and this year Compass students and alumni have shown up in full force. Current student Justin Abraham Hall and previous student Caleb Alexander Slain both have films through the first round of competition.
No strangers to Doorpost, Hall and Slain have teamed up on previous Doorpost [...]
Michigan Film Office Annual Report
The Michigan Film Office has posted their annual report for 2009. If you love the filmmaking coming to the state and are interested in the learning more about the effectiveness of Michigan’s Film Incentives, it’s a real page turner.
Check it out at the Michigan Film Office’s website:
http://www.michiganfilmoffice.org/cm/The-Film-Office/MFO2009-ANNUALREPORT.pdf
Battling to Remember the Great War
To documentarian and friend of Compass David DeJonge, Frank Buckles is a cultural icon and historical gatekeeper, a man whose story demands to be told. At nearly 109, Buckles is America’s last surviving veteran of World War I (WWI). Since 2006, DeJonge has been fighting to tell his story.
He first met the centenarian while documenting [...]
CFA Exceeds Fundraising Goal
It’s official. The numbers are in. CFA exceeded its 2009 $100,000 matching grant and raised a total of $100,140. All told, that puts Compass’ official total of funds raised at $200,140.
We’re really good at mental math.
This is good news on two fronts. First, this money allows Compass to continue pushing forward. Already several new pieces [...]
