Studio Lab Program cited as a factor in the recognition
Variety has named Ringling College Film Program chief Bradley Battersby the 2017 Variety Mentor of the Year, Ringling College of Art + Design has announced.
“Since the inception of our Film Program 10 years ago, Brad has built an environment of creative experimentation that allows our students to flex their storytelling muscles while developing professional-level production expertise,” said Larry R. Thompson, president of Ringling College, in a news release.
In the article, available in the April 25 issue of Variety magazine and online at VARIETY.com, Battersby says, “In a film school environment, we get to experiment, we get to learn. I allow and encourage my students not to take the safe route.”
In speaking of the recognition, he adds, “Being named Variety’s Mentor of the Year is an incredible honor and something I couldn’t have achieved without my top-notch faculty and staff, amazing students, and a college like Ringling, unafraid of change, innovation and progress.”
The Variety article also pointed to Ringling College’s Studio Lab Program, created by the college and David Shapiro of Semkhor Productions, the news release notes. The program has brought guest artists — including Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation and Antoine Fuqua, director of the remake of The Magnificent Seven — to Ringling to work with students. In addition, students have earned professional credits in three in-house Studio Lab projects, including two web series created and directed by Justin Long and Dylan McDermott, and the Sundance independent feature Dark Night, directed by Tim Sutton, the release notes.