Just to get the conversation going this morning, we'll highlight what seems to be the second installment in the Standard-Examiner "Godfreyite Sour Grapes Series," appearing on the Std-Ex editorial pages. Following closely on the heels of last week's Bob Geiger rant, this morning's Rupert Hitzig guest commentary obliquely restates Mr. Geiger's previous (and preposterous) suggestion that the folks at Weber State University are somehow "opposed to Ogden's economic rebirth."
Briefly stated, Mr. Hitzig's narrative begins with his initial infatuation with Ogden's great "potential," and ends with with his dashed dream to establish a film school within the WSU Communications Department. Here's the gist:
We contacted Weber State University to find out more about its film program, and found out it didn’t have one. But, determined to get interested students involved, we connected with the Department of Communications and the university kindly gathered over 20 members of the faculty to hear our ideas. We proposed an offshoot of the Communications Department that would provide paid, on-set experience as part of the curriculum. We would get affordable labor, and the students would get actual experience on commercial films.The problem, suggests Mr. Producer Rupert: We provincial lumpencitizens are just too danged dumb to know what's good for Ogden.
There was some initial resistance at the beginning of the meeting, because it was new and different, but by the time we adjourned, both sides agreed to pursue the idea. It seemed like a win-win situation, or so I thought.
Unfortunately, our fruit died on the vine. Even though we offered to financially underwrite the program, we never got any more interest. After repeated attempts to contact the principals at the university, the vision of cooperation with Weber State and an Ogden rife with production withered to nothing. The enthusiasm for the program and a possible new agenda for affordable production and educational opportunity was just not there.
Don't let the cat get your tongues.
