RTF Master Class

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RTF Master Class

Since 2006, John Pierson’s Master Class has brought in renowned guests from the film and television industry to visit with RTF students, the University community, and select members of the Austin Film Society.
 


ABOUT THE MASTER CLASS

What is the Master Class? It's an actual class for credit, it's the RTF department's key visiting guest program, it's a radio show, and it's also an ad hoc career counseling service all rolled into one. Let's say Spike Jonze comes for a visit. A group of registered students review Spike's career, painstakingly select clips, and help prepare questions for John Pierson's conversation with him while also promoting the event to the wider RTF and UT community. Then a smaller unit of audio students records the two-hour class and edits a fast-moving 30-minute radio version for broadcast and podcast on Austin's splendid NPR affiliate KUT-FM. But even better, the wide range of guests from the film and television industries often wind up giving invaluable career advice in Studio 4D or after class in our semi-traditional barbeque hoedown.

John Pierson took over the Master Class in 2006, and has used his quarter century of professional experience in the film business to help secure the ten guests in the line-up each Spring semester. The list is long and includes Spike Lee, David Simon, Harvey Weinstein, Steve Buscemi, South Park's Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, Mark Cuban, Elizabeth Avellan, Mike Judge, Gus Van Sant, Bravo's Lauren Zalaznick, Frederick Wiseman, and Morgan Spurlock.

But it's not all marquee names and star power. Some times the best learning experience comes from excellent craftspeople who work behind the scenes. We've had illuminating visits from Michel Gondry's DP, David Lynch's editor, Quentin Tarantino's agent, Christopher Guest's producer, Little Children's screenwriter, Slumdog Millionaire's trailer maker, and the creator of Veronica Mars.

Please sample the audio links available on this page. As the regular opening to the show declares, in partnership with Austin Film Society we meet up once a week with special guests from the world of film to hear their stories of struggle and success and to get the inside scoop on their next projects. At the end of one class (and broadcast version), someone memorably asked Morgan Spurlock if he had only thirty days to live would he make a documentary? "I probably would. That's what I do. And we know how it ends."

The Spring 2011 Master Class welcomed another round of fascinating, informative, industry-leading guests.  Spring guests included...

•  Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State)
• Janet Pierson (SXSW Film Festival Producer)
• Art Linson (Producer: Fight Club, Heat, Into the Wild, The Untouchables, among many others)
• Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Peter Deming (DP: Mulholland Drive, Austin Powers, I Heart Huckabees, Scream)
• Jay Duplass (Cyrus)
• Kevin Smith (A Master Class Field Trip to the Paramount Theatre)
• John Sloss (Producer/Lawyer/Legendary Dealmaker: The Kids Are All Right, Precious, Little Miss Sunshine, Napoleon Dynamite, and many more)
• Tim League (Founder: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema • Co-Founder: Fantastic Fest)
• Richard Linklater (Me and Orson Welles, School of Rock, Dazed and Confused, Slacker, Before Sunset, A Scanner Darkly, and more)

Listen to Master Class

The Master Class sessions are recorded by the Master Class audio team, which then goes on to produce and edit radio-friendly 30-minute versions for a monthly broadcast on KUT-FM.

  • Elizabeth Avellan

    Producer of Sin City, Spy Kids, Desperado.

  • Michael Barker

    Co-President and Founder of Sony Pictures Classics

  • Timur Bekmambetov

    Director of Wanted, Night Watch, Day Watch.

  • Charles Burnett

    Director of Killer of Sheep, To Sleep With Anger.

  • Steve Buscemi

    Actor of Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, Big Daddy and Con Air.

  • Mark Cuban

    Entrepreneur, producer of Good Night, and Good Luck, The Road.

  • Joe Dante

    Director of Gremlins, The 'Burbs.

  • Jay Duplass

    Co-Director of Cyrus, Baghead, and The Puffy Chair

  • Spike Jonze

    Director of Where the Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation.

  • Mike Judge

    Director, Office Space; creator "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill".

  • Tim League

    Founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema & Co-Founder of Fantastic Fest

  • Spike Lee

    Award-winning Director of "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X".

  • Art Linson

    Producer of Fight Club, Heat, Into the Wild, The Untouchables, and many others

  • Janet Pierson

    Producer of the SXSW Film Festival

  • David Simon

    Emmy-winning writer of "The Wire," "Generation Kill" and "Treme."

  • Chris Smith

    Director and producer of American Movie, The Yes Men.

  • Kevin Smith

    Writer, director, producer, actor of Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Cop Out.

  • Morgan Spurlock

    Writer, director, producer of Super Size Me, "30 Days."

  • Matt Stone

    Co-creator of "South Park," writer of Team America: World Police.

  • Gus Van Sant

    Director of Milk, Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho.

  • Harvey Weinstein

    Co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, and co-founder of Miramax Films.

  • Lauren Zalaznick

     President of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks.