Hip Hop for Haiti hits campus

By Collin Dever

cdever@valenciavoice.com

This year the Valencia film program decided to use their yearly film festival to help those victims of the recent earthquake that struck Haiti. Organized by Ralph Clemente, program chair for film production technology, Hip Hop for Haiti took place Friday and Saturday night on the East campus with all the proceeds from Saturday going to Yele Haiti, an organization started by hip hop star Wyclef Jean.

The film festival premiered eight shorts created in the film class by the students, as well as two feature films that the students had the opportunity to work on, ‘H2O Extreme’ and ‘Just Another Day,’ a film directed by Peter Spirer about an up and coming hip hop artist.

Donald Phillips was a second second assistant director on ‘Just Another Day.’ The second second is the right hand man to the assistant director. Their job is to make sure the production runs smoothly by organizing the scenes and talent. With a cast full of hip hop artists things didn’t go as planned, on the set.

“We were filming in h2o church for the club scene the assistant directors laptops got stolen,” said Phillips. “I went out to find Trick Daddy and I couldn’t find him. Five minutes later he came back, both laptops in his hand.” Depending on who you asked there are two stories on how the laptops got recovered. One that the laptops were stored under some equipment to take later. The other is Trick Daddy got a gun out of his trunk and started getting quick answers.

One thing that makes the Valencia Film program so unique is this ability to work on movie sets creating features destined for the silver

screen, and it is that hands on experience that sets Valencia apart. “The Valencia Film program is amazing “ said Lev Mergian. “I got my bachelors from UCF and then came to Valencia afterwards because the film program here, I thought, was way better.” Mergian also worked on ‘Just Another Day’ as well as writing and directing two of the film shorts. “Valencia is hands on. Your working with a crew [...] where as other schools are just teaching you theory.”

“In the beginning I felt it was very important that these student have an opportunity to work on real film,” said Clemente. “Film is team art everyone works together.” Clemente has been the head of the film program for the past 22 years and before that was a film professor at University of Miami. He built up Hollywood contacts like Peter Spirer in the classroom as their teacher. Clemente is also a member of the Director’s Guild of America. An craft union representing directors, assistant directors, and stage managers.

Saturday nights show raised approximately $1,400 to donate to Yele Haiti along with two truckloads of clothing, food, and essential supplies for the survivors. The entire film program uniformly agreed that they should use their event as an opportunity to help our global neighbors. Clemente said, “When you visit the planet it comes with a price, and part of it is to look out for your brothers and sisters.”