Kanbar Institute of Film & Television
Important Policy Updates to the UGF-TV Curriculum
The faculty and staff of the Kanbar Institute have spent the summer conducting a thorough review of the school’s production practices and policies. There are new procedures now in effect which the production faculty has reviewed and will discuss with their students at the beginning of this semester’s production courses. Some of the changes include: students must demonstrate compliance with safety guidelines and professional protocols before approval of a shoot; increased spot checks of shoots by faculty; a more rigorous review of students’ pre-production plans; and production parameters for each course that restrict spending and limit the amount and type of equipment permitted. There will be serious academic and, where appropriate, financial penalties if students fail to meet the new requirements.
Over the years we have enhanced our departmental equipment allotments to keep additional spending on students’ projects to a minimum. As of Fall 2007, we began notifying our students about threats to our school’s insurance program. In the past we had several choices of insurance carriers, but due to national issues facing all insurance companies, as well as Kanbar’s increased losses over the past five years, only one company will write us a policy. At the same time we also began providing information about the supplemental insurance program (CSI – College Student Insurance) we are now requiring our students to purchase.
Every spring semester our faculty review the equipment packages provided for each production course in order to make sure it is sufficient to complete the work and degree requirements. The parameters the Department has established, outlined here in this document, enable students to fulfill all degree requirements at the highest professional and creative levels. The goal of this process is to support and assist students with their projects. It should be noted also that in the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, Undergraduate Department, students are not required to direct “Advanced” or “Thesis” films in order to graduate. That decision is an optional one.
1.
2. Production Faculty – Production faculty will evaluate student scripts and all production materials. If the faculty identify problematic production issues, students may be asked to make changes in order to proceed.
3. Production Supervision Committee – Before a project can be approved, the student will be required to provide detailed information about their shoots, including but not limited to: location photos, shoot schedule, budget, full cast/crew list, and equipment lists.
4. Production Supervisors – A team of production supervisors has been assigned to work side by side with production faculty to evaluate student scripts and production materials.
5. Enhanced Safety Training – A more rigorous program for technical training will be introduced in all equipment training sessions at all levels of production (Freshmen through Advanced). These training sessions will be scheduled at the beginning of each semester. Attendance by students and faculty is mandatory. Failure to attend will result in non-approval of student projects.
Additional training will be made available to all members of the Film & TV community who are not enrolled in a production course.
6. Equipment and Spending Restrictions:
a) Intermediate Level: Students will only be allowed to work with the equipment package provided in the class. Any third party equipment is prohibited. This includes rental equipment and student-owned camera and lighting equipment. Each production will include budgetary limits. Failure to comply will have academic consequences.
b) Advanced Level: Certain restrictions have been placed on the use of jib arms, lifts, as well as generators of a certain capacity. The use of cranes is prohibited.
7. Insurance Coverage for Third Party Rental Equipment – This coverage will only be available to students with approved projects in Advanced level production.
8. Shoot Radius - Intermediate level students must shoot within a 100-mile radius of Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
9. Production Guidelines – The Department of Film & Television has created a comprehensive set of guidelines specific to Intermediate & Advanced level productions, which promote professional standards for production, as well as a safe environment. These guidelines can be found in the Film & TV Production Handbook. Students will be required to review and comply with these guidelines prior to shoot approval.
10. Curricular Penalties for Non-Compliance – Students that exceed the production scope of the class (i.e. rentals, shooting radius, time limits, failure to work within the Guidelines for Production Approval) may be subject to academic consequences, including but not limited to:b) Failing the class.
c) Restriction from further use of departmental equipment, facilities and resources.
d) Suspension.
e) Financial penalties.
