Spring — 2008

Uri Niv

Film

“You wanna study art, you go to Italy, right? You wanna study film, you come to Los Angeles.”

Uri Niv—one solid year in the United States from his native Israel—is not necessarily a ‘night person.’ But he does have some illumination to shed on his nights at SMC. “Most of my classes—except for the ones in film—I take at night: It’s easier to beat the traffic, beat the parking crunch, and beat all the crowds. And I like the night classes best because you get an older and more serious bunch of students, and you don’t get a lot of discipline problems. It’s just a much better study environment all around.”

It’s Uri’s plan—after UCLA and maybe 10 years or so—to be making visual delights for the Big Screen. “And that’s why I chose SMC,” he explains. “I knew all about the transfer rates to UCLA and so—when I was doing my research on colleges—SMC was the obvious choice. And some of my classes here have been waaay beyond my wildest expectations,” he says. “My studies with Josh Kanin were just great; very challenging, but amazing, too. If you just want to get a B or a C, forget taking classes with him. But if you’re really willing to work your butt off, and you’re serious about film in general, then that A you hope to get from him is absolutely worth all the effort. His were some of the best classes that I’ve had at SMC.”

Uri also sheds a little light on the current state of film production in the world. “The world of film is in good shape and, though the technology comes from America, the vision is coming from everywhere else. American films are becoming so alike that you just can’t distinguish between them anymore.” It’s Uri’s hope that—given his own international background, plus all of the global influences he’s discovered at SMC—he will be directing his own transnational films before long. But he also offers a little ‘direction’ of his own with the following advice. “When you first get to SMC, see a counselor. You want to get into UCLA or USC? Get a counselor! Otherwise, you’re going to be one of those who just doesn’t make it.” Aaaand.… Print!

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