WINSTON-SALEM – Awards season is under way, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has connections to a Golden Globe winner, Oscar nominees for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and two winners of a People’s Choice Award.

 School of Filmmaking alumnus Spencer Beighley (2008) was assistant to Ben Affleck, who won a Golden Globe for Best Director of ARGO. The film also won a Golden Globe as Best Motion Picture – Drama. It is nominated for seven Academy Awards.

School of Drama alumni Dane DeHaan (2004 and 2008) and Stephen McKinley Henderson (1972) appeared in Steven’s Spielberg’s LINCOLN, which was nominated for seven Golden Globes and 12 Academy Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis, who appeared in the title role, won the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Two high school graduates from the School of Music performed with the New York Philharmonic in MOONRISE KINGDOM, which is nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Ru-pei Yeh, a cellist, graduated in 1998, and Dawn Hannay, a violist, graduated in 1973. Additionally, Lucas Hedges, son of novelist, playwright and filmmaker Peter Hedges (Drama 1984), appeared in the film.

Vera Herbert, a 2012 alumna of the School of Filmmaking, is a writer for MTV’s Awkward, which won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Cable Comedy.

UNCSA has multiple connections to THE HUNGER GAMES, which won five People’s Choice Awards, including Favorite Movie, Favorite Action Movie, and Favorite Movie Franchise. School of Filmmaking faculty member Wade Wilson was a sound editor for the film.  School of Drama alumni Steve Coulter (1981) and Rhoda Griffis (1983) appeared in the film. Other Film alumni who were involved with THE HUNGER GAMES include:

·         Alex McCarroll (2004), Lenny Mukai (2009), Sam Ogden (2011) and Cara Rhodes (2011), who worked in the art department;

·         Caroline Livengood (2007) was the film’s production secretary and assisted in the placement of five student interns;

·         Ryan Price (2008) was assistant to actor Woody Harrelson; and

·         Andrew Crampe (2004) was an accounting production assistant.

Five students in the School of Filmmaking Class of 2012 were Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) Interns who worked on the film. Michael Fry and Nick Hoisington were interns with the Assistant Directors team. Julie Pechanek interned with alumna Caroline Livengood in the production and accounting offices. Rachel Fowler interned with the editing crew in North Carolina and Los Angeles. Adam Meadows interned with the video assist and camera crews.

 

As America’s first state-supported arts school, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a unique stand-alone public university of arts conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a degree-granting institution that trains young people of talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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