Launched during the pandemic, Dodge College master classes became a defining initiative at Chapman under Dean Stephen Galloway, with A-list speakers like Barry Jenkins, Austin Butler and Billie Eilish a few of the many guests sharing their journey and experience in various industries.
The fairly young program was brought at the start of Stephen Galloway’s career as dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in March of 2020. Galloway, the second dean in the history of Dodge, spent the preceding years as The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor.
As dean, Galloway came in with a list of goals he wanted to accomplish, some of which included expanding the Career Center and bringing A-list celebrities, directors and actors to the campus for students to learn from and network with. Galloway works with a team of faculty and staff, including Joseph Rosenburg, Scott Feinberg and Susan Landau Finch, who use their industry connections to bring in guests.
Despite the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Galloway found Zoom classes to be an asset to the start of the master class series.
“A-list people are often wary of doing things that other A-list people have not done… the fact that initially we could get into it by Zoom and it was a one-hour commitment meant we were able to get very high-level people very early on,” he said.
His goals to reinforce the school’s strengths and modernize facilities and curriculum with the master class consist of two parts. The first part is bringing high-level people to meet the students, and secondly, for them to go back into the industry and say how impressed they were by the students.
Despite rumors of guests being paid to do master classes, Rosenberg denied all claims.
“Not one single person gets paid to do a master class, they all do it to give back,” said Rosenberg.
The most the school will do is provide transportation, a green room and sometimes a stylist. For the guests who stay longer and work a couple of days with students, a small stipend is given out of money from donors.
As the master classes continued from remote to in-person, more industry leaders started to learn about the exclusive Chapman series. Feinberg, executive editor of awards for The Hollywood Reporter and Dodge trustee professor, joined the Dodge community in 2021, hosting select master classes and recording them live for his podcast “Awards Chatter.”
Currently, five to seven guests participate in master classes each semester, all of which are recorded for Feinberg’s podcast. The schedule is solely based on guest availability, showcasing mostly Hollywood stars and directors.
Schedules are solidified a few weeks before the start of each semester and may include additional guests if availability permits. Though Dodge College is considered a film school, some students feel that there is a lack of representation of their major in the scheduled talents.
“It would be great if there (were) more guests in different areas of media besides film, like television, broadcast and animation,” said senior broadcast journalism and documentary major Ingrid Lee.
In response to this, Galloway said that most top journalists are in New York, documentary filmmakers are out making films and the top cinematographers are always working, making it hard to find time and coordinate when they would be in Southern California.
The guest list and frequency of master classes continue to be a staple of the Dodge curriculum, and Dodge is one of the only film schools to offer this type of experience. Galloway and Rosenberg hope students take away key skills, experience and industry knowledge. Both also say that the master classes are for the students and not for marketing purposes.
Ultimately, master class takeaways are left to the students; but any takeaway will have bragging rights, key industry lessons and advice from industry leaders and celebrities.