CalArts Picks Interim Film School Dean

California Institute of the Arts in Valencia has named Myron Emery as an interim replacement for Ed Emshwiller, the institute’s School of Film and Video dean who died last month of cancer.

Emery is an experimental filmmaker who has taught at CalArts since 1976. He will serve as acting dean through the 1990-91 academic year, CalArts spokeswoman Anita Bonnell said.

“It’s not like I’m taking over for an administrator who’s left,” Emery, 47, said. “I’m taking over for a friend who passed away. It’s very traumatic.”

Emshwiller was dean of the film school for 11 years and served as provost from 1981 to 1986. An abstract expressionist and video artist, he exhibited multimedia productions at the Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

“One thing that CalArts’ film school has been known for is experimental film and video,” Emery said. “That was Ed’s strength. He was a pioneer.”

CalArts film students have won a number of Student Academy Awards for such experimental work. Alumni have also gained notice in mainstream films. Robert Blalack won an Oscar for special effects in “Star Wars,” and Michael Pressman directed such movies as “Some Kind of Hero” with Richard Pryor and “Dr. Detroit” with Dan Aykroyd.

Emery, too, is a CalArts alumnus. He earned a graduate degree in 1972 and subsequently worked as a free-lance director and filmmaker for WTVI, an educational television station in Charlotte, N.C. His films won awards at the North Carolina and Chicago film festivals, among others.

Since returning to CalArts, the filmmaker has taught classes in basic production and special effects for experimental animation.

As acting dean, Emery said, he is not planning any immediate changes in the school’s film program. His first official act was to send notice of Emshwiller’s death to CalArts’ undergraduate and graduate film students.

“I’m concerned about how the students will be taking this,” Emery said. “The film school has only 250 students. That’s a small enough number to know most everyone individually. Everybody is quite shocked and saddened.”

Bonnell said the CalArts’ administration does not expect to begin searching for a permanent film school dean until after the academic year. Classes begin Sept. 10 at the hilltop campus.