Young Filmmaker Makes Good at UCLA and in Her Hometown

Michelle Wagner knows that making a feature film can be a tedious and challenging project. But Friday, Wagner’s hard work paid off when her film “Where Beans Grow” opened the weeklong UCLA Festival ’92 film celebration.

For Wagner, 28, this honor capped three years of demanding work for a master’s degree in film at UCLA.

Set in Oklahoma in the 1950s, her 60-minute film tells the story of young Hallie Crandell and how she comes to terms with her mentally ill father and his obsession to build an amusement park on his bean field.

“(The film) was inspired by my grandfather, who was very eccentric and manic-depressive,” she said. “It is kind of a story of how my mother came to accept him.”

Wagner shot on location in and around her hometown of Yucan, Okla., for six weeks and used the talents of many local residents.

The filmmaker and 12 fellow UCLA students drove a moving van full of equipment across the country for the job. “The town thought Hollywood had come,” Wagner said. “All of the meals were donated by local churches, schools and restaurants, and the value of what people have given me is overwhelming.”

Wagner had planned to major in home economics at Oklahoma State University, but after taking a tour of the radio-television facility, she changed her mind and earned a bachelor of arts degree in radio, film and television. In 1986, she was accepted at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

After graduation, Wagner plans to continue making films. She hopes next time around that she gets paid for her efforts.

The Assistance League of Southern California has received a $1-million gift from member Dorothy Leavey for the organization’s “Building for the Future” campaign.

The donation will help fund construction of an $8-million facility in Los Angeles. In recognition of her generosity, the new building will be named the Dorothy E. Leavey Family Resource Center. Leavey is a resident of Beverly Hills.

Linda Harris was recently awarded a $3,000 grant for independent study in the humanities.

One of 178 teachers from across the nation chosen by the Council for Basic Education in Washington, D.C., she teaches history at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles resident Henry Roth received an honorary doctoral degree of music from the Cleveland Institute of Music on May 23 at the Institute’s 67th commencement ceremony. Roth, a noted violinist, critic, musicologist, author and lecturer on the art of violin playing, was honored for his accomplishments as a historian and educator. In September, he will serve as a juror for the Henryk Szeryng Violin Competition in Monaco.

Student Solutions sponsored a spelling bee for Culver City Middle School students May 12 and 13 in Culver City.

First place winner Rebecca Saint-Geraud received a $50 savings bond from Wells Fargo bank. Felix Danciu placed second and was awarded a $50 gift certificate. Sixth-grader Robert Rangel finished in third place.

The trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. awarded its Shattuck-Price Memorial Award to Jack Quinn, a partner in the firm of Quinn, Kully and Morrow. Quinn, a longtime resident of Beverly Hills, was honored at a luncheon May 19 at the Los Angeles Hilton Hotel. The former County Bar president was recognized for his dedication to the legal profession, administration of justice and progress of the County Bar.

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