Toward the Future Daley Rushes
Spring 2007
| From the minute she assumed
the dean’s seat in 1991, Elizabeth M. Daley knew that giving students
cutting-edge, practical expertise backed by a strong critical and
theoretical foundation would mean the difference between success or
failure. And failure was not an option. The oldest university-based film school in America was not going to slide one millimeter from its pinnacle under her watch, Daley vowed. But how to move forward when you’re already No. 1, with an alumni roster that reads like the most exclusive of Hollywood A-lists: George Lucas, Ron Howard, Shonda Rhimes, Robert Zemeckis and Laura Ziskin; a star-studded faculty and a student body that comes from around the globe to learn first-hand from the masters? For starters, there would be no resting on laurels. “It’s a simple fact of life. This art form demands nothing less than excellence,” she says. “Filmmaker, animator, scholar – whatever your specialty, you must be at the top of your game.” To keep this high bar ever in sight, Daley struck it into the school’s mission statement. “Our goal,” she says, “is to develop and articulate the artistic, scholarly and entrepreneurial principles and practices of the cinematic arts – film, television and interactive media – and, in doing so, inspire and prepare the women and men who will become its leaders.” Drawing on her pre-USC experience as director of the Mark Taper Forum’s film and television subsidiary and producer for MGM/Television, Daley set three priorities: bolster academic programs, improve infrastructure and build ties with the entertainment and media arts community. “There’s an incredible dynamic at work among these three facets,” says Daley. “As you strengthen one, you build momentum to strengthen them all.” Early on, Daley sought the advice of Frank Price, the legendary head of Hollywood powerhouses Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures. “My first piece of advice to Elizabeth was to create a Board of Councilors,” Price recalls. Each industry VIP would bring a unique expertise; collectively, their input would ensure that the school anticipated and responded to whatever challenges the future held. Daley took his words to heart. Convened for the first time in 1992, the Board of Councilors brought together experts from across the industry. A Television Advisory Council followed in 1997, along with an Alumni Development Council in 2005. So when the Internet erupted, when digital animation came along, when multimedia and massively interactive gaming flowered, when TiVo, Treo and Ipod entered ubiquity, USC’s cinema school didn’t skip a beat. The top-tier faculty and staff, many of them winners of the industry’s and academe’s highest accolades, helped secure the school’s world-class reputation. “From our advisors to our professors, instructors and staff, these people are phenomenally generous in terms of their time, effort and support,” Daley says. “I can’t imagine how the school would look today without their insight.” That insight has served Daley well as she oversaw the inception of new academic programs, major fundraising drives, construction projects and infrastructure acquisition. Though intensely focused on the future, Daley never loses sight of the past. “We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us,” she says, as she walks the site where the new USC School of Cinematic Arts complex will take shape over the next year and a half. Pausing near a surveying marker, she takes in the vacant tract, soon to be a central plaza in the heart of the new facilities. “I’ve always strived to honor the legacy of my predecessors,” she reflects, “and in doing so, I hope I’ve secured the future for those who follow.” – John Zollinger If you have questions or comments on this article, please send them to <magazines@usc.edu>. |
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