February 1, 2010
Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for the continued support as we have transitioned into the editing phase of our project. We are spending countless hours per week discussing the direction of the film, working on the narration, and pulling together scenes from pop culture as well as film clips from our scholars. It's an amazing process and one that is quite challenging for "organization geeks" like myself because the process is not at all linear. In this way, I am learning the new skill of working outside my comfort zone. The editing process is a painstaking one and we feel great triumph if we manage to complete even one minute of the project per day. So, I guess we are also learning a few things about patience. Once we have the introduction complete, we will having a viewing party to get your thoughts and ideas about the progress. Please stay tuned!
December 10, 2009
Season's Greetings, everyone!
We are now preparing to begin the "post production" phase of the film. Except for some "B-roll" (background) footage we still need to acquire, the production phase of the film has come to a close. We are eager to see our footage begin to take some shape as a documentary film.
Please continue to visit our site as we move through the editing process over the next six months. We will continue to provide updates about our progress and information about film festival submissions and the world premiere of the film in 2010. Thank you again for all the support and encouragement you have so generously offered.
November 24, 2009
Victoria Gardens - We completed another successful day of interviews at Victoria Gardens last Saturday, November 21. Many thanks to Victoria Gardens and the generous crew at Johnny Rockets who donated lunch-time munchies to our crew.
November 17, 2009
Victoria Gardens – We had such a successful day conducting interviews at Victoria Gardens that we will be returning this Saturday, November 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Once again we will be stationed in front of the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Please come by to say hello and be interviewed.
We will be giving away FREE Class Project T-shirts to each person who interviews with us!
If you interviewed last week, please stop by to pick up your FREE Class Project T-shirt! 
Victoria Gardens last Saturday – Many thanks to all who helped facilitate such a successful day interviewing at Victoria Gardens. We met and interviewed many wonderful people who volunteered their time to help with our project and we are very grateful to Masa Liles and Victoria Gardens for allowing us to film there. To view some of the footage from that day, please click on the video above. To see our interview photo gallery, please click here.
Mission Tiki Swap Meet last Sunday – Last Sunday we rented a space at the Mission Tiki Swap Meet that allowed us to conduct more public interviews. Many thanks to our tireless crew, and our courageous interviewees. Special thanks to Gilberto for making this day possible and to Mark for helping us with translating our documents.
November 11, 2009
Dr. Jack Fong – On Friday, October 6, we had the privilege of interviewing Sociology Professor Dr. Jack Fong, from Cal Poly Pomona. We had wonderful time learning from Jack and look forward to working with him throughout this project. The interview with Jack completes our scholar interviews (unless we are able to travel) and we are now moving into our public interviews.
Victoria Gardens - This Saturday we will be doing our first public "Man on the Street" interviews at VictoriaGardens. We will be situated near the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf store from 10:00 am until about 5:00 pm. On that day we will also operate an information booth to inform people about the project.
The new trailer is up! Our new trailer, The Numbing, is the first of a series of theatrical teasers designed for a general audience (the original trailer was geared toward academia available here). Each of these trailers will address one aspect of our film. The current trailer focuses on popular culture/media as a numbing device. You may view the trailer on our home page or on Youtube at: YouTube - Part 1: The Numbing
November 3, 2009
Thank you! - Many thanks to all of you who sent ideas to help with our new trailer. We truly hope you will enjoy what we have done with it.
And thank you again! – Thank you also to the seven folks who have volunteered to be interview transcribers. I will be sending this group an informational email early next week.
Movie night! - Instead of a "field trip" this month, we are thinking of having a Class Project Movie Night. If you would like to be on the mailing list for such events, please contact us at: info@theclassproject.org
October 29, 2009
Professor Kipp Preble – Yesterday we had the enormous privilege of interviewing Kipp Preble, Professor of Communications Studies. Kipp provided us with a wealth of information about mass media and related social phenomena.
Interviewer’s Meeting – Last Sunday we held a meeting to discuss our upcoming public interviews and the interview questions we will be asking our subjects. Thank you so much for your attendance and support!
October 24, 2009
Professor Thierry Brusselle – Yesterday we had a blast interviewing Thierry Brusselle, Professor of Finance and Marketing at ChaffeyCollege. Thierry discussed many aspects of popular culture with an emphasis on advertising and the marketing techniques used in the advertising industry.
Professor Emma Der Mesropian – On October 17, we were delighted to spend the afternoon interviewing Sociologist Emma Der Mesropian. Emma is a classic sociologist who eloquently applied sociology theory to issues relating to social class and popular culture.
The owner of a local home furnishing/interior design business, Linda Commins, was kind enough to allow us to film this interview in her beautiful shop. As a result, the footage from this interview is gorgeous. Please support Linda (and local, independent, business) by visiting her store and her website at www.vineyardmanorhomefurnishings.com
Professor Cynthia Parker – On October 13, we had the honor of interviewing Economics Professor Cynthia Parker in the library at ChaffeyCollege. Cynthia enlightened us that day on subjects ranging from supply & demand to global commerce to issues relating to the “outsourcing” of labor.
October 8, 2009
Michael Moore’s new film - Many thanks to all who joined us for our "field trip" on Friday, October 2, to watch Michael Moore’s new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. It was really fun to descend on the Laemmle courtyard wearing our matching Class Project T-shirts. The film was great and we had a wonderful discussion in the courtyard afterwards. I think we will try to take a field trip every month to keep us connected as a crew and also to provide some fodder for creative discussion. It never hurts to be infused with a little creative inspiration. This time next year, we will be viewing the premiere of our own film! Woo-hoo!
Professor Julie Song – On Tuesday, October 6, we were able to interview Sociology Professor Dr. Julie Song. What a wonderful time we had learning from her extraordinary knowledge base. We’ve been getting so much amazing footage from our interviews that we are joking about making this project a mini-series rather than a film. We can see that “post production” editing decisions are going to be quite challenging.
Professor Sergio Gomez – On Wednesday, October 7, we had the privilege of interviewing Sociologist Sergio Gomez on the ChaffeyCollege campus. Given his rich cultural and academic background, Sergio brought a wealth of information to us regarding social class and the American media.
September 15, 2009
Sociologist Charles Fossett – We kicked off our very first formal interview on September 14, with Toronto based Sociologist, Charles Fossett. Charles provided us with tremendous information about social class and pop culture and especially focused on the influence of social class & pop culture on “mate selection” (the process by which we choose our mates). You can read about Charles’ most recent book, Heartbrokers, here:
www.amazon.com/Heartbrokers-Charles-Stephen-Fossett-III/dp/1420872850
September 1, 2009
Over the past few months Ed (Director), Lila (Research Assistant), Steve (Executive Producer) and I have been working diligently on The Class Project script, website, story board, and budget. Ed will be driving out from Texas in a few days so we can begin filming. The upcoming weeks will find us assembling our production crew and securing scholars to interview for the first phase of production. A million thanks to each individual who has so generously agreed to donate time & energy to this project. We are deeply grateful for your kindness. 