Dozens of performing and visual arts students at College of the Canyons sat Tuesday for a showing of a classic comedy film that could give them a $1,000 scholarship.
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Every year, the Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation awards ten $1,000 scholarships to College of the Canyons students studying in either the Performing arts or Visual arts program.
Several dozen COC students watched ‘Song of the Islands,’ starring Jack Oakie in the Mentry Hall auditorium for the 2017 contest.
Students are required to attend the presentation, which includes both the film screening, a question and answer panel and a “Double Take” contest.
Contestants each year submit an analytical review of the film for judging.
The essay must include both a brief synopsis of the film along with the student’s analysis of what they would have changed or kept the same if given a chance to redo the film.
David Sonne a representative for the Jack Oakie Foundation since 2003, led the 2017 presentation.
“The purpose of the foundation is to fund scholarships for students studying either comedy in film or comedy in theater,” said Sonne, “Jack oakie wanted to give the money to the kids, and Victoria Horne wanted her husband’s legacy to live on forever.”
This year, the foundation added the “Double Take” competition, which provided students an additional opportunity to win scholarship prizes.
The ‘Double Take’ competition is an homage to Jack Oakie’s famous gesture, where students are challenged to perform the move (looking at something and away before quickly looking back in surprise), on the spot.
Over 30 students lined up and one by one attempted to replicate the double take for three judges.
The students also asked three-time Emmy Winner Stan Taffel questions about performing.
Taffel shared his experiences in entertainment as an actor and writer, and gave professional advice.
“I was very humbled and pleased to be here and to talk to the film generation of the future”, Taffel said. “(To) speak to the future film generation. They should have an open mind, and they should be receptive to everything that come towards them, because the more they take in, the more they’ll be able to use in the future.”
The scholarship is a useful way to allow more students to continue their education in filmmakeing, said Carmen Dominguez, Dean of MEA department at College of the Canyons.
“This scholarship film series is a wonderful opportunity for our students to be able to receive support from the Jack Oakie Foundation to pursue their studies in filmmaking”, said Dominguez. “It’s a perfect blend of professional history and our future coming together.”
Once students apply and submit their essays by 5 p.m. Nov. 22, 2017, MEA department faculty will review all applicants submission and choose 10 winners in the categories of:
The Jack Oakie Award for Excellence in Comedy Script or Screenwriting
The Jack Oakie Award for Excellence in Comedy Film Direction
The Jack Oakie “It’s All in Fun” Award for Excellence in Film or Theatre Comedy
The Jack Oakie “Double Take” Award
The Jack Oakie “It’s All In Fun” Award for Excellence in: Comedy Acting (Film or Theatre) or Comedic Improvisation
The “Benzino Napaloni” Award for excellence in Comedy (In honor of Jack Oakie)
The “Myrtle Mae” Award for Excellence in Film or Stage Performance (In honor of Victoria Horne Oakie)
The Victoria Horne Oakie “Albuquerque” Award for Excellence in Comedic Script or Screenwriting
The Carmen Cortez Dominguez Award for Excellence in Entertainment Communication, in honor of Victora Horne Oakie
The Victoria Horne Oakie Award for Making People Smile Through Cinema, in memory of Pamela Sonne
About Jack Oakie:
Jack Oakie came to Hollywood in 1927. His career by that time already included vaudeville, Broadway musicals and appearances in New York films. In Hollywood, he made 87 pictures, mostly comedies or musical comedies, over which period he perfected his trademark comic triple-take. His career included such films as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Million Dollar Legs” and “It Happened Tomorrow.” Oakie received an Academy Award nomination in the supporting role category for his satirical portrait of a Mussolini-like head of state in 1940’s “The Great Dictator.” Victoria Horne Oakie was an American character-actress, appearing in 49 films (uncredited in 25 of these) during the 1940s and 1950s. Some of the films in which she appeared included Blue Skies (1946), Forever Amber (1947, uncredited), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949), and Harvey (1950). Jack Oakie died in 1978 and his wife, Victoria Horne, died in 2003.
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