Lights. Camera. What’s with all this action? Well, Biola, a sweet love story is unfolding on campus this week.
Biola’s campus has been transformed into the set for a new Hallmark film, “The Class,” set to premier in early 2010. The film, directed by Dave Cass, follows law student, Whit, as he completes an assignment requiring him to help an underprivileged, single mother, Kylie, find a job. Somewhere in between meeting her and finding her a job, Whit and Kylie fall in love.
Justin Breuning, from “Knight Rider” and “All My Children,” plays Whit, and Jodi Lynn O’Keefe from “She’s All That,” plays Kylie. The wife of George Lopez from the George Lopez show, Constance Marie, plays Whit’s professor.
When location scout and manager Steven Hopper began to search for locations for the filming of “The Class,” Biola was already on his radar of possibilities. A native Texan, Hopper’s pursuit of a film career led him west to look for film programs during the summer of 2005. Although he eventually settled on Loyola Marymount, he visited Biola during the course of his search. Apparently, the campus made an impression.
“It just had a very quaint look to it,” Hopper said. “And just the people were very ‘film friendly.’ That’s something that is very hard to find in L.A.”
Not only did Biola’s ‘quaint’ look fit the film’s needs, but Biola’s price was more reasonable than other schools, Hopper said. Biola’s administration has made working out the film’s details easier, too, he said.
According to Courtney Enns, assistant manager of conference services, IMC will not know how much revenue the film will generate for Biola until filming is done. Some of the revenue will be directed to paying for the services needed for the film itself such as extra campus safety officers, and film majors who are being paid to drive carts and run errands for the film crew.
Filming began on Tuesday and the crew will continue to traverse the campus -— from Metzger Lawn, to the bookstore, to the library and business building —- until Saturday. Aside from the closing of Eagle’s Nest Thursday from 7-11 p.m., Hopper said that the project should not interfere with students’ day-to-day lives.
Brenda Velasco, manager of internal communications and public relations, has been working with Hopper and the rest of the crew to make the film happen.
“It’s an opportunity for us to make this Biola resource available for production companies, and then generate revenue for the school,” she said.
This is the largest film production Biola has hosted, so there was no precedence dictating how Biola should prepare.
“Because we’ve never done something this large we had to prepare the ground work to make sure we can accommodate them and make sure they abide by all our guidelines and that sort of stuff,” Velasco said.
This meant talking to campus safety and auxiliary services to secure various areas on campus that are affected by the filming, as well as securing sufficient parking for the cast and crew.
The crew of “The Class” is not the only one benefiting from this contract. Biola film students can also draw from the expertise of the director, who said he is happy to share his knowledge and experience. He and Velasco are informing students of filming hours so they can observe the process.
Hopper said, however, that students who are looking for their fifteen minutes –- or seconds –- of fame will likely be disappointed.
“We have these notifications up that tell people that we’re filming a movie and all that,” he said. “Most of the time if there are people in a background…you’ll see people, but you can’t tell who they are really because the camera is focused in on the actor.”
