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Extreme Educator: SF State’s Jameson Goldner
by Roger Rose
Jim Goldner, director of the SF State Film Department, demonstrates a Bolex. photo Gino De GrandisHOW MUCH OF 1963 WOULD YOU
remember if it weren't captured on film? Consider the symbolic B&W footage of the March on Washington from that year, or the kinescope images of the Beatles as they galvanized hordes of screaming young women on The Ed Sullivan Show. And of course, the rough newsreel frames of a man in a fedora coming out of the crowd to shoot the putative assassin of President Kennedy, and the pathos of a three-year-old John-John saluting his father's coffin at the state funeral of JFK.
Here in the Bay Area, it was a time of great foment. We watched the notoriously bohemian Black Cat cafŽ close its doors - while on Union Square gallery walls, Pop Art was replacing Abstract Expressionism. Elsewhere in San Francisco, an innocuous pet shop became the portentous site of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
Over in the Sunset District, then- humble San Francisco State College was undergoing a process of rapid transformation. The campus,
still criss-crossed with dirt roads, had only a few thousand students, of whom only a tiny group were art majors. When Jim Goldner was hired to the campus in 1963, there was no film department and most production courses covered radio & TV. Jim Goldner's personal campaign was to develop the fledgling film program into a substantial player among film schools.
Much of his passion for filmmaking was born in his studies in the late 50s in Los Angeles, which was already established as the nexus for the film industry. At UCLA's Film School,
Goldner became one of the stalwarts of the intellectual and avant-garde Motion Picture Department. "Jim seems to have always known movies. He had an instinctive knowledge of the craft," recalls former classmate Bob Koster. Other 1959 classmates include noted successes Francis Ford Coppola, L‡szl— Kov‡cs, Carroll Ballard, Trevor Greenwood, Al Rossman, and Noel Blanc.
Goldner lectures range from classical equipment to humor, film theory or digital discussions. photo J. GoldnerAt UCLA, and later on the faculty at SF State University, Goldner established himself as an always-reliable source for help and generosity (even when such acts were unpopular). "Francis Coppola knew exactly what he was going to be doing, and he went right for it; he was single-minded," says Koster. "Jim, on the other hand, was a guy who knew a tremendous amount, and was willing to share it with anyone. He has always been unassuming - not self-absorbed, but a giving, loving human being. In the movie industry, that's death. You can't succeed very long if you do that."
Most people who meet Jim Goldner don't realize that they're speaking with a man who has spent more than 45 years of his life dedicated to advancing the art and practice of filmmaking. His salty, down-to-earth persona is one more often found in a town priest than in an artist and professor. A visit to his house reveals an eclectic assortment of mechanical curios, from a full-sized electric train set to a wall crammed with cameras that reflect the changing film technologies. Across the room is Goldner's treasured antique reproducing player-piano along with fading stacks of music rolls.
Many of his colleagues describe Goldner's loveable eccentricities. In online student reviews, his long, roundabout lectures are remembered as both relished and perplexing. "His stories go around and around," says SF State Professor Joseph McBride, "and come back to reach their point in a very dramatic, comedic way, which I think is a very attractive teaching method. It surprises some who presume that the Žminence grise of the elder statesmen would be very solemn, but he's the opposite of that. He's sort of this antic showman, which is why so many students love him."
Goldner has always been fueled by an instinctive curiosity. When he was very young, he started to retrieve a ball beneath his parent's broken player piano and was distracted by the network of wires, gears, and cables. That chaotic discovery beckoned to a nascent mechanical inclination. Wanting to experience a player piano, he studied and learned to fix it.
Of all the things that fascinated Goldner, filmmaking was always first on the list. Growing up in Burbank with celebrities for neighbors (he and Bela Lugosi's son trick-or-treated at Bob Hope's house) gave him access to the inner workings of the Hollywood film trade. "In junior high school," remembers Goldner, "I discovered that a neighbor of ours across the street from the Warner Brothers studio worked for UPA, the innovative animation studio known for Mr Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing. Eventually, I submitted a script to the Lone Ranger television show. The story editor was so impressed that I spent the summer with the Lone Ranger and Tonto at the General Services Studio in Hollywood."
But writing was only the beginning for Goldner. "I wrote and directed a short film in 1955. My mentor was the head of wardrobe at Warners. He took me there one day, and I had full run of the place. Outside one big soundstage was a powder-blue convertible Cadillac registered to Elizabeth Taylor. The other car was a sleek Porsche convertible and that really got to me. I ran back stage, found the owner, and couldn't contain myself. I said, 'That's a bitchen Porsche.' James Dean shot back, 'Yeah, I'm taking it out this weekend.' And that was his fateful weekend."
This wealth of experience combined with an instinctive understanding of the film trade, making him a highly-regarded professor at SF State. Because of his experience dealing with both filmmaking and bureaucracy, he was well-prepared for the bumps in the road, such as the current budget crisis facing the University.
"He gives a really invaluable historical perspective," McBride says in describing his respected colleague. "In Roots, there is a character from Africa who was the village historian, called the 'Griot.' The storyteller would keep the history alive and pass it on to the next generation. I think of Jim Goldner as our Griot. You can ask him anything and he'll give you the history in a short and dramatic and comedic way that adds wisdom to it."
For Goldner, history plays an important role in the style and content of his classes. One course deals with the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten - some of whom he knew personally (including Dave Hilbermann and Lester Cole, both San Francisco City College professors).
Goldner slowly familiarizes a couple of his shyer students with State's extensive equipment collection. photo Gino De GrandisProfessor McBride speaks admiringly of Goldner's dedication to exploring important social themes through film: "Jim knew these people well, so his passion for political filmmakers who were persecuted for their beliefs informs his teaching in a powerful way. When he teaches directing, it's not just about technique, it's about what you're trying to say with films."
Every semester, activist and Holocaust survivor Gloria Lyon (the subject of Goldner's film, When I Was 14: A Survivor Remembers) comes in to keep alive the memory of the Holocaust for students. The film documents Lyon's return to Auschwitz, and her old Czechoslovakian neighborhood (now in Ukraine), and the home of a Swedish family who concealed her from the Nazis. Goldner documents a scene where she uncovers a culvert under an old dirt road outside of Auschwitz where she hid, naked, for several days and nights to avoid being taken to the gas chamber. Goldner has also taught a class on Holocaust films, which students noted were exceptional.
Goldner has served as a judge in a number of festivals and competitions. One festival winner was a student who later came to SFSU, becoming one of the most successful graduates: Arthur Dong, a three-time Sundance winner and an Academy-Award nominee for his film Hollywood Chinese.
Goldner can now reflect on a lengthy and luminous career: "While teaching film at Tel Aviv University, I introduced my concept of using filmmaking as an integrative process. I was also the producer of a number of films and multimedia projects for the largest media company in Israel. Later, I went to Iran to consult with the ministry responsible for documentary film and television. I also served as Chairman of the Board of the nascent Film Arts Foundation, following the departure of Founding Chair Prescott Wright."
Recently faculty and students put on an anniversary tribute to celebrate Goldner, showing extensive footage that covers decades of achievement. Former students, many of whom are now in the industry, came to speak about Goldner's unique inspiration. They honored him, echoing his statement that "filmmaking is a calling, a way of life - and it's something that can really benefit the world."
McBride might have been speaking for all his colleagues when he said, "Jim really defines San Francisco State Film Department - and what we stand for. He is the grand old man of our department. He helped found the department back in the 60s, and he's been with us actively ever since. And hopefully he'll be with us for some time."
The man shows no sign of slowing down. He continues to teach to packed auditoriums since a stroke in 1987. Many of his colleagues point to a passion he brings to the classroom. He dispenses valuable advice for up-and-coming students and more experienced filmmakers alike: "Get to know your audience, and have a pretty good idea of what your purpose is in addressing them. Read broadly, and leave yourself open to the kind of life experiences that will help enrich your film. While it's still possible, work with sprockets. Shoot film, splice, and project on screen, so you will know the sense of fulfillment in the tactical engagement with your art. Always be on the lookout - for subjects, moments that might later enhance a scene, for individuals whose quirks can distinguish a character. And look for inspiration, in whatever guise, however fleeting. Practice, whether there is a project or not: a filmmaker is no different from a musician."
Goldner has achieved a great legacy through the students he has supported and mentored. Many of those students tell stories about how he encouraged them to dive into film. Many agreed that he was the most important teacher they'd ever had, which is perhaps the highest compliment a teacher can receive. Professor McBride spoke for all those who Goldner has helped: "He doesn't just do his job; he lives his job, and that's his life."
Roger Rose moved to San Francisco from Southern California, where he covered the arts and culture beat for the Los Angeles Times. His writing probes film and video, as well as fine art, dance, and theatre. When not stalking the great stories in film, he uncovers them on the wild streets of the City.
Posted on Jan 05, 2009 - 11:38 PM
by Roger Rose
Jim Goldner, director of the SF State Film Department, demonstrates a Bolex. photo Gino De Grandisremember if it weren't captured on film? Consider the symbolic B&W footage of the March on Washington from that year, or the kinescope images of the Beatles as they galvanized hordes of screaming young women on The Ed Sullivan Show. And of course, the rough newsreel frames of a man in a fedora coming out of the crowd to shoot the putative assassin of President Kennedy, and the pathos of a three-year-old John-John saluting his father's coffin at the state funeral of JFK.
Here in the Bay Area, it was a time of great foment. We watched the notoriously bohemian Black Cat cafŽ close its doors - while on Union Square gallery walls, Pop Art was replacing Abstract Expressionism. Elsewhere in San Francisco, an innocuous pet shop became the portentous site of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
Over in the Sunset District, then- humble San Francisco State College was undergoing a process of rapid transformation. The campus,
still criss-crossed with dirt roads, had only a few thousand students, of whom only a tiny group were art majors. When Jim Goldner was hired to the campus in 1963, there was no film department and most production courses covered radio & TV. Jim Goldner's personal campaign was to develop the fledgling film program into a substantial player among film schools.
Much of his passion for filmmaking was born in his studies in the late 50s in Los Angeles, which was already established as the nexus for the film industry. At UCLA's Film School,
Goldner became one of the stalwarts of the intellectual and avant-garde Motion Picture Department. "Jim seems to have always known movies. He had an instinctive knowledge of the craft," recalls former classmate Bob Koster. Other 1959 classmates include noted successes Francis Ford Coppola, L‡szl— Kov‡cs, Carroll Ballard, Trevor Greenwood, Al Rossman, and Noel Blanc.
Goldner lectures range from classical equipment to humor, film theory or digital discussions. photo J. GoldnerMost people who meet Jim Goldner don't realize that they're speaking with a man who has spent more than 45 years of his life dedicated to advancing the art and practice of filmmaking. His salty, down-to-earth persona is one more often found in a town priest than in an artist and professor. A visit to his house reveals an eclectic assortment of mechanical curios, from a full-sized electric train set to a wall crammed with cameras that reflect the changing film technologies. Across the room is Goldner's treasured antique reproducing player-piano along with fading stacks of music rolls.
Many of his colleagues describe Goldner's loveable eccentricities. In online student reviews, his long, roundabout lectures are remembered as both relished and perplexing. "His stories go around and around," says SF State Professor Joseph McBride, "and come back to reach their point in a very dramatic, comedic way, which I think is a very attractive teaching method. It surprises some who presume that the Žminence grise of the elder statesmen would be very solemn, but he's the opposite of that. He's sort of this antic showman, which is why so many students love him."
Goldner has always been fueled by an instinctive curiosity. When he was very young, he started to retrieve a ball beneath his parent's broken player piano and was distracted by the network of wires, gears, and cables. That chaotic discovery beckoned to a nascent mechanical inclination. Wanting to experience a player piano, he studied and learned to fix it.
Of all the things that fascinated Goldner, filmmaking was always first on the list. Growing up in Burbank with celebrities for neighbors (he and Bela Lugosi's son trick-or-treated at Bob Hope's house) gave him access to the inner workings of the Hollywood film trade. "In junior high school," remembers Goldner, "I discovered that a neighbor of ours across the street from the Warner Brothers studio worked for UPA, the innovative animation studio known for Mr Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing. Eventually, I submitted a script to the Lone Ranger television show. The story editor was so impressed that I spent the summer with the Lone Ranger and Tonto at the General Services Studio in Hollywood."
But writing was only the beginning for Goldner. "I wrote and directed a short film in 1955. My mentor was the head of wardrobe at Warners. He took me there one day, and I had full run of the place. Outside one big soundstage was a powder-blue convertible Cadillac registered to Elizabeth Taylor. The other car was a sleek Porsche convertible and that really got to me. I ran back stage, found the owner, and couldn't contain myself. I said, 'That's a bitchen Porsche.' James Dean shot back, 'Yeah, I'm taking it out this weekend.' And that was his fateful weekend."
This wealth of experience combined with an instinctive understanding of the film trade, making him a highly-regarded professor at SF State. Because of his experience dealing with both filmmaking and bureaucracy, he was well-prepared for the bumps in the road, such as the current budget crisis facing the University.
"He gives a really invaluable historical perspective," McBride says in describing his respected colleague. "In Roots, there is a character from Africa who was the village historian, called the 'Griot.' The storyteller would keep the history alive and pass it on to the next generation. I think of Jim Goldner as our Griot. You can ask him anything and he'll give you the history in a short and dramatic and comedic way that adds wisdom to it."
For Goldner, history plays an important role in the style and content of his classes. One course deals with the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten - some of whom he knew personally (including Dave Hilbermann and Lester Cole, both San Francisco City College professors).
Goldner slowly familiarizes a couple of his shyer students with State's extensive equipment collection. photo Gino De GrandisEvery semester, activist and Holocaust survivor Gloria Lyon (the subject of Goldner's film, When I Was 14: A Survivor Remembers) comes in to keep alive the memory of the Holocaust for students. The film documents Lyon's return to Auschwitz, and her old Czechoslovakian neighborhood (now in Ukraine), and the home of a Swedish family who concealed her from the Nazis. Goldner documents a scene where she uncovers a culvert under an old dirt road outside of Auschwitz where she hid, naked, for several days and nights to avoid being taken to the gas chamber. Goldner has also taught a class on Holocaust films, which students noted were exceptional.
Goldner has served as a judge in a number of festivals and competitions. One festival winner was a student who later came to SFSU, becoming one of the most successful graduates: Arthur Dong, a three-time Sundance winner and an Academy-Award nominee for his film Hollywood Chinese.
Goldner can now reflect on a lengthy and luminous career: "While teaching film at Tel Aviv University, I introduced my concept of using filmmaking as an integrative process. I was also the producer of a number of films and multimedia projects for the largest media company in Israel. Later, I went to Iran to consult with the ministry responsible for documentary film and television. I also served as Chairman of the Board of the nascent Film Arts Foundation, following the departure of Founding Chair Prescott Wright."
Recently faculty and students put on an anniversary tribute to celebrate Goldner, showing extensive footage that covers decades of achievement. Former students, many of whom are now in the industry, came to speak about Goldner's unique inspiration. They honored him, echoing his statement that "filmmaking is a calling, a way of life - and it's something that can really benefit the world."
McBride might have been speaking for all his colleagues when he said, "Jim really defines San Francisco State Film Department - and what we stand for. He is the grand old man of our department. He helped found the department back in the 60s, and he's been with us actively ever since. And hopefully he'll be with us for some time."
The man shows no sign of slowing down. He continues to teach to packed auditoriums since a stroke in 1987. Many of his colleagues point to a passion he brings to the classroom. He dispenses valuable advice for up-and-coming students and more experienced filmmakers alike: "Get to know your audience, and have a pretty good idea of what your purpose is in addressing them. Read broadly, and leave yourself open to the kind of life experiences that will help enrich your film. While it's still possible, work with sprockets. Shoot film, splice, and project on screen, so you will know the sense of fulfillment in the tactical engagement with your art. Always be on the lookout - for subjects, moments that might later enhance a scene, for individuals whose quirks can distinguish a character. And look for inspiration, in whatever guise, however fleeting. Practice, whether there is a project or not: a filmmaker is no different from a musician."
Goldner has achieved a great legacy through the students he has supported and mentored. Many of those students tell stories about how he encouraged them to dive into film. Many agreed that he was the most important teacher they'd ever had, which is perhaps the highest compliment a teacher can receive. Professor McBride spoke for all those who Goldner has helped: "He doesn't just do his job; he lives his job, and that's his life."
Roger Rose moved to San Francisco from Southern California, where he covered the arts and culture beat for the Los Angeles Times. His writing probes film and video, as well as fine art, dance, and theatre. When not stalking the great stories in film, he uncovers them on the wild streets of the City.
Posted on Jan 05, 2009 - 11:38 PM
