This is a true story about how Feminists tried to get me kicked out of college. From 2012 until 2015, I lived in Orlando, Florida. The reason I moved there was because I was awarded a Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation program from the Veterans Administration. And, at the time, I was living where I do now, Pensacola, Florida. The problem is, that the VA does not pay for a Veteran to move to the school for which they qualify. You have to pay for your own move. So, being rather broke at the time, but having recently won a Gibson Les Paul Slash Model Gold Top in a video contest, I sold the guitar for enough money to make the move.
Really only playing guitar well enough to be in a punk rock band, it didn't take me long to realize I wanted to sell this gorgeous guitar. Behind me, the case the guitar came with, is emblazoned with the Slash logo. The best part about this prize, is that Gibson didn't even send me a 1099.
So the school I ended up choosing was Valencia College. And while I had moved to Orlando to attend Full Sail, my VA counselor in Orlando was stubborn about paying for me to go to their Film Program. Her stubborn attitude was over the high tuition. But this turned out to be a blessing for more than one reason. And, in the past, Valencia College was recommended by Steven Spielberg as an excellent school to learn how to "crew" a film. So while I was there, I learned how to be a Grip, Electrical Grip, Dolly Grip, Camera Department positions and Sound Recording positions. Also, I was able to use my expertise of illustration and sculpture to be very effective in the different Art Department positions. In fact, I learned there are only a few film crew positions I did not like. And these positions are the different levels of producer and assistant director jobs. And having driven 5-tons in the Marines, I even got hired by Valencia Film to drive the Grip Truck.
This prop pistol I made was designed after a 1500's Italian Wheel Lock Pistol. The real pistol was rented from an Orlando prop house. But, it weighed about 15 pounds. The director realized the young woman who had to hold it for a long time in the face of an actor taller than her, was going to have a hard time. So he asked me to make a copy for his play. Prop making became one of the skills I was able to bring to the Film Production Technology program at Valencia College. One of the best complements I got was, upon finishing the prop pistol, the shop manager would not let me walk it to the stage because it looked too real. He made me take it in a special bag.
Going to admit, I was totally unaware of how entrenched Feminism had become in modern college campuses. And come to think about it, my lack of knowledge about this must have been a daily agitation to the Feminists in my class as my positive demeanor repelled their hatred like water off a duck's back. The way their hatred for me manifested was that they continually would attempt to block me from participating in the films the class was working on. One of the merits of Valencia College Film Department is that there is a film production company run by the course director. This allows him to lure filmmakers to Orlando with the promise of supplying a free trained crew. And we, as students got to work on films and earn film credits while earning a degree. And having the 3rd highest GPA in the class, it was frustrating to have to scramble to get the scraps left over by the ego-mad film students. I was even put on the Art Department under a guy who they named "Art Director" who didn't keep a sketchbook, couldn't draw, and ended up being a pain in the ass to everyone. But, he was extremely gay. And I supposed by that rationale, that gives him better art sensibility that a straight white male Marine Corps Veteran.
Looking on the IMDB.com page for America in the Shadows, I was listed as "illustrator". But, the director saw me make some people laugh during the lunch break, and told me "You're in this fucker!". So I am also listed as Neighbor because he gave me a small role. But, I was also the Prop Maker, Set Dresser, Grip, and Grip Truck Driver. And cutting me out of credits was yet another manifestation, of the jealously from the Feminists at Valencia. I also found it ironic and funny that Playboy Model Amber Sym aka Tara Dane, starred in this film that was crewed by a lot of Feminists. And it's also interesting to note that Tara Dane became so disgruntled with the entertainment industry as a whole, she moved back home shortly after this shoot and got a regular 9-5 job.
Our final project was a film called Campin Buddies 2. And, we were to travel from Orlando to Shreveport Louisiana for the 3 week shoot. Now, previous to this, all the films had gone through the authority of the Valencia Film Program Director. And as much as I liked the program director, Ralph Clemente, he seemed unable to overcome the tidal wave of Feminism that had taken over the school. But, the director of Campin Buddies 2 was doing interviews, and upon seeing my portfolio, he awarded me the position of Art Director.
An example of some of the things I put in my Portfolio that I specifically targeted for the film Campin Buddies 2. The silly fake company and bold graphics made the director laugh.
After I was awarded this position, you'd think someone had died. And you could almost cut the air with a knife when I would walk into a room with the Feminists. It was then all of a sudden that they decided to try to include me in one of their film projects. Always willing to help, I accepted their request for help. Also, knowing they hated me, I treaded into their group with caution. What they asked me to make for them was a bit too ridiculous to believe.
The prop Italian Wheel Lock pistol I made in action for the stage play, Duchess of Malfi. The film program at Valencia College required we also get a Technical Theater certificate before we attended the film program. And I became known for being able to make anything the Theater Department needed.
Clearly, the Feminists were not very bright. And it also seemed they thought I was stupid. Aha! Clearly, I had the advantage! Nothing better than an enemy who underestimates you! What they asked me to do for them was create 5 different fake tampon boxes. I am not making that up! They seriously, thought I was going to create something for their film that they would be able to take to the Dean of the Valencia Art, Theater, and Film and present it as a violation of Valencia's "cursing policy". So, I got very creative and made some very silly designs for their tampon boxes and sent them to the lead Feminist. She was a short haired woman named Court, (who sadly the year before went by Courtney and had long hair, a sunny disposition, and was actually my friend. Sad how Feminism can corrupt such a beautiful young soul.).
The first one I made is based on the "lost in translation" phenomenon I experienced in Japan as a young Marine. The one instance of this that stuck out was eating at a place called Mos Burger. And their tagline was "Of course, I'm so happy.". And I though this was a fun irony to stick on a box of tampons.
This design was a play on words. I was implying that the Feminists were crabby and had crabs. The smirk on my face when I sent the eMail to Court with these images left a permanent smile on my face.
This one was really only based on the fact that I once exclaimed to some of the younger members of the class, "How can anyone take you seriously as a filmmaker if you've never listened to Led Zeppelin?". I peppered the Feminists all year long with little jabs like this once I figured out I was singled out and treated differently by them. I wish I knew then about how "white males" were a Feminists' worst enemy. I could have played that angle up even more.
As I was clearly taking a stab at the Feminists, I figured out a way to show them that with this Dungeons & Dragons style box of tampons. Also, I knew one of the Feminists, loved Lord of the Rings films.
The name I came up for this box of tampons was so funny to me at the time, I fell out of my chair. Also, I heard one of the Feminists tell another how much she hated the smell of potpourri.
Of course they attempted to stick me with violating Valencia's policy over offending other students. And, when that didn't work, they confronted me in the break room. I proudly told them, I was happy to design their tampon boxes for a film they had no intension of making. When I said that, they realized I had been on to them the entire time.
Here I am at the Valencia Film Celebration for the premiere of Redtails. Redtails is a film about African American Pilots in World War 2. Being cornered out of helping this graded participation activity, I took a lowly job of accepting tickets at the door. But, I had fun and had great conversations with some of the pilots who came to see the film.
What I didn't tell the Feminists, was that the very same weekend of the Valencia Film Celebration, I had volunteered for Lloyd Kaufman's Troma Films Inc at Megacon. And clearly, I was not thinking about Feminists when this image was taken.
Eventually, I did get lured into a situation that caused the Dean to have to put me on "probation". It was a rail road job to be sure. They got me on the "fighting words" policy. This states you cannot vocalize an intent to harm another. And this even applies if it means you a warning someone who is about to attack you. The way it went down was I was helping out a school film project that was off-campus. And the owner of the business we were using as a location for the film became violent with me. Knowing I could have destroyed him, I remained calm as he yelled at me threatening to "kick my ass". I backed up with my hands in the air, and as I got close to my car, I could see a security guard waiting there for me. At one point I told the assailant, "You need to back off right now, our you are going to end up in the hospital.". And it seemed, this was enough to claim I was using "fighting words" and thus was put on probation. Beautiful policy if you need to rail road someone. It wasn't on campus. I was being attacked by a non-student. And yet, I was the person who was punished. And to make it all even better, the Dean of Valencia College was an Army Veteran with Ganesh Indian God art in his office. Ganesh is the Lord of Good Fortune who provides prosperity, fortune and success. Except, in this case, I think the Dean of Valencia College was convinced that "Good Fortune" meant keeping his job and not getting brought up on some sort of invented charged for being a straight man.
Goofing off at Valencia Film School. One of the jobs they gave me no one in the class could handle was manning the phones. And, I called over 200 businesses in two 4-hour afternoon shifts. I ended up raising more than $2,500 for the event. My flippant attitude toward the Feminists was at an all time high as my accomplishment was met with praise by course director Ralph Clemente. It's also notable that the entire time I was manning the phones from a small office, the main student meeting room to which it was adjacent was tabled by the same "Circle of Hate", that eventually tried to bust me for the tampon box art thing. And, they accomplished nothing while I worked. They just talked for 4 hours both times!
Eventually, I ended up not going to Shreveport. Getting an Art Director for Campin Buddies 2 would have been nice. But, a friend of mine told me he overheard the Feminists planning on having me arrested for assault once we were up there. Already having had a horrible experience and being on probation because of Valencia College's skewed view of the off-campus "fighting words", I did not want to find out how it could all go wrong hundreds of miles away.
Shooting my thesis film for Valencia College with my Sony FS5. The Full Sail Online Digital Cinematography program is expensive. But, you also end up with a $10K tech package that includes a MacBook Pro and a Sony FS5 digital cinema camera.
And after leaving the Valencia College, I was eventually able to prove to the VA that Feminists singled me out and made it impossible for me to continue my Chapter 31 program and earn my degree. About a year and a half later, I flipped my bad luck on its ear and started Bachelors of Science program at Full Sail University in their newly formed "Online Division". And the best part about it, is that this program came with all the tools I needed to make little indie films, commercials, and documentaries. I ended up graduating with a 3.57 GPA.
One of the items that came to me in the mail from Full Sail University when they sent me my Tech Package was this Sony FS5 digital cinema camera. If I ever see the horrible Feminist known as Court or any of the others again, I am going to thank them for being so difficult.
It should also be noted that a lot of the instructors at Valencia College are top notch. And I enjoyed my studies there as well as learning a lot from them. Also, a few of the students who were not involved in identity politics were great and I am still friends with them today. Overall, I would not recommend Valencia College as a film school, in the form I went through it, as they did not have a system in place to prevent cronyism. What I found some film-crew schools do is create a currency that each filmmaker uses to "hire" people for different positions. And the "currency" award is based on overall GPA.
A shot from my thesis film showing nice bokeh in the background. The level of professionalism and expertise I reached at Full Sail's Digital Cinematography Bachelor of Science program exceeded my wildest dreams.
While I briefly lived in Denver, I discovered this system being used at Aurora Community College. Valencia's non-existent selection process for film projects was so chaotic I began to refer to it as "Lord of the Flies Film School". And that "dog eat dog" environment is rumored to be much worse at major film schools such as USC and UCLA, (supposedly the edit bays in the big American film schools are in a vault to prevent sabotage by jealous students of low talent).
While I was at Full Sail, I found work as an extra on the set of Get Out. Me on the right with Daniel Kaluuya in the foreground in this cut scene.
But, I cannot help myself from analyzing the situation at Valencia College and feeling the environment the school fostered brought out the worst in most people. You can still learn a lot about the filmmaking process for crews at Valencia. But, I feel there are less stressful and less dangerous ways to learn these skills. And it's too bad a program that was once recommended by Steven Spielberg has fallen into the clutches of identity politics goons.
Tony Castelluci is a filmmaker, writer, and raconteur. Having once served as a Water Safety Survival Instructor as a member of the elite special operations USMC unit 2nd ANGLICO, Tony still seeks adventure in air, land, and sea. Please subscribe, resteem if you can afford it, and share this post if you appreciate the content.