Steven Soderbergh Gives Graduate Film Master Class

      Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh visited NYU on Jan. 28, to give a master class as part of the weekly Chair’s Workshop series in the Graduate Film program.
      During his talk, he covered a wide range of topics, from his approach to working with actors, to his thoughts on the wider creative process, to the current state of the industry. Well known for mixing mainstream success with an independent and often experimental sensibility, Soderbergh answered questions on his unusual decision to act as director of photography on his own films, his exploration of new models of distribution with the film Bubble, and his championing of digital technology—most notably, the filming of his recent project Che with the newly-released RED camera.
      The Chair’s Workshop is a weekly series of events in the graduate film program that includes readings of feature screenplays in development by students, screenings of works in progress and completed films by students and alumni, and workshops with industry professionals. Recent guest speakers have included Jodie Foster, the late Anthony Minghella, grad film alumnus Ang Lee, David Mamet, Paul Haggis, Robert Elswit, Declan Quinn, Tom Stern, and John Sayles.
      Steven Soderbergh won the 2001 Best Director Oscar for the film Traffic and was nominated in the same category that year for his film Erin Brockovich.