5/16/2007
Flashpoint Announces Paula Froehle as Academic Dean of School
Paula Froehle is a director, writer and producer, as well as a visual artist. In 2005 she received the prestigious IFP Midwests Short Film Production Grant (valued at $100,000), which she used to complete her ninth short film,Up On the Rope. She is currently in preproduction on her tenth film, entitled Lizard Christmas, which is being funded by a 2006 Kodak Faculty Scholars award.
Her films have been funded by numerous arts organizations, including the IFP Midwest, the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Columbia College Chicago and The Experimental Sound Studio Chicago. They have screened and received awards at many festivals including the London Int'l Film Festival, the New Zealand Film Festivals, Tampere Int'l Film Festival, the Toronto International Short Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival, the Mint Museum of Art, and the Humboldt Film Festival.
Her work has been described as "original and arresting" by Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader.
In addition to her dramatic films, as of June 1st, she is Dean of Flashpoint: The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, a new two-year college focused on intensive immersive learning experiences in Filmmaking, Computer Animation, Game Development and the Recording Arts. As Dean of the Academy, she is pursuing her interests in alternative educational structures, focusing on teaching through doing understanding that students learn most effectively when actively engaged. Prior to Flashpoint, Froehle was an Associate Chair and a Tenured Faculty member in the Film & Video Department at Columbia College Chicago.
Additionally, Froehle has directed music videos & music-related films for Atavistic, a Chicago-based production company and record label. Credits include: Eleventh Dream Day, Helmet and 4 Non-Blondes.
