Mar Elepano
Encyclopedia
Mariano "Mar" Elepano is a Filipino American
independent filmmaker, teacher, and has been the production supervisor of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts
, USC School of Cinematic Arts
since 1993.
Elepano was born and raised in the Philippines
. He came to the United States
to study film at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
in 1975.
Some of his short works of experimental animation
(Lion Dance, Pendito, Winter, Burp, and Take 5) were screened at the Asian American International Film Festival, New York, New York July 27, 1989 and at Filmex
: Los Angeles International Film Exposition (Short Film) March 14–30, 1979.
In addition, Winter was screened at the Contemporary Animation from Los Angeles Artists Festival in 2006. John Lent in Animation in Asia and the Pacific described Elepano as "the prime [Filipino] mover of computer animation" in the United States
(p. 177).
Elepano was a Fulbright Scholar in 2001. In 2007, he received a "California Council for the Humanities Grant Award to the Khmer Girls in Action (KGA)" which helped "teenage Cambodian American girls in the Long Beach [...] develop digital narratives about their identity and their connection or disconnection to their parents' generation." He has also been conducting workshops for Visual Communications (VC)
, "a Los Angeles-based Asian American community media arts group since 1986."
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
independent filmmaker, teacher, and has been the production supervisor of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts
Division of Animation and Digital Arts
The John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, United States, is an "international and multi-cultural program focusing on animation in all its forms." The program offers an undergraduate minor and major in animation, MFA, and Ph.D in...
, USC School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
since 1993.
Elepano was born and raised in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. He came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to study film at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
in 1975.
Some of his short works of experimental animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
(Lion Dance, Pendito, Winter, Burp, and Take 5) were screened at the Asian American International Film Festival, New York, New York July 27, 1989 and at Filmex
Filmex
Filmex was an annual Los Angeles film festival held in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was the predecessor of the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival...
: Los Angeles International Film Exposition (Short Film) March 14–30, 1979.
In addition, Winter was screened at the Contemporary Animation from Los Angeles Artists Festival in 2006. John Lent in Animation in Asia and the Pacific described Elepano as "the prime [Filipino] mover of computer animation" in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(p. 177).
Elepano was a Fulbright Scholar in 2001. In 2007, he received a "California Council for the Humanities Grant Award to the Khmer Girls in Action (KGA)" which helped "teenage Cambodian American girls in the Long Beach [...] develop digital narratives about their identity and their connection or disconnection to their parents' generation." He has also been conducting workshops for Visual Communications (VC)
Visual Communications (VC)
Visual Communications – also known as VC – is a community-based non-profit media arts organization in Los Angeles, dedicated to creating, preserving and presenting Asian Pacific American history and culture through the media arts...
, "a Los Angeles-based Asian American community media arts group since 1986."
Awards
- 2007 California Council for the Humanities Grant Award
- 2003 Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Fund Award
- 2002 USC School of Cinematic ArtsUSC School of Cinematic ArtsThe USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
Staff Achievement Award - 2001 Fulbright AwardFulbright AwardThe Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
(Malaysia)
Publications
- Labtalk in Moving the Image: Independent Asian Pacific American Media Arts, edited by Russell LeongRussell LeongRussell Charles Leong is an academic editor, a professor, a writer, and Chen Taichiquan instructor. He is currently an adjunct professor English and Asian-American studies at the University of California at Los Angeles...
. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 1992.
External links
- Film Gallery
- Faculty page - USC School of Cinematic ArtsUSC School of Cinematic ArtsThe USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
- Faculty page - Division of Animation and Digital ArtsDivision of Animation and Digital ArtsThe John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, United States, is an "international and multi-cultural program focusing on animation in all its forms." The program offers an undergraduate minor and major in animation, MFA, and Ph.D in...
- Pixar's Future Plans Could Include Disney (Brief interview)