Many film students move to Hollywood in hopes of writing and producing the next big movie, but few ever fully reach the stardom they went looking for.

That is not the case for Jon Rosten, a 1994 graduate in what is now called the television design and media production program here at Ferris.

On Feb. 5, “Valley of Angels” was released on DVD and was written and produced by none other than Rosten himself.

The movie is a lower budget independent film with a couple familiar actors. It stars Danny Trejo and George Katt.

Trejo is a veteran actor who has been in films such as “Con Air,” “Anaconda,” “From Dusk Till Dawn 1, 2, and 3,” and “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.”

For his roll as ‘Hector’ in “Valley of Angels,” Trejo took the award of Best Actor in a Feature at the 2007 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.

Katt took the award for Best Breakthrough Actor for his roll as ‘Zeus’ in “Valley of Angels.” Katt is known more for his television appearances in shows like “All My Children,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” and “Mind of Mencia.”

“Valley of Angels” took home the Grand Jury Prize at the festival as well. Rosten also won the Grand Prize Top Script award in a screen writing contest at writemovies.com out of 1,000 applicants.

In an interview with the Independent Film Quarterly (IFQ), Rosten said, “We set out to make a very cool, very memorable, low-budget indie film that could hold its own against the current crop of big studio movies.

“I really think we succeeded and I’m so glad that we have awards to show that all of our hard work paid off.”

“Valley of Angels” follows the story of a young drug dealer (Katt) who moves to Los Angeles from Chicago. He doesn’t fit well with the city’s culture and makes his money selling drugs to the young wealthy society.

The story surrounds his struggle of getting out of the drug business with the help of new love interest ‘Lisa’ played by Caroline Macey. Macey has been spotted in sitcoms like “7th Heaven,” “Medium,” and the 2006 short film “Shugar Shank.”

The only problem with changing his ways is the fact that his supplier, Hector (played by Trejo), stands in the way. He must complete a deadly task set by Hector and faces the challenge of protecting the lives of his loved ones, as well as his own.

Rosten was asked why he chose to do the film independently, he replied, “If I had tried to pitch this script to a studio, it would have been hacked up and changed based on the ideas of many executives, most of whom shouldn’t be making any creative decisions.”

Todd Konrad, a critic with IFQ, said, “Anyone who has watched enough small-budget, independent films knows that the one element that can make a project sink or swim is the acting.

“Thankfully, “Valley of Angels” avoids that problem brilliantly and instead delivers both a heart-pounding thriller and meditative drama.”

Konrad also added in his review on IFQ’s Web site that, “Unlike many first-time directors who eschew story and character for flashy camera tricks to garner quick attention, Rosten understands the underlying importance of story and pace.”

After he received his bachelor’s in 1994 at Ferris in the TV production program, Rosten went on to pursue bigger things in Southern California.

Rosten, who is originally from Ishpeming, Mich., started his first job as a videographer and editor for the Outdoor Channel where he learned more about the skills needed in production.

After a few years of that, Rosten improved his technical knowledge of the industry by taking a job at Fox Sports in the operations department.

Then in the last six years, Rosten has been working at Warner Bros. while in the process of earning a master’s degree in business administration.

Rosten commented that while at Ferris he learned the book knowledge and gained the hands on experience that has so far prepared him well for his career. But as with anything else, he feels you get out of it what you put into it.

Rosten’s next project is a thriller entitled “The Final Transition,” which is a story about an evil professor who has a grip on a fragile student.

According to a blog post on Rosten’s Myspace page, the script for “The Final Transition” was written well before “Valley of Angels.”

“Man, if the right actors can be attached and the right amount of money can be raised I think this horror story could rock the world,” wrote Rosten. Filming for the movie is set to start in the fall of 2008 and should be out in 2009.

Another project underway is a film entitled “Finality,” which is a movie about a woman who digs up her past only to find shocking results. That film is not set to come out for another two years.

The production company responsible for “Valley of Angels” as well as the upcoming “The Final Transition” and “Finality” is LevelBlue Productions, a company started by Rosten himself.

“As for current students in the Television Design and Media Production Program, I’d just like to say there are no limits to what you can accomplish, except those you set for yourself,” advised Rosten.

He added, “It may take an enormous amount of effort and perseverance, and a willingness to learn as much as you can – but at the end of the day, you’ll soar as high as you’ve prepared yourself to and that’s the beauty of the entertainment industry.”

You can find more information on the cast as well as the trailer for “Valley of Angels” at levelblue.com. You can also purchase his film at amazon.com, bestbuy.com, target.com or circuitcity. com.

You can also find Rosten at Myspace.com/rosten where there is a complete list of places to find “Valley of Angels,” as well as links to the film’s site and his production company.

Saturday night brought on a dog show like no other. The Ferris Bulldogs put forth their efforts and talents in competition and team spirit. This past Saturday, 10 competitors stepped up to the microphone and sang their hearts out to a crowd of white clad Bulldog fans.

During the two basketball games held on Feb. 23, in the Wink Arena, Ferris Idols provided a unique half-time experience. Matt Eickhoff, interim director of student activities, walked onto the court during half-time of the girls' basketball game to introduce the first competitor. Each participant was given 30 seconds to sing a song of their choice, either to music or acappella. After each participant was through singing, the students were given the opportunity to vote for whom they thought was the favorite by placing money in a jar.

The contestant with the highest amount of donations in his or her jar won a prize pack including the opportunity to sing on the main stage of Ferris Fest in April. All donations will go to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Muskegon River Valley. Unlike the television show, the students weren’t offered any expert analysis before they voted.

The participants included Keenan Bowman, Megan Coady, Stephen Gangi, Becky Grice, Chay Jenkins, Mary Jewell, Allison Mandley, Samuel Reed, Crystal Riepen, and Nicole Wysocki.

These 10 were selected from the 22 students that auditioned previously.

The girls continued to finish out their game while the voting commenced. Voting continued until just before half time of the men's game. At that time the four finalists were introduced and performed a final time.

When they were finished, the fans were allowed to vote once more throughout the first ever Ferris televised basketball game. At the end of the game, Eickhoff came out once again to introduce the winner of the first Ferris Idols contest. The winner was awarded with the applause of the students and a prize pack which included the chance to sing on the main stage of Ferris Fest. The prize went to Keenan Bowman. Bowman said that he thanks everyone for their support, and really appreciates it.

Ferris Idols was organized by the recently named five star RSO Idols. The event was in conjunction with the Fill the Wink event and the first televised men's basketball game.

In celebration of this, Ferris was giving away free white T-shirts and pizza to the first fans to show up. Ferris encouraged everyone to dress in white because it shows up better on TV.

The stands were packed, and many stood in line to get their free T-shirt. There were so many fans that the noise from the stands almost drowned out the performers. Pompons and signs were handed out free of charge for students to show their support. Huge lines were formed for the free pizza, courtesy of Little Caesars, but a student ID was required.

“So come help ‘Fill the Wink’ while supporting these sensational singers and a great cause!” This was the goal of Ferris Idols. Students were very enthusiastic to support their fellow students and the cause.

Starting in early 2003, Sony released the first Blu-Ray disc player with a suggested retail price of over $3,000. The DVD Forum, producers of competitor HD-DVD, released its first consumer player in the US in early 2006 for $500 to $800. They beat Blu-Ray in the consumer arena by several months.

Both camps recognized a need for a new medium to record high definition media. At first the DVD Forum had talks about using compressed HD video on DVD-9 discs. That would severely limit the amount to be placed on the discs so they decided to follow the Blu-Ray camp and develop a disc that used a blue-violet laser. Their apprehension was at first due to the high cost of the discs and recording hardware.

While Blu-Ray and HD-DVD both use a blue laser on a conventional sized optical disc, the amount of data that can be stored differs greatly. This is due to the way the data is organized. HD-DVD, while able to keep manufacturer and consumer prices fairly low, could only store 15 gigabytes on a single layer disc. Blu-Ray, though more expensive, was able to hold 25 gigabytes of data on a single layer disc. Each capacity could be doubled when using a dual layer disc.

So there was a war at hand. Consumers were forced to decide whether they wanted a cheaper, slightly inferior product, or a more expensive, higher quality product. But in reality the war wasn’t fought by the consumers. The war was fought by the manufacturing and production companies that supported each format. It started off with a good number of companies supporting each format. Consumers were forced to choose which device to buy based on what content they wanted to have. Some companies were producing for both, some were exclusive. Some stores only carried one format while others carried both. Consumers were really just caught in the middle, being forced to take a gamble on which device they thought would win. And, with negotiations to standardize the formats at a stand still, many consumers were bound to be left with an expensive paper weight.

It seems now that a winner has been declared. Toshiba, a major proponent of the HD-DVD camp, announced that it is dropping production of HD-DVD soon after Microsoft announced that it will stop producing its HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 game console.

Toshiba’s president was quoting as saying on forbes.com that, “We concluded that a swift decision would be best. Last month’s decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movies only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.”

Warner Bros. was one of the last production companies to support the distribution of its movies on the HD-DVD format. Both Microsoft and Toshiba have said that they will continue to service any warranties existing on their HD-DVD hardware.

Though HD-DVD is officially dead, there is a significant title base. With the hardware being discontinued, retailers such as Wal-Mart are having fire sales to clear the shelves of all HD-DVD content and players. As soon as everything is sold, Blu-Ray will be the only product on the shelves.

It is a relief that the war is over, at the same time it is disappointing. Many consumers became casualties of this war while the corporate bigwigs decided their fate, another folly that is destroying corporate America. Usually when companies compete for consumers, the consumers win; this time we lost.

The Gate will now be presenting Comedy Night every Friday starting at 9 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.

Comedians Bryan McCree and Andy Woodhull were the first to take the stage last Friday night as a part of this new event. Both are nationally recognized and travel to perform all over the country.

According to bryanmccree. com, McCree has been seen on HBO’s Comedy Central and has performed with several stars including Sinbad. He has also appeared in several films and has performed at many famous comedy clubs such as Comedy Zone and Catch a Rising Star.

Woodhull is both a scientist and a comedian who was in college studying geology when he realized that comedy was his calling. He entertains audiences with his stories of college and growing up in Indiana and travels and performs across the Midwest according to his Web site andywoodhull.com.

“I saw these comedians and they were quite entertaining,” stated Adam Hatchew, bar and restaurant manager at The Gate. “I really enjoyed myself and I hope that the audience did as well.”

There will be different comedians welcomed every week which will offer a variety of different styles and tastes that everyone can enjoy.

The Holiday Inn also hosted several comedy shows over the years. “Our last comedy event was about two years ago,” said Lynn Miller, director of sales for the Holiday Inn. “We have considered the possibility of bringing back comedians but it isn’t conducive for our venue.”

Miller thinks that the comedy nights hosted by The Gate will get a good response from the public and will bring in a good crowd. “We always received a good response from the community but there were a lot of overhead costs so we had to reconsider hosting the performances.”

The Gate also offers many other events for the community such as bands, karaoke, theme nights and much more. “These events are just the beginning of what we are going to offer,” stated Hatchew. “With the addition of the back room we are going to be able to offer so much more.”

Freshman Jimmy Mock is a member of the FSU Bowling Team and is at The Gate several times a week. He stated, “I would be willing to go if they offered well-known bands and comedians that people have heard of.”

Hatchew agrees and said, “We are aiming to bring in higher caliber performers that will be of more interest to students and the community.”

There are many events in the making at The Gate to look forward to as well that they are going to keep a surprise according to Hatchew.

Comedy Night is open to anyone 21 years or older and tickets are $10. For more information about Comedy Night you can call The Gate at 231-796-3808.

“This is full-contact concussion percussion…Broken bones and aching joints are witnesses to how hard they rock their junk,” reported Drumhead Magazine about the eccentrically insane percussive art born to the junk rock band Recycled Percussion.

On Monday, March 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Williams Auditorium Entertainment Unlimited (EU) is sponsoring one of the hottest college- circuit acts in the nation.

Matthew Eickhoff of Entertainment Unlimited said the idea was to bring in a “signature event” for this spring, “something that would appeal to a large number of our student population and really bring in a huge crowd.”

He added, “The show is fun, high-energy, and appeals to a diverse group of people. It is definitely a show that no one will want to miss!”

This band has four members; main man Justin Spencer, Ryan Vezina, Jim Magoon, and DJ Pharaoh, who describe their sound and techniques as “powerful industrial drumming…unlike anything you’ve ever heard.”

Rocking the junk is what they are doing, thrashing away on not only drums, but buckets, ladders, trash cans, pots, fire extinguishers, metal tubes, kitchen sinks, and anything else used or abused, they will reuse.

The members have recently been experimenting with even more advanced equipment, such as grinders, jackhammers and other power tools.

Quoted from Spencer in his interview with Drumhead Magazine, “The Factory Metal stuff is new to this tour, and we’re still experimenting with it…we like the sound of it, and it fits the recycling theme.”

The band began in 1999 in the small town of Goffstown, New Hampshire, in reference to uwplatt. edu, when three young students had the unique idea of using recycled objects as percussion instruments for a high school talent show.

The band grew and evolved from there, its program getting more complex and its popularity getting stronger as its innovative and exciting nature began to get noticed.

Spencer claimed that a lot of his inspiration came from Larry Wright, who is said to be one of the pioneers of the “bucket scene” on the streets and subway stations of New York. Though Spencer was strongly influenced by Wright and many other great drummers, he kept his music and style his own.

“I didn’t really want to copy them; I wanted them to have their thing and I wanted to have mine,” he said.

So not only do the three drummers of the band possess masterful percussion skills, they also bring “gravity-defying athleticism worthy of the X Games,” to their act.

A lot of the draw of the performance is the choreography and synchronization of movement, giving it a captivating twist as they move in unison up and down ladders, jump from great heights in sync to pulsing beats, and mutilate instruments with the intense force they assert upon them.

But of course, everyone knows that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so while they are banging away on their drums, pipes, and other items that have little to no give, it can take a toll on their bodies as well.

On one of the band’s tours, the members played approximately two shows a day for six days a week. Lead man Justin Spencer, in an interview with Drumhead Magazine said, “I had to fly home to see a specialist because my arms were so messed up that I couldn’t really play anymore. We really disregard our bodies; we break ankles and bust our fingers all the time-we just go crazy.”

Don’t expect them to miss any shows due to injuries though, he also mentioned that during one show a former member of the band and he both broke their ankles “in the exact same part of the show within 10 seconds of each other… we were both playing the show in casts for two months.”

So rain, shine, or broken bones, Recycled Percussion will be here at Ferris to slam, jam, and rock the stage. This event is completely free, but it is strongly recommended that students pick up tickets before the show at the Williams Auditorium Box Office during their regularly scheduled times of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

It seems like every year growing up we would gather around the television for the three days that comprised Thanksgiving break and watch movies. Because I have two brothers, we were never able to decide on which VHS tape (remember those things?) to watch and would usually settle for what was on cable. Typically it was something with a male leading role in the ‘bad boy’ image; saving the world or standing up for what is right. Characters like James Bond, Rudy, Luke Skywalker all seem like members of the family you only spend time with once or twice a year. But there was one hero that was always my personal favorite; Indiana Jones.

Suffering through years of rumors that a new Indy movie was in the works, I began to give up hope. That is until I heard from internet movie database (imdb.com) that the project was in production. Steven Spielberg had agreed to direct it, and Harrison Ford would yet again be donning the brown hat and commanding whip in the title role.

The title of the new movie, “the Village of the Crystal Skull,” alerts audience members to the valuable artifact that will likely make up the chase in this film. Crystal skulls are found in places known for ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations and are said to have unique healing and divination powers.

The film takes place in 1957, 19 years after the last film, “the Last Crusade,” to match the aging of Ford in real life, and is said to show a notably more weathered Jones. In the hope of adding a more youthful vigor, writer George Lucas incorporated the character of Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBouef of ‘Even Stevens’ and ‘Transformers’ fame. A cocky greaser, LaBouef and Ford are said to maintain a witty rapport regarding the age of Ford’s character.

Sean Connery will not be making an appearance in this film as the father of Indiana Jones and early rumors that Kevin Costner would take a role as Jones’s brother have also been put to rest.

Though the Nazis do not assume the role of evildoers in the film, the Soviets do. Cate Blanchett performs as the Soviet Agent leader battling Jones for the Crystal Skull.

With a release date of May 22, Indiana Jones will be battling for box office bucks against other potential blockbusters in addition to beating up Bolsheviks. Movies also slated to debut this summer include the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man”, “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “Hell Boy II: The Golden Army.”

While I am extremely confident that Indy will garner the movie ticket respect he deserves, it should prove to be a challenging quest worthy of an American archaeologist of his caliber…whip at the ready.