Actor Nate Parker has added one more thing to his list of accomplishments. He recently announced that the Nate Parker School of Film and Drama will be launching in fall of 2016 at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.
“The hope is that we cover all aspects of filmmaking, from sound, lighting, and cinematography, to just studying film specifically with the cultural component and the history of film,” Parker said, according to Marshall news station KLTV.
Parker’s relationship with Wiley College isn’t new. The movie, The Great Debaters, which Parker starred in, was filmed at the historically Black college. He’s stayed in touch with leadership at the school and according to KLTV, he recently used their choir for the soundtrack to his new movie, The Birth of a Nation, which is scheduled to be released on Oct. 7 of this year.
Just before the announcement of the new college, Parker joined the Wiley College Board of Trustees. The actor tweeted that he is “excited to join and support the legacy of HBCU academic excellence!”
Parker spoke about the importance of starting his own film and drama school, saying, “You control the moving picture, you control the masses. So really getting them rallied around the idea of re-claiming the narrative of America, specifically through the eyes of people of color.
“If I can create a pipeline toward filmmaking physically through developing the college, having filmmakers be nurtured and cultivated here, and then having somewhere for them to go with respect for them actually being able to engage in filmmaking here in East Texas, then it kind of serves multiple purposes.”
A pilot program for the school will be starting this summer. Applications for the summer program will be available in the coming week, and the first classes start in the fall.
