Film Students Get Hollywood Treatment

Last spring, Ashley Page '15 and Annie Sadler '17 learned the ropes of professional fiction filmmaking as students in Visiting McGee Professor Ali Selim's filmmaking class.

Page and Sadler approached Selim early last semester with ambitious ideas for their final film projects, which required casting, logistical plans, stunts, lighting and coordinating a small film crew. Selim helped the two accomplish their goal by enlisting the aid of local lighting technician Jack "Mack" McCollum '87, who is based in Charlotte, N.C., and professional stunt driver Mark Claussner, who lives in Cornelius, N.C. Selim also guided the fledgling directors on set by providing tips and suggestions.

Selim left Los Angeles to join Davidson's English Department for one semester as the first Visiting McGee Professor to specialize in film. He wrote and directed the celebrated 2005 independent film Sweet Land, starring Alan Cumming and Ned Beatty. He also has directed episodes of the TV dramas In Treatment, Criminal Minds and Gracepoint, along with hundreds of commercials for prominent companies like Coca-Cola, Miller Brewing Company and Pfizer.