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Embargoed: For release on Sept. 12, 2007 Contacts: Marla Carpenter at NCSA, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu Ryan Chingcuangco at Walden Media, 310-887-1044; ryanc@walden.com NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS CHANCELLOR JOHN MAUCERI APPOINTS FILM INDUSTRY VETERAN JORDAN KERNER AS NEW SCHOOL OF FILMMAKING DEAN New Dean’s Company, Kerner Entertainment, Signs MULTI-YEAR Production Deal with Walden Media
WINSTON-SALEM – North Carolina School of the Arts Chancellor John Mauceri has announced that veteran Hollywood filmmaker Jordan Kerner is the new dean of the School of Filmmaking at NCSA. Chancellor Mauceri said, "It has taken a year to fill the post of dean for our School of Filmmaking and we could not have found a better person than Jordan Kerner. In addition to his truly extraordinary achievements as a creative artist at the very top of his field, Jordan brings a vision and passion to the North Carolina School of the Arts which once again raises the barre for all of us -- students, faculty and administration. “I am excited that Jordan will continue to produce films and will be able to share his experiences with our students and faculty,” Chancellor Mauceri continued. “That is the marvelous thing about this School, where the faculty, deans and even myself continue as practicing professional artists while teaching and mentoring our immensely talented young people. “We are a school of artists. A truly inspirational one has just joined our family. We rejoice in welcoming him to our campus and our state," Chancellor Mauceri concluded. University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles said, “I'm thrilled and excited about what Jordan brings to North Carolina. He will take filmmaking in our state to a level that previously we only dreamed possible. Our students and the citizens of North Carolina will benefit enormously from this man's enormous talent.” Kerner has signed a multi-year first look deal with Walden Media. Walden Media, which previously worked with Kerner on the 2006 Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies film CHARLOTTE’S WEB, will have an exclusive first look at all feature projects Kerner develops via his production company, the Kerner Entertainment Company.	Jordan Kerner
President of Kerner Entertainment and previously a founding partner in The Avnet/Kerner Company, Jordan Kerner has produced numerous films including SNOW DOGS, INSPECTOR GADGET, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, THE MIGHTY DUCKS trilogy, WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and, most recently, CHARLOTTE’S WEB. Kerner will divide his time between Winston-Salem and Los Angeles. He will serve as an exclusive producer on past and upcoming projects with Walden Media as well as other studios while re-imagining NCSA’s program in film, television, gaming, animation and new digital distribution and overseeing its 30 faculty members, 15 staff members, and 260 undergraduate and graduate students. Kerner has been working behind the scenes at the School of the Arts since July, but only recently moved his family to Winston-Salem. He has been actively engaged in starting the fall term of the new 2007-08 school year. Kerner also was a guest artist in the School of Filmmaking in November 2006, when he brought CHARLOTTE’S WEB to screen and held workshops for students. In addition, he met with film students when the films of the Class of 2007 were presented to industry representatives in Los Angeles in June. Jordan Kerner began his career in the entertainment industry working in various capacities for San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX-TV. He relocated to Los Angeles and worked in the Motion Picture Department of Ball, Hunt, Brown and Baerwitz, a Beverly Hills law firm. Two years later, Kerner joined CBS as a talent and program negotiator in the network’s Business Affairs Department. From 1978 to 1981 he held positions in development at Universal and QM Productions, until moving to ABC Entertainment as director of dramatic series development. He became vice president of that division in 1983. While at ABC, Kerner was responsible for developing shows such as “MOONLIGHTING,” “MACGYVER,” “DYNASTY,” “SPENSER: FOR HIRE” and “CALL TO GLORY.” In 1986, Jordan Kerner and Jon Avnet formed The Avnet/Kerner Company, a production entity that developed socially relevant and family-oriented motion pictures and television movies, series and miniseries. In the fall of 2001 the company split into two independent film entities: The Kerner Entertainment Company and Brooklyn Films. Committed to high quality, value oriented, provocative entertainment, The Kerner Entertainment Company currently has more than 25 projects in development for theatrical, television, and video premiere release. Kerner is in pre-production on the miniseries TALE OF TWO CITIES, which will be shot on location in Eastern Europe and Paris. A live action/CG photo real animated version of the classic CHARLOTTE’S WEB was produced by Kerner for a holiday 2006 release. A faithful adaptation of the revered E.B. White book, CHARLOTTE’S WEB starred Dakota Fanning as Fern and animated voices of Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford and others. The film’s numerous awards included Best Family Film from The Critics Choice Awards. Other of Kerner’s films include: live action theatrical films made for video GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE 2 and INSPECTOR GADGET 2 (2003); SNOW DOGS (2002), with Cuba Gooding, Jr.; the live-action, motion picture version of “INSPECTOR GADGET” (1999), with Matthew Broderick; GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (1997), with Brendan Fraser; RED CORNER (1997), with Richard Gere; UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL (1996), with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer; D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1996); THE WAR (1995), with Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood; MIAMI RHAPSODY (1995), with Antonio Banderas, Mia Farrow and Sarah Jessica Parker; WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN (1994), with Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia; THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1993), with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Chris O’Donnell; D2: THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1994); THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1992), with Emilio Estevez; and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991), with Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson and NCSA alumna Mary-Louise Parker. In the television arena, Kerner’s production credits include: A WRINKLE IN TIME, starring Alfre Woodard and Kate Nelligan; A HOUSE DIVIDED, starring Sam Waterston and Jennifer Beals; the miniseries MAMA FLORA’S FAMILY, based on Alex Haley’s last book; THE SWITCH, with Gary Cole, Craig T. Nelson and Beverly D’Angelo; FOR THEIR OWN GOOD, with Elizabeth Perkins and Laura San Giacomo, which won the Environmental Media Nancy Susan Reynolds Award; SIDE BY SIDE, with Milton Berle, Sid Caesar and Danny Thomas; the Emmy-nominated DO YOU KNOW THE MUFFIN MAN, starring Pam Dawber, Stephen Dorff and John Shea; and the highly acclaimed TNT movie HEATWAVE, starring Blair Underwood, Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland, which received four Cable ACE Awards, including Best Picture, an Emmy Award, the WGA Award and the National Education Association Award. Jordan Kerner was named the Producer of the Year by the Hollywood Entertainment Museum at its 2006 Legacy Award Event. Awards, in addition to those mentioned previously, include The Christopher Award, A Reel Award, Truly Moving Picture Award, The Gemini Award, The Fresh Tomato Award, a number of Movieline Awards, and Golden Reel Awards. His films have received nominations for Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, DGA Awards, WGA Awards, The Humanitas Award, NAACP Award, The Diversity Award, The Golden Satellite Award, The Art Directors Guild Award and Visual Effects Society Awards. Kerner has also been involved with many charities. He has been both a trustee and a director of the Starbright Foundation and an executive producer of its Diabetes and Asthma CD-Rom games; a trustee of Tel Aviv University’s School of Film and Television; a member of General Wesley Clark’s Four Star Council in his bid for the Presidency; a member of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s California Cabinet; and has served on various boards including the Board of Directors for the Media Office, established by the California Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons; the President’s Advisory Council for the City of Hope; the Chrysalis Foundation, and the Show Coalition. Kerner is also a former Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers. He is the founder and former co-chairman of the Committee for the Arts of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, an organization providing legal aid to indigent performing artists, with educational programs and speakers for actors, writers, museums and visual artists groups. Kerner was member of the Planned Parenthood’s political action arm and a member of the Earth Communications Office. He currently is a member of the NRDC, Human Rights Watch, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producer’s Guild and The American Film Institute. Jordan Kerner is a graduate of Stanford University with an A.B. with distinction in political science and communications. He also received a joint graduate degree from both the University of California at Berkeley with an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business (including an emphasis in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy) and University of California at San Francisco, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and founder of COMM/ENT The Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. He and his wife, Nicola O’Shea, have three daughters, Haley, Grace and Lily; a chocolate lab, Charlotte; and a cat, Lucy. The North Carolina School of the Arts is located in Winston-Salem and is part of the University of North Carolina system. The School of the Arts, comprising schools of dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music, grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees for performing, moving image and visual artists. John Mauceri has been chancellor since June 2006. ###
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Embargoed: For release on Sept. 12, 2007
Contacts: Marla Carpenter at NCSA, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu
Ryan Chingcuangco at Walden Media, 310-887-1044; ryanc@walden.com

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS CHANCELLOR JOHN MAUCERI APPOINTS

FILM INDUSTRY VETERAN JORDAN KERNER

AS NEW SCHOOL OF FILMMAKING DEAN

New Dean’s Company, Kerner Entertainment, Signs MULTI-YEAR Production Deal with Walden Media

WINSTON-SALEM – North Carolina School of the Arts Chancellor John Mauceri has announced that veteran Hollywood filmmaker Jordan Kerner is the new dean of the School of Filmmaking at NCSA.

Chancellor Mauceri said, "It has taken a year to fill the post of dean for our School of Filmmaking and we could not have found a better person than Jordan Kerner. In addition to his truly extraordinary achievements as a creative artist at the very top of his field, Jordan brings a vision and passion to the North Carolina School of the Arts which once again raises the barre for all of us -- students, faculty and administration.

“I am excited that Jordan will continue to produce films and will be able to share his experiences with our students and faculty,” Chancellor Mauceri continued. “That is the marvelous thing about this School, where the faculty, deans and even myself continue as practicing professional artists while teaching and mentoring our immensely talented young people.

“We are a school of artists. A truly inspirational one has just joined our family. We rejoice in welcoming him to our campus and our state," Chancellor Mauceri concluded.

University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles said, “I'm thrilled and excited about what Jordan brings to North Carolina. He will take filmmaking in our state to a level that previously we only dreamed possible. Our students and the citizens of North Carolina will benefit enormously from this man's enormous talent.”

Kerner has signed a multi-year first look deal with Walden Media. Walden Media, which previously worked with Kerner on the 2006 Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies film CHARLOTTE’S WEB, will have an exclusive first look at all feature projects Kerner develops via his production company, the Kerner Entertainment Company.

Jordan Kerner

President of Kerner Entertainment and previously a founding partner in The Avnet/Kerner Company, Jordan Kerner has produced numerous films including SNOW DOGS, INSPECTOR GADGET, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, THE MIGHTY DUCKS trilogy, WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and, most recently, CHARLOTTE’S WEB.

Kerner will divide his time between Winston-Salem and Los Angeles. He will serve as an exclusive producer on past and upcoming projects with Walden Media as well as other studios while re-imagining NCSA’s program in film, television, gaming, animation and new digital distribution and overseeing its 30 faculty members, 15 staff members, and 260 undergraduate and graduate students.

Kerner has been working behind the scenes at the School of the Arts since July, but only recently moved his family to Winston-Salem. He has been actively engaged in starting the fall term of the new 2007-08 school year. Kerner also was a guest artist in the School of Filmmaking in November 2006, when he brought CHARLOTTE’S WEB to screen and held workshops for students. In addition, he met with film students when the films of the Class of 2007 were presented to industry representatives in Los Angeles in June.

Jordan Kerner began his career in the entertainment industry working in various capacities for San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX-TV. He relocated to Los Angeles and worked in the Motion Picture Department of Ball, Hunt, Brown and Baerwitz, a Beverly Hills law firm. Two years later, Kerner joined CBS as a talent and program negotiator in the network’s Business Affairs Department. From 1978 to 1981 he held positions in development at Universal and QM Productions, until moving to ABC Entertainment as director of dramatic series development. He became vice president of that division in 1983. While at ABC, Kerner was responsible for developing shows such as “MOONLIGHTING,” “MACGYVER,” “DYNASTY,” “SPENSER: FOR HIRE” and “CALL TO GLORY.”

In 1986, Jordan Kerner and Jon Avnet formed The Avnet/Kerner Company, a production entity that developed socially relevant and family-oriented motion pictures and television movies, series and miniseries. In the fall of 2001 the company split into two independent film entities: The Kerner Entertainment Company and Brooklyn Films.

Committed to high quality, value oriented, provocative entertainment, The Kerner Entertainment Company currently has more than 25 projects in development for theatrical, television, and video premiere release. Kerner is in pre-production on the miniseries TALE OF TWO CITIES, which will be shot on location in Eastern Europe and Paris.

A live action/CG photo real animated version of the classic CHARLOTTE’S WEB was produced by Kerner for a holiday 2006 release. A faithful adaptation of the revered E.B. White book, CHARLOTTE’S WEB starred Dakota Fanning as Fern and animated voices of Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford and others. The film’s numerous awards included Best Family Film from The Critics Choice Awards.

Other of Kerner’s films include: live action theatrical films made for video GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE 2 and INSPECTOR GADGET 2 (2003); SNOW DOGS (2002), with Cuba Gooding, Jr.; the live-action, motion picture version of “INSPECTOR GADGET” (1999), with Matthew Broderick; GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (1997), with Brendan Fraser; RED CORNER (1997), with Richard Gere; UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL (1996), with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer; D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1996); THE WAR (1995), with Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood; MIAMI RHAPSODY (1995), with Antonio Banderas, Mia Farrow and Sarah Jessica Parker; WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN (1994), with Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia; THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1993), with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Chris O’Donnell; D2: THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1994); THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1992), with Emilio Estevez; and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991), with Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson and NCSA alumna Mary-Louise Parker.

In the television arena, Kerner’s production credits include: A WRINKLE IN TIME, starring Alfre Woodard and Kate Nelligan; A HOUSE DIVIDED, starring Sam Waterston and Jennifer Beals; the miniseries MAMA FLORA’S FAMILY, based on Alex Haley’s last book; THE SWITCH, with Gary Cole, Craig T. Nelson and Beverly D’Angelo; FOR THEIR OWN GOOD, with Elizabeth Perkins and Laura San Giacomo, which won the Environmental Media Nancy Susan Reynolds Award; SIDE BY SIDE, with Milton Berle, Sid Caesar and Danny Thomas; the Emmy-nominated DO YOU KNOW THE MUFFIN MAN, starring Pam Dawber, Stephen Dorff and John Shea; and the highly acclaimed TNT movie HEATWAVE, starring Blair Underwood, Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland, which received four Cable ACE Awards, including Best Picture, an Emmy Award, the WGA Award and the National Education Association Award.

Jordan Kerner was named the Producer of the Year by the Hollywood Entertainment Museum at its 2006 Legacy Award Event. Awards, in addition to those mentioned previously, include The Christopher Award, A Reel Award, Truly Moving Picture Award, The Gemini Award, The Fresh Tomato Award, a number of Movieline Awards, and Golden Reel Awards. His films have received nominations for Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, DGA Awards, WGA Awards, The Humanitas Award, NAACP Award, The Diversity Award, The Golden Satellite Award, The Art Directors Guild Award and Visual Effects Society Awards.

Kerner has also been involved with many charities. He has been both a trustee and a director of the Starbright Foundation and an executive producer of its Diabetes and Asthma CD-Rom games; a trustee of Tel Aviv University’s School of Film and Television; a member of General Wesley Clark’s Four Star Council in his bid for the Presidency; a member of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s California Cabinet; and has served on various boards including the Board of Directors for the Media Office, established by the California Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons; the President’s Advisory Council for the City of Hope; the Chrysalis Foundation, and the Show Coalition.

Kerner is also a former Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers. He is the founder and former co-chairman of the Committee for the Arts of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, an organization providing legal aid to indigent performing artists, with educational programs and speakers for actors, writers, museums and visual artists groups. Kerner was member of the Planned Parenthood’s political action arm and a member of the Earth Communications Office. He currently is a member of the NRDC, Human Rights Watch, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producer’s Guild and The American Film Institute.

Jordan Kerner is a graduate of Stanford University with an A.B. with distinction in political science and communications. He also received a joint graduate degree from both the University of California at Berkeley with an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business (including an emphasis in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy) and University of California at San Francisco, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and founder of COMM/ENT The Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law.

He and his wife, Nicola O’Shea, have three daughters, Haley, Grace and Lily; a chocolate lab, Charlotte; and a cat, Lucy.

The North Carolina School of the Arts is located in Winston-Salem and is part of the University of North Carolina system. The School of the Arts, comprising schools of dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music, grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees for performing, moving image and visual artists. John Mauceri has been chancellor since June 2006.

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