Film dept director’s pending contract affecting projects

The “uncertain” renewal of the professional services contract of Northern Marianas College film department acting director Butch Wolf has reportedly stalled certain projects and grants, including a documentary on the 60th anniversary of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian.

Marian Methner, a member of the 60th anniversary committee, said during the NMC board meeting Friday that the start of project on oral history has to wait “until this thing [Wolf’s status with NMC] is sorted out.”

She said that NMC’s clear position on the matter would help them decide whether to contract out Wolf independently or together with NMC, being its film department head.

NMC small business center development director Eric Plisnke acknowledged during the same meeting that “it’s really creating a problem.”

Wolf himself dared the NMC board during the Friday meeting to tell him directly whether NMC remains committed to partnering with him or not.

Wolf said that information reaching him indicate that the board favors cutting the program by fall this year.

“It has dragged a little bit… We’d appreciate it if you tell us now your plan so we could move on. We’d need a yes or no answer,” he said.

The board discussed the matter in an executive session.

After the meeting, the board referred the matter to the NMC leadership, citing that it is up to the administration to look for funding to keep the program.

Before the executive meeting, NMC board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said the board never decided to terminate the program by fall. She noted, though, that Wolf must remember that NMC is facing a budget shortfall and cannot guarantee funding for the program.

She cited that the board’s creation of the program as a department was predicated on the availability of funding. “The fact is there’s no funding for the program,” she said.

King-Hinds noted that, although Gov. Juan N. Babauta has pledged his full support for the program, he never included in his 2005 budget proposal funding for the needed four FTEs for the program.

The college hired Wolf to head its newly created film and TV department.

Wolf, who won an Emmy Award for best sound for the movie “Hunt for Red October,” used to work with NMC as a business partner and instructor at the NMC/Pacific Rim Academy’s film and TV school.

NMC said Wolf is still the best man for the job because of his expertise in the field.

His appointment as chair came as the NMC Board of Regents approved the move to make the contractual program a separate department within the college.

In a board meeting last March, NMC officials projected that the college would lose the film and TV joint program by June this year if it is not made into a department.

PRA has reportedly been incurring huge losses under its contractual partnership with NMC.

Meantime, NMC acting president Tony Deleon Guerrero said that Wolf’s contract will be renewed soon. He said the program can sustain itself because it gets funding by doing projects.