SARASOTA – Ringling College of Art and Design has announced that it will host visiting director and writer Oren Moverman and actor Ben Foster this month as part of the College’s Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab program.

Moverman and Foster will work with Ringling College Digital Filmmaking students as part of the Lab’s collaborative orientation toward driving direct creative interaction between students and film industry luminaries.

Moverman and Foster recently worked together on “The Messenger,” which received two Academy Award nominations – Best Original Screenplay (Moverman co-wrote the film) and Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson.) The duo will work with students on campus on Thursday, March 24th, with a press briefing planned for 2 p.m. at the Ann and Alfred Goldstein Center.

At 7:30 pm that evening, the Sarasota Film Society will offer a free showing of Mr. Moverman’s Bob Dylan biopic ‘I’m Not There’ as part of the ongoing ‘Ringling Reels and Retrospectives’ series at Burns Court Cinema. On Friday, March 25th at 10pm the Film Society will screen Ben Foster’s “Pandorum.” The screenings are co-sponsored by the Sarasota County Film Commission and are free and open to the general public.

Moverman’s expertise as a writer and director aligns well with the foundation of the Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab’s focus on ‘Story’ as the cornerstone of filmmaking. Story drives everything in film – the script, production design, directing, cinematography, editing, marketing, etc.

“Story goes to the heart of what our industry will always need — no matter how the technology changes and advances,” said Ringling College Digital Filmmaking Department Head Bradley Battersby “Just as it is today with current industry leaders like Jim Cameron, Steven Spielberg and Brad Bird, the best storytellers are destined to be the future leaders of our art and industry. At Ringling our focus is on teaching to create great story and then reinforcing it with the best production tools, techniques and technologies available to bring these stories to life.”

The Ringling College Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab, launched this past January in association with Future Films, LLC, brings some of the world’s most renowned filmmakers, producers and film industry leaders to Sarasota to work collaboratively with Ringling students on learning the process of motion picture and television development. Industry luminaries that have lectured as part of the Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab include director Werner Herzog, who inaugurated the Lab in January, and producer Paul Schiff, who screened his new film starring Michael Douglas, ‘Solitary Man,’ for students and donors. Ringling College President Larry Thompson and Producer Paul Schiff recently discussed the Digital Filmmaking Lab on air with SW Florida National Public Radio News Manager Amy Tardif. The interview is accessible at http://wgcu.org/audioplayer/6665.aspx.

For more information on the program, including signing up for program updates, go to www.ringling.edu.