Melvin Sloan(1923-2010)
- Editor
- Writer
- Editorial Department
Melvin Sloan grew up in the Bronx, moving to Los Angeles in 1940 to study
filmmaking at USC. With the outbreak of World War II, he interrupted
his studies and joined the military in March 1943. He was stationed in
Los Angeles and assigned to work in a film production unit under the
direction of Pare Lorentz. Working with Lloyd Nosler, editor of the
1925 version of Ben Hur, his duties included editing aerial briefing
films.
Following the end of the war, he returned to USC to complete his undergraduate degree in filmmaking. Shortly thereafter, Sloan (who insisted his students call him by his first name) partnered with Herb Farmer, Dave Johnson, Gene Moriarity and Dan Wiegand. This group, which Moriarity jokingly referred to as the "Unholy Five," was instrumental in the creation of the school's production curriculum. Over the next 51 years, Sloan taught a wide variety of courses for both undergraduates and graduates, including classes in his specialty, editing. Thousands of USC cinema students studied under Sloan, and he influenced filmmakers Irvin Kershner, Randal Kleiser, George Lucas, Walter Murch, Gary Rydstrom and Robert Zemeckis, to name just a few.
Sloan influenced the evolution of the beginning 290 Visual Communication course from a lecture class into a team-taught hands-on Beginning Film Workshop. Film students used simple cameras and editing equipment to produce five to seven short films every semester. In addition, students wrote, in about 25 words, what they were trying to say in their film and why they wanted to say it. Faculty and fellow students critiqued the films and the various-and often differing-perspectives provided valuable feedback and insight for the developing filmmakers.
From the late 1940s to the 70s, in addition to teaching, Sloan also worked on documentaries and ethnographic films, two relatively new film genres at the time. In 1947-48, he worked as a producer and editor with ethnographer/cinematographer Conrad Bentzen on Mokil, a 60-minute documentary about how the people on a small and remote Micronesian atoll in the Pacific dealt with the effects of population pressures and the introduction of trade goods. Sloan also worked on some feature film productions, including Stakeout on Dope Street with producer Roger Corman, Irvin Kershner, cinematographer Haskell Wexler and production manager Gene Peterson, who later taught with Sloan.
Sloan was also very involved in the community, serving 25 years as a member of the Board of Directors for the ACLU-Southern California. He also was a training director for New Communications, a project that reached into Black, Chicano, and Native American communities to teach filmmaking, and served on the L.A. County Human Relations Commission's Communication Committee. He traveled the world (for pleasure and work) and enjoyed bonsai, square dancing and collected fine wine.
He passed away on January 12, 2010.
Following the end of the war, he returned to USC to complete his undergraduate degree in filmmaking. Shortly thereafter, Sloan (who insisted his students call him by his first name) partnered with Herb Farmer, Dave Johnson, Gene Moriarity and Dan Wiegand. This group, which Moriarity jokingly referred to as the "Unholy Five," was instrumental in the creation of the school's production curriculum. Over the next 51 years, Sloan taught a wide variety of courses for both undergraduates and graduates, including classes in his specialty, editing. Thousands of USC cinema students studied under Sloan, and he influenced filmmakers Irvin Kershner, Randal Kleiser, George Lucas, Walter Murch, Gary Rydstrom and Robert Zemeckis, to name just a few.
Sloan influenced the evolution of the beginning 290 Visual Communication course from a lecture class into a team-taught hands-on Beginning Film Workshop. Film students used simple cameras and editing equipment to produce five to seven short films every semester. In addition, students wrote, in about 25 words, what they were trying to say in their film and why they wanted to say it. Faculty and fellow students critiqued the films and the various-and often differing-perspectives provided valuable feedback and insight for the developing filmmakers.
From the late 1940s to the 70s, in addition to teaching, Sloan also worked on documentaries and ethnographic films, two relatively new film genres at the time. In 1947-48, he worked as a producer and editor with ethnographer/cinematographer Conrad Bentzen on Mokil, a 60-minute documentary about how the people on a small and remote Micronesian atoll in the Pacific dealt with the effects of population pressures and the introduction of trade goods. Sloan also worked on some feature film productions, including Stakeout on Dope Street with producer Roger Corman, Irvin Kershner, cinematographer Haskell Wexler and production manager Gene Peterson, who later taught with Sloan.
Sloan was also very involved in the community, serving 25 years as a member of the Board of Directors for the ACLU-Southern California. He also was a training director for New Communications, a project that reached into Black, Chicano, and Native American communities to teach filmmaking, and served on the L.A. County Human Relations Commission's Communication Committee. He traveled the world (for pleasure and work) and enjoyed bonsai, square dancing and collected fine wine.
He passed away on January 12, 2010.
