Cheri is amazing, and oh boy this class is a must-take! I took her several times for both 54 and Pilot Writing and love how inspirational, caring, and excited she is. It was great to hear stories and advice from industry professionals, many of which went to UCSB. As long as you show up and participate in the writing assignments you'll do well.
I'm 100% in the minority in feeling this way but this class was unbearable and Cheri really irritated me as a facilitator of these interviewers. People who came + talked just loved hearing their own voices -- made it so difficult to come up with things to write in class for credit. Cheri loved inserting her own experience + feelings unnecessarily.
This was hands-down my favorite class last quarter. The only unfortunate thing about it is the time - Friday evenings - it's not the best. But the class is so inspirational, Steinkellner interviews industry professionals in a super engaging way. Anyone who wants to work in entertainment should take it.
FAMST54 was such a fun class! i would take it again in a heartbeat, easy way to add units to your course load. the only assignments are thank you notes for the midterm and final, and lecture absences can be made up easily. if you're interested in the film industry this is a great class to take, i loved it!
Steinkellner is a really interesting and respectable person, and FAMST54 was a super cool class. As a non film major I learned a lot about the film industry and actually enjoyed all of the guest speakers. Cheri is a great interviewer, and the work is super easy, just dont forget to do it on time. You get to meet tons of writers/producers/etc.
Prof. Steinkellner is truly a gem. Her cheerful energy is contagious and I always left class feeling refreshed, inspired, and content. She helped cultivate my passion for creative literature and greatly improved my writing skills. This class was very therapeutic and I would recommend anyone to take it.
This class is amazing. The guests are always very enjoyable and she is great at interviewing them. The stories you get to hear are always wonderful and inspiring. I was always excited to go to class each week. Only have short form posts about your thoughts, 3 takeaways during the lecture, and thank you notes for the guests as midterm and final.
Cheri is fantastic. Fascinating panels with film/media industry professionals. She is an inspiring industry professional in her own right (she basically made the TV show Cheers), and she is eager to help other students along in their careers. Easy A. She is also hilarious and super down to earth, definitely take her class!!
I love this professor! She is so sweet and always a joy to hear from! Super interesting class too, we heard from some cool guests, and going to class felt like something I wanted to do rather than had to do. Would recommend!
The only assignments we had was discussion posts (and 2 replies). The midterm was 4 thank you notes to the first guest speakers and the final was thank you notes to the remaining guest speakers. Very easy.
I love this woman! Made me feel hope for post-grad life and challenged me... never thought I'd be doing stand-up. Class mandatory for class exercises (this IS comedy writing), and the 18 of us formed a really close bond. No assignments, just posting actings vids every other week. I almost dropped it bc I cannot act, but I really grew in here.
Prof. Steinkellner was an absolute joy to learn from and talk to. I cannot stress enough how caring she is to her students, how passionate she is about writing, and how her words have stuck with me halfway into a new quarter. Take a class with her by any means necessary.
The homework is a lot more than you'd expect from a pass/no pass class (even if it doesn't really feel like work), but Professor Steinkellner is a real expert on writing. She provides a lot of helpful encouragement and advice. Plus, who wouldn't want to take a class from someone with that many Emmy awards?
She is so so kind. Most of the zoom meetings she just talked about mindfulness and kind of felt like therapy haha. Wasn't too much discussion on the guests that are interviewed on Fridays, so as long as you log into the zoom you shouldn't have to pay attention unless you're interested. Easy A.
This class was a lot of fun and helped me to alleviate a lot of stress personally. I would definitely recommend taking this class as an easy elective class.
Kept my eyes open the entire class, even when I had a headache, I popped an advil and kept my eyes peeled. The class was so easy it was the first time I ever got 100%'s on all my assignments. Extra credit was always available as wiggle room for students who didn't perform as well, making this class hard to fail.
Cheri is so caring and provides her students with extra credit opportunities and make-up opportunities if they tell her whats going on. I loved having this class and wish Cheri the best in all future endeavors. Shes a very talented teacher and writer and a wonderful woman.
FAMST was an easy A+! I got extra credit and therefore the A+ by writing long, genuine, heartfelt notes for each speaker. Every Friday night, I would return to my dorm after class and do the thank-you note or notes immediately so when they were due, I was already done and just had to turn them in. I learned so much and got to meet cool people!
She's so kind and caring, really wants the class to succeed. Attendance is mandatory, but it's only once a week. Some of the guests she brought in were ok but others really stood out. For the midterm and final all you have to do is turn in thank you notes. Definitely take this class before leaving UCSB.
This class is all about having different people from the Hollywood industry come in and do an interview with Cherie. Attendance is mandatory. There is a worksheet to fill out each class. There was a TA, Gustavo, constantly running around enforcing the no sleep and no phone rule which made it hard to focus on the guest speakers and professor.
Cool professor, super chipper. She had good questions for the guest lecturers, her own work background is amazing as well. She is very happy and kind. Always smiling. Assignments and attendance drove the course, couldn't skip a day or an assignment.
Cherie provides the class with not only an insight into the industry itself, but she also teaches how to build strong characters and how to work through a 30 minute script.
GREAT class! Each class, Cherie brings in a successful person from the Hollywood film industry and interviews them. Your grade is based entirely off the EASY 3 question quiz at the end of class (for attendance points), and your personalized thank you notes for each speaker (your 'midterm' and 'final'). Some people are boring, but some are so great.
54 is a great class for film and media majors. It really opens your eyes up to all of the paths you can take after graduation. It can slow down and get a bit boring at times, but for the most part it's interesting and fun.