ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---Starting Sunday 10 local students will take a six-day filmmaking class led by an Emerson College professor who heads a project dedicated to conveying an accurate picture of the city in the United States.
Public affairs professor Gregory Payne will lead the class with the assistance of Michael McManus, an independent television and film producer. Emerson college students and alumni also participate
Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, is supplying Panasonic HD cameras, Apple laptops, and other equipment for the local and high school and college students. The LA Program, a private international student exchange, also assists.
Payne and others donate their time for the class and there is no cost to students or to Rosarito. The hotel donates facilities, lodging and food.
During the intensive six-day class students will stay and study at the hosting Rosarito Beach Hotel while completing short films about Rosarito. Those will be shown Sunday evening Aug. 30 at Baja Studios, where Titanic and Master & Commander were filmed.
This is the second year of the project, held in conjunction with Payne’s ongoing class project RediscoveRosarito (website: RediscoveRosarito.org)
“Last year we had a great group of Rosarito students who produced some fine short films conveying the image of the city they know well,” Payne said. “I am excited to be doing it again.”
Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres is a strong supporter of the projects.
“Dr. Payne through the RediscoveRosarito project and the film project has been a great friend and supporter of Rosarito,” Torres said. “The city is very appreciative of the ongoing efforts of the professor, his colleagues and students.”
Payne, whose family has a vacation home in Rosarito and who has visited the city for years, said he started the RediscoveRosartio project because much of the media coverage he was seeing in the U.S. was not giving an accurate picture of life in area.
He said that much of the coverage of the Mexican government’s crackdown on drug cartels has created the misperception that Rosarito is unsafe for residents and visitors, and has had a devastating effect on the region’s economy.
"Some of the coverage I was seeing in the U.S. was responsible and balanced, especially from media who knew the area best,” he said.
“But a number of stories, including some from large national media outlets, perpetuated an image of the area that simply was not reflective o the reality of life here. Sensationalism and simplification too often were the main elements in the reporting."
The RediscoveRosarito website contains a media watch component among other elements.
The project’s mission statement is “to sustain a grassroots, international coalition between students from Emerson College in Boston, local leaders of Rosarito Beach, and others dedicated to restoring the image of Rosarito Beach as a safe, secure, prime location for tourism, retirement and real estate investment.”
“Through the project, we want to bring the perception in line with the reality,” Payne said. “Like places everywhere, Rosarito is neither perfect nor without problems. But it is an outstanding city and a welcoming one to its many visitors and expatriate residents.”
He added: “Mayor Torres has put some excellent services in place for visitors and foreign residents that you will not find even in major tourist destinations in the United States.”
Payne is an associate professor and former chair of Emerson College's Department of Communication Studies. He is Director of the Center for Ethics in Political and Health Communication, which he co-founded in 1996.
Payne holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is co-author of The Impossible Dream, a biography of former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.
Joining Payne as instructor this year is Michael McManus, who has won a best actor from Campus MovieFest and produced a film that was finalist in national competition. He also is an alumnus of Emerson.