ENTERTAINMENT

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GOING PLACES I-7

WEEK OF
SEPT. 15-21

SPECIAL EVENTS

COMEDY CASTLE
Berkley, Dennis
Wolfberg, tax-deductible
donation benefits
Kadima Jewish
residential care, informal
buffet and cash bar, 7
p.m. Sunday, 542-9900.
SOMERSET MALL
2801 W. Big Beaver
Road, Troy, Egyptian
Master Rug Weavers,
tour and demonstration,
through Sunday, free,
643-6360.

COMEDY

Val Sklar: working on the Detroit set of Presumed Innocent.

Glenn Triest

BEHIND THE SCENES

Val Sklar has worked as a free-
lance production and camera
assistant for some of
Hollywood's top bananas.

STEVEN M. HARTZ

Special to The Jewish News

A

s a senior at
Michigan State
University in
1985, Val Sklar
and her racquet-
ball partner were terrors on
the court, winning the state
championship and finishing
first in doubles play. Last
month, Sklar, a resident of
Farmington Hills, faced her
latest match — not on the
court but in the courtroom,
working as a camera assis-
tant for the soon-to-be-
released movie Presumed In-
nocent, starring Harrison
Ford.
"I've been interested in film
since I was a kid," she said.
"While at MSU, I wanted to
produce sports shows. In my
senior year, I was offered a
production internship at
WDIV for the Detroit Tigers'
telecasts, but I turned it down
because they needed me to

start in the spring, and I
wanted to finish school."
When she graduated in
1985, Sklar accepted another
production internship at
WDIV, working on "Saturday
Night Music Machine," which
whetted her interest in pro-
ducing music videos. After six
months on the job, Sklar left
WDIV, deciding she'd rather
free-lance as a production
assistant."' really loved work-
ing on the show, but I just
went nuts working in an of-
fice. I was so bored."
As a free-lance production
assistant, Sklar worked on a
music video for the rock band
Black Foot; a television
special, "Motown in
Show-town"; Cinemax's cable
program "Sessions," with
James Brown, Aretha
Franklin, Robert Palmer and
Joe Cocker; industrial films
for Ford Motor Company and
Domino's Pizza; and many
television commercials, in-
cluding the Michigan State
Lottery and K mart.

The summer of 1987, Sklar
worked on her first motion
picture, the yet-to-be-released
Collision Course, shot in
Detroit, starring Pat Morita
and Jay Leno.
"They were great," Sklar
said of the movie's stars. "Pat
was incredibly nice to the
crew. We were shooting a
scene that he wasn't in late
one night, and he came by the
set at three in the morning
and brought the crew ribs and
beer."
After working for two years
as a production assistant,
Sklar wanted to try another
angle of filmmaking. "While
shooting Collision Course, I
became friends with the
camera crew. Their work
seemed so interesting. It was
like, 'This is it. I want to work
with the camera.' It always
looked like a really fun job. I
did a lot of stills in college. I
was always interested in the
visual."
Her first assignment as a
free-lance camera assistant
came in September 1987,
shooting an industrial film
for Chrysler. She worked as
the second camera assistant.
Since then, Sklar has work-
ed as a camera assistant on
numerous projects, including
"The Rolling Stone Anniver-

sary TV Special," and several
television commercials, in-
cluding D.O.C., Lotus sports
car, WNIC, Meijer Thrifty
Acres, Empire of Araerica and
a regional Coke spot in
Philadelphia, featuring
former NBA player Dr. J.
As a camera assistant, she
is responsible for loading
magazines, the film cases
that attach to the camera,
changing lenses and filters,
focusing the camera as the ac-

tion is going on without look-
ing through it and handling
all the other camera
maintenance. "It's a very
technical job, and I love it,"
she said.
Her other film credits in-
clude the yet-to-be-released
Chameleon Street, which was
filmed in Flint by Prismatic
Images and took nearly five
•months to complete;
American Beauty, a German

FOX AND HOUNDS
1560 Woodward,
Bloomfield Hills, The
Ron Coden Show, 8:30
p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, through
September, free,
644-4800.
COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley,
Thom Sharp, today and
Saturday, admission,
542-9900.

THEATER

FISHER THEATER
3011 W. Grand Blvd.,
Detroit, Les Miserables,
through Nov. 26,
admission, 872-1000.
FOX THEATER
Detroit, Fiddler on the
Roof; Tuesday through
Sept. 24, admission,
567-7314.
HENRY FORD
MUSEUM AND
GREENFIELD
VILLAGE
Henry Ford Museum
Theater, Dearborn, The
Royal Family, through
Sunday, admission,
271-1620.
RIDGEDALE
PLAYERS
205 W. Long Lake Road,
Troy, There is a Beautiful
Land, Saturday and
Sunday, admission,
644-8328.
MARQUIS THEATER
135 E. Main Street,
Northville, The Foreigner,
through Sept. 24,
admission, 349-8110.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

77

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