David Kost

Associate Professor

Film and Media Arts, Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

Expertise: Film Production; Directing; Screen Acting; Story (Story for Film)

Office Location: Marion Knott Studios 273 A

Phone: (714) 628-7366

Email: kost@chapman.edu

Scholarly Works:: Digital Commons

Education:: California State University, Long Beach, Bachelor of Arts
New York University, Master of Fine Arts

Biography

Some people love watching movies. Some love making them. Dave Kost loves both. And he brings a combination of theoretical understanding and practical knowledge to the classroom. He knows what makes a film work for an audience whether it's a big-budget feature or a student short, and he also knows exactly what it takes to go out and make either.

In the graduate program at New York University, Kost learned the importance of storytelling and creative vision. He also came to realize that resourcefulness is more important than resources. Since then he has worked professionally in almost every capacity on film and video productions of all sizes—from camera to lighting, production, sound, editing, and writing.

Kost has proven his understanding of the production/storytelling process over and over again with his award-winning short films which have been screened at festivals and distributed on television all around the world. If you watch Sundance, Bravo, IFC, Showtime, or the Sci-Fi Channel, you may have already seen some.

Kost loves teaching and mentoring and brings his all-around knowledge to both. He knows the way for students to make great short films is to look at the big picture. That means telling involved stories with a unique creative vision and strong technical execution, a winning combination, as David Kost surely knows.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications: "Ivanna Chubbuck: The Power of the Actor", is a documentary profile of Ivanna Chubbuck, arguably Hollywood's most successful acting coach. Along with clients like Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, and James Franco, she coached Halle Barry, Charlize Theron, and Jared Leto to Oscar wins. I served as cinematography as well as coproducer and editor on the film. It was released by Films For The Humanities in 2019; "The Book of Sides 2: Original 2-Page Scenes for Directors and Actors" is a collection of scenes unlike any currently available and it can improve the structure and quality of instruction in directing and acting classes. This book is a follow up to the very successful first Book of Sides and it will provide even more options in the classroom. It was published by Focal/Routledge in August of 2017. Current and former Chapman students and faculty helped in the review of the book. Current Chapman students shot the photographs used on the cover and elsewhere in the book and also served as the subjects in the photographs.; "The Book of Sides: Original Short Scenes for Directors and Actors" is a collection of scenes unlike any currently available and it can improve the structure and quality of instruction in directing and acting classes. Current and former Chapman students and faculty helped in the review of the book. Current Chapman students shot the photographs used on the cover and elsewhere in the book and also served as the subjects in the photographs.; "SId and Mel" was a 20-year old film I directed. It's original negatives had been lost so it never had the festival run most of my other short films enjoyed. Using the technology of Dodge College and employing current students to help, the film was restored and played in film festivals around the world in spite of its age.; “4.0” is a short fiction film about the pressures of grade point average and how it can get in the way of true learning and true living. It previewed at the University Film and Video Association conference in Chicago and made it's festival premiere at the Silent River Film Festival in October of 2013. The entire crew was made of Chapman film students and the entire cast was Chapman screen acting students and faculty.; Safety On Set is the definitive work on the subject of safe conduct during motion picture production. It is distributed internationally on DVD, online streaming, and downloading. The video is distributed by First Light Video Publishing (the largest publisher of instructional video for the film and video field). The cast and crew with few exceptions was made up of Chapman film students.

David Kost

Biography

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Faculty Directories by School or College