Conversations with Olympia Dukakis
Thursday, October 21, at 9 pm
Rebroadcast: Sunday October 24, at noon
On NJN Public Television

STATEWIDE – NJN presents Conversations with Olympia Dukakis – the first in a series of programs produced by Montclair State University that focuses on the lives of New Jersey ’s most creative artists. Conversations with Olympia Dukakis features New Jersey’s own Academy Award and Golden Globe winner and the star of Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias. Dukakis sits with host Geoffrey Newman, Dean of the School of the Arts at Montclair State University, answering his questions and responding to questions from an interactive audience. Conversations airs on NJN on Thursday, October 21, at 9 pm and Sunday, October 24, at noon, and can be seen on NJN’s digital channel; please check the web site at njn.net for dates and times.

Dukakis, an intriguing and engaging guest, discusses her life and work experiences with insight and wit. “It’s not like life [acting], you know. If you’re having an argument or a love scene . . . you don’t know where [the argument is] going to go or what’s going to happen to [the love scene]. But on the stage you do know. And because you know where it’s going to end . . . you can risk going fully into it because there isn’t the unexpected that will happen to you. You won’t ultimately be totally humiliated or abandoned.”

Before Dukakis became an award-winning actor, she was a teacher. And before appearing in movies, she appeared on stage . When pressed for advice she responds by saying that you have to “try to be as honest with yourself as possible.”

“I have an endless curiosity about acting. I do. I love the process . . . it’s a revelation about something. So I’m always curious . . . I am curious about the ways actors handle a lot of different things: the public aspect of it, the fear of it, the comradery of it.”

“NJN is always excited and eager to work with our academic community: encouraging aspiring producers and young artists, sharing our experiences and knowledge with them, and providing assistance to help them learn the craft of producing programs,” states Elizabeth Christopherson , executive director of NJN Public Television and Radio. “We were delighted with the opportunity to work in partnership with Montclair State University to highlight Olympia Dukakis – a consummate artist and contributor to the community – in an interview with Geoffrey Newman.”

The production of Conversations is a story of its own. The program was produced through a collaboration of MSU’s Department of Broadcasting and Division of Arts & Cultural Programming. According to Dr. Susan A. Cole, president of MSU, "The university has embarked on a long-term initiative to make its extraordinary arts programming more accessible to the public, and partnership with NJN is just a natural." Most of the technical and production crew were students from the MSU Department of Broadcasting who were trained by Jeff Friedman who directed the program and is station manager of NJN’s Newark Studio and executive producer.

Key creative staff from the School of the Arts at Montclair State University includes Geoffrey Newman , Dean School of the Arts (host), Larry Londino , Chair, Department of Broadcasting (executive producer), John Wooten , School of the Arts (producer) Patty Piroh, Producer/Director, Department of Broadcasting (coordinating producer) and Zlatka Andorova , 2004 MSU Alumna, (video editor & camera operator)