Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Newhouse students, alumni help make a wish come true

Wednesday, September 8, 2010, By Wendy S. Loughlin
Share
Newhouse School of Public Communications

Local resident Jake Fair, 14, has always dreamed of writing and starring in his own movie. That dream became a reality this summer with the help of students and alumni from the Newhouse School’s Television-Radio-Film (TRF) department.

makeawishIt all started in May, when TRF Chair Michael Schoonmaker received a call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York. Fair, who has cystic fibrosis, had an idea for an action film—his title was “Jewel of a Thousand Suns”—and he needed help. Schoonmaker mentioned the idea to his son Vaughn ’08, a TRF alumnus who had just wrapped up production on a project for MTV. Vaughn made the trip to Fair’s hometown of Chittenango to hammer out the script with Fair and find a crew.

One month later, more than a dozen TRF students and alumni professionals teamed up with area professionals to put together “the movie-making experience of a lifetime,” according to Schoonmaker, complete with elaborate sets, zombie make-up, colorful wardrobe, special effects and action stunts. Newhouse provided studio space, cameras and other production space for the project.

“It was so inspiring not only to see our students applying their talents to such a heartfelt cause, but also the way they came together with so many people from the local community,” Schoonmaker says. The crew wrapped up filming in August.

The film will premiere with a red carpet event on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. at the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center. Free tickets are available at the Schine Student Center Box Office.

For more information, contact Schoonmaker at (315) 443-9240.

  • Author

Wendy S. Loughlin

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Stage Concludes 2024-25 Season With ‘The National Pastime’
    Wednesday, June 4, 2025, By Joanna Penalva
  • Japan’s Crackdown on ‘Shiny’ Names Sparks Cultural Reflection
    Tuesday, June 3, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • Newhouse Professor Robert Thompson Featured on ‘NBC Nightly News’ for Pop Culture Lecture Series
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars Produce Information Literacy Collab Journal
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Trip to Atlanta Gives Falk Students ‘Real-World’ Opportunities and Connections
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By Matt Michael

More In Media, Law & Policy

Newhouse Professor Robert Thompson Featured on ‘NBC Nightly News’ for Pop Culture Lecture Series

Newhouse School and University Professor Bob Thompson was recently featured on “NBC Nightly News” for his long-running lecture series that uses classic television to bridge generational divides and spark important conversation. The segment, produced by NBC’s Brian Cheung ’15—a University…

Newhouse Creative Advertising Students Win Big at Sports and Entertainment Clios

For the first time ever, Newhouse creative advertising students entered the Sports Clios and Entertainment Clios competitions and won big. Clios are regarded as some of the hardest awards for creative advertising students to win. At the New York City…

Memorial Fund Honors Remarkable Journalism Career, Supports Students Involved With IDJC

Maxwell School alumna Denise Kalette ’68 got her first byline at age 12, under a poem titled “The Poor Taxpayer” that she submitted to her local newspaper. In a few paragraphs of playful prose, she drew attention to an issue…

New Maymester Program Allows Student-Athletes to Develop ‘Democracy Playbook’

Fourteen student-athletes will experience Washington, D.C., next week as part of a new Maymester program hosted by the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC). The one-week program, Democracy Playbook: DC Media and Civics Immersion for Student-Athletes, will…

Advance Local, Newhouse School Launch Investigative Reporting Fellowship Program

A new collaboration with Advance Local will provide Newhouse School journalism students opportunities to write and report on investigative projects with local impact for newsrooms across the country. The David Newhouse Investigative Reporting Fellowship program, which launched this year in…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.