"I don't know anyone from MSU who isn't a hard worker, who has had anything handed to them." --Chris Mangano

Just ask Chris Mangano, 25, a 2005 graduate and one of hundreds of Montana State University graduates who have packed their student films, awards and a dream or two, and journeyed from the scholarly university community of Bozeman to L.A., that most infamous of American company towns.

Once they get there, they may not find the movie business waiting for them with open arms. But Mangano and the countless other Montanans who have ventured on the Bozeman-Hollywood highway say they do find their MSU roots are one of their most important assets.

"For the MSU kids, it's not about Hollywood. It's about us," says Mangano. He works as a personal assistant for veteran Hollywood producer David Permut.

"People from Montana know that a lot of people from Montana don't have it made and so they are willing to help others. It sort of sets us apart."

Indeed, in that city where story is essential, work is everything and who you know is a primary way toward that end, MSU graduates stick together, according to Paul Monaco, longtime MSU film professor.

There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.      -- Seneca

Monaco estimates that about 25 students in each MSU film class (about 45 students each year) find their way to L.A. within two years to work in some aspect of the film industry. Monaco has been watching MSU graduates venture to Southern California for decades and he's observed that there are basically three generations of MSU film graduates that have made the migration. The first is the generation of legendary director John Dahl, who graduated from MSU in the 1970s and is known for such films as Rounders and Red Rock West. Dahl is considered one of MSU's most successful film graduates. The second generation is the vintage of Brian Van't Hul, a 1987 graduate, who was part of a team that won an Oscar in 2006 for visual effects in King Kong. And now there is an energetic crop of recent graduates.

"I think one of the unusual strengths of this department is the way in which students bond," Monaco said. "And it's always been like that. It's sort of a neat twist in the story."

"We're all in the trenches"

It is just after 9 a.m., the coastal fog has yet to burn off and most of L.A.'s movers and shakers are still at the gym or maybe at Peet's picking up an Americano. Mangano has already spent a couple of hours in a Century City high rise where Permut Presentations is housed in a small office suite as gray as the weather outside.

Century City is a world away from Bozeman and its laid-back fleece and jeans skier vibe. In the two years since Mangano arrived, he has made the transition easily. His hair is styled, his appearance sharp and his performance flawless as he gracefully fields a steady stream of calls and mans the small reception area.

Permut has recently released the film Charlie Bartlett and is in the thick of producing Youth in Revolt, a coming-of-age comedy based on the novel by C. D. Payne. The film will star Michael Cera, who is hot off Superbad and Juno. So, Mangano, a film buff originally from North Bend, Wash., has a ringside seat on how big films get made in Hollywood.

When Mangano first came to L.A. he worked on The Hills Have Eyes II, then as a production assistant working with Wes Craven. Patrick Markey, the sometime Bozeman/Livingston resident who produced Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It, met Mangano in Montana while both were working to get tax incentives for film productions passed in the state legislature. Markey, who was working with Permut on Youth in Revolt, told Mangano about the opening in Permut's organization.

Mangano, who would like to direct one day, says he is learning a lot on the job with Permut, who has a long career producing hits that began with Richard Pryor Live in Concert and Face Off, among others.

"I don't know anyone from MSU who isn't a hard worker, who has had anything handed to them," said Mangano, currently a member of MTA's Alumni Advisory Council. "We are all in the trenches. The thing is, we will fight until one of us makes it and we'll help each other out."

Return to regular view	Text-only              Email this article	Published: 5/2/2008