In addition to making feature films, Pete Shaner teaches directing and movie production at UCLA Extension, emphasizing the use of digital media. He graduated from USC film school with a commitment to finding ways to tell his own stories without having to submit to the creative compromises imposed by the Hollywood studio system. In pursuit of his dream, he formed his own production company in the mid-nineties, raising nearly half a million dollars to produce, write, and direct his first feature film, a romantic comedy called Lover’s Knot. Produced on 35mm film and released in 1996, this venture actually made money for its investors. (You can buy the VHS on Amazon.com.) Pete was well into preproduction for his second film when he heard about the CineAlta, a new high-definition, 24-frames-per-second video camcorder that Sony was developing for George Lucas. Pete arranged to rent the camera as a kind of beta test and shot Nicolas, a romantic thriller, before Lucas used it to make Star Wars: Episode II. With image quality rivaling what he could have achieved on 35mm film, but produced at a fraction of the cost, working digitally gave Pete a creative freedom he couldn’t have afforded otherwise, and he was hooked.