Oscar and Tony Award-nominated actor, screenwriter and director Ethan Hawke visited Ringling College of Art and Design this week, where he met with students, led a master class and discussed the possibility of future projects with the college. Hawke, known for his numerous collaborations with acclaimed director Richard Linklater (including Boyhood) and his Oscar-nominated turn in Training Day opposite Denzel Washington, recently worked with four Ringling College interns on his latest film Blaze, about cult musician Blaze Foley, which he wrote and directed and is set to release in 2018. Yesterday afternoon, Hawke took a moment with SRQ to talk about the joy of working with students, breaking into film and the future of production.

SRQ: You taught a master class yesterday. Why did you want to take the time to work with students and what were you hoping to impart? Hawke: That expression is dubious. The whole idea of a master class is not really a title I feel I deserve. But I love being around students. Students have idealism in their eyes and in their questions and in their energy. The way that they look at the profession that I’ve dedicated my life to is with the eyes of somebody who really sees the best in it and they see so much hope in it. One of the things that is amazing after 30 years of being an artist in the professional world is surviving all of the whips and scorns of professionalism, meaning reducing everything to finance or some lowest common denominator. I love being around students and I find that one of the most surprising things about getting older is the joy I get from being around young people.

Is that energy why you brought four Ringling students on board your latest film, Blaze? I love the idea of incorporating school and work and apprenticeship, and exposing young people [to the world]. A lot of young people, particularly with film, have these ideas of what Hollywood is. People are often shocked to find out that I live in New York. They have this idea that Hollywood is something you can touch, as if it’s a real thing. And it’s not. It’s imaginative. There is no "they." Exposing students to real life work helps break down that wall and helps them see that they too can be Hollywood. What I love about schools and education is that it’s a place where you’re not forced to compete in a commercial world, but you’re forced to compete to educate yourself. Just because you may not feel you have permission to enter this universe, that is the way everyone feels. All of us are scared to have permission. You have to decide if you think the arts have value. And if you believe that any movie or any performance or any painting or any dance or any song has value, then it’s a worthy attempt to try and make such a thing. Then it’s up to the universe.

Do aspiring filmmakers still need to be in New York or LA to get something made? No. One of my great collaborations is with Richard Linklater and he’s proved that fact. You’re often better off where your roots are. [Linklater] made Slacker in 1991 and he hasn’t left Austin. And he’s conquered the cinema world from Austin. We live in a really exciting time period, where those rules about where you’re supposed to be just don’t exist anymore. One of the things that I think is exciting about what this school is doing is trying to bring people who are working into the student environment. As they do that, they’ll start to see that you are in charge of your own destiny. Everybody is. Use the resources that you have, that are specific to you. Be yourself.

Check upcoming issues of SRQ magazine for the full interview.

Pictured: Ethan Hawke talks to reporters at Ringling College. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Editor’s Note: This is part ten of an ongoing series documenting the flights of active-duty US Navy Pilot Ryan Rankin on his journey to fly 52 planes in 52 weeks through the year 2017.

Flying out of Flager Beach, FL, Rankin finds himself behind the controls of a Nanchang CJ-6, an aircraft of Chinese design and manufacture first introduced in 1958. Alongside is the aircraft’s owner, Hank Gibson, a former Navy pilot. They’ll only be up there for about 40 minutes or so, but the Nanchang can be tricky.

Pleasing to the eye, the Nanchang sports a symmetrically satisfying radial engine out front. Big, heavy, round and prevalent in the World War II era, this old-style piston engine and its sputtering explosions has largely been replaced by sleek jet engines and turbines, but are not altogether gone. “They’re still used today,” says Rankin, “but it’s more a vintage thing.” And it’s nothing Rankin hasn’t seen before.

The Nanchang offers other surprises, however, such as a pneumatic system within the craft to control landing gear, brakes and similar mechanical functions. Most American and European designs use compressed fluid in a hydraulic system. Charged by the engine, the pneumatic system of the Nanchang uses compressed air instead, something Rankin found out when the plane started hissing on the runway. “Very neat,” he says. “It has a very mechanical, steampunk feel to it.”

But the tricky part doesn’t come from the radial engine and it doesn’t come from the pneumatics. It doesn’t even come from the instrument readouts measuring in different units than Rankin is used to. The real trick in piloting a Nanchang after flying American planes for years is that the propeller spins in the opposite direction. It fulfills the same function, but reverses what is called the p-factor—when the rotation of the propeller on the body of the plane pulls the nose in a certain direction. Pilots compensate by manipulating the right or left rudder as they increase power to the propeller. It becomes instinct and second nature, but is dependent on which direction the propeller spins. “You pick it up,” Rankin says, “but it takes some time.”

Beyond that, in the cockpit the Nanchang has a stick, a throttle and rudder control. “And that’s a language I speak,” says Rankin. The same principles of flight apply, it’s just a matter of adjusting to the particulars. Taking the training craft for some light aerobatics and shooting the breeze with Gibson about Navy days, the only additional peccadillo is a bit of a heavy nose that requires some extra elevation coming out of maneuvers.

For more about the flight in Rankin’s own words and a video of the flight, follow the link below. 

Pictured: Ryan Rankin (left) and Hank Gibson fly the Nanchang CJ-6. Photo courtesy of Ryan Rankin.

Ryan Flies

Evelyn & Arthur, a local boutique with fashion for women of all ages, marries the elegance and usefulness of pashminas with supporting local charities—a program that has become a signature for the shop. Each month, sales of specially colored E&A pashminas support a local nonprofit with 100 percent of the proceeds donated; Evelyn & Arthur also works with customers to sell the wraps in support of additional causes near and dear to their hearts. For the month of March, the pashmina sports an orange tone to recognize the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. Not only do these hand-woven shawls support powerful causes, they are comfortably cute and on-trend.  

Evelyn & Arthur, 1480 Main St., Sarasota, 941-365-2210.

What is more visually attractive—the view of Sarasota’s Intracoastal waterway or the towering stack of spicy tuna from Marina Jack Restaurant? Let’s make this easy—just go to Marina Jack and find out for yourself.  The spicy tuna stack is just as good as it looks—beautifully layered with fresh yellowfin tuna tossed with Sriracha hot sauce, wasabi Asian slaw, creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber and salty seaweed salad, and accented with a sweet soy caramel sauce for a dramatic presentation and flavor. Taste the ocean while overlooking the ocean with this light and spectacular appetizer.  

Marina Jack Restaurant, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota, 941-365-4232.

Mote Marine Laboratory has added Karen Stults as the new director of foundation relations. Stults will increase visibility and support for Mote by creating, maintaining and expanding opportunities for the nonprofit marine research lab to partner with individual, family and corporate foundations in support of Mote's current and future goals. Stults has over 25 years of nonprofit fundraising and management experience. She comes to Mote from Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art, where she raised significant funds for the organization and built the college’s first Office of Community Engagement. She has held executive and fundraising positions with a range of policy advocacy organizations in Washington, DC, including the Center for Community Change, YouthAction Inc. and the Center for Environmental Health and Justice. 

Mote Marine

The Loveland Village a nonprofit that provides educational, vocational and residential programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, recently received a $7,500 grant from the Hospital Volunteers of Venice, a nonprofit organization associated with Venice Regional Medical Center. The grant will benefit Loveland Village's EmployAbilities program. The program helps individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities seek, secure and maintain employment with local businesses. Supported employment specialists currently serve 36 employees and partner with dozens of local businesses that have committed to inclusive workplaces. The program continues to grow as more individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities seek competitive employment in the community. 

Loveland Center

The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM) presented a $5,000 donation to Manatee County Habitat for Humanity. This donation supports construction projects for the 2017 Women Build events. A check was presented by 2017 RASM President Xena Vallone at Manatee Habitat’s International Women’s Day Luncheon on March 8. An initiative of the National Habitat for Humanity, Manatee Habitat’s Women Build program encourages women to come together to learn, build and advocate for decent, affordable housing in their community. In addition to RASM’s donation, members will support Manatee Habitat by volunteering at home builds throughout the year. Each year, the RASM Community Outreach Committee selects community projects to partner with as part of the RASM Gives Back program. Manatee County Habitat for Humanity is a 2017 project, along with Habitat for Humanity Sarasota, The Blessing Bags Project, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, Children’s Healthy Pantry, Feeding Empty Little Tummies (F.E.L.T), Heroes Welcome Home, Keep Sarasota County Beautiful, The Tiny Hands Foundation, Sarasota YMCA and Special Olympics Bradenton. 

RASM