“For the past 24 years, I’ve dedicated a significant part of my life to teaching about the industry - whether that be in writing for various magazines, or in any number of workshops, seminars and lectures I’ve given over the years. It’s extremely important to me to share the knowledge and experience I’ve earned with tomorrow’s filmmakers.”
“Jay’s hands-on, very interactive tutorial on narrative lighting, was packed with useful information and delivered in a style which was both engaging and inclusive. I left the studio with new ideas buzzing in my head, and a strong desire to try them out for myself, ASAP!”
“I’ve had the pleasure taking Jay’s lighting and digital cinematography courses. Jay is a very knowledgeable and dynamic teacher. He can translate a seemingly complex theory into simple and comprehensible concepts. He also encourages students to experiment and not stick to one lighting diagram. I would take Jay’s class again and again because I know I can always learn something new.”
A practical demonstration of subtractive color mixing.
Holben lectures on lighting for Hollywood Shorts.
Since 1989, even before he graduated from high school, Holben began assistant teaching and teaching. In 1990, Holben formed the Horizon Technical Guild, an extra-curricular program at Horizon High School in Phoenix, Arizona which taught students to become professional theatrical technicians. The program was highly lauded and the technicians were quickly recognized by professional theaters in Arizona who welcomed the graduating students with open arms.
In 1992, after leaving teaching, Holben held his first filmmaking workshop, Experience the Movies, a week-long intensive for high school students that covered all the aspects of the industry from development to exhibition, culminating in the students making their own short film.
In 1994, Holben returned with Experience the Movies II, another week-long intensive that culminated in the students crewing on a professional shoot.
In 1998, Hollywood Rentals, an industry-leading equipment rental house, invited Holben back to their Arizona rental facility to teach two intensive weekend workshops on the trade of the Set Lighting Technician and Lighting for Film.
In the years since, Holben has become an international lecturer who has spoken for Digital Video Expo, the National Association of Broadcasters, Broadcaster's Education Association, the Bay Area Professional Videographer's Association, in addition to private institutions and colleges around the globe including a 9-week online lecture series and a five-day master class workshop for the Defang film school in Shanghai, China.
An excerpt from Filmmaker in a Box's FIB Online, which snips a portion of Jay Holben's lecture for Hollywood Shorts at Panavision in Hollywood.
See the full video of Jay's first visit as guest speaker for the Bay Area Professional Videographer's Association