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Roll Camera and... Action

Business Alum and Spouse are High on Hollywood

by Becky Jacobs, Communications Coordinator for Social Media and Online News

We all love the movies—watching the action unfold, seeing two strangers fall in love, and laughing so hard that our sides hurt. But, very few of us get to experience what it’s like behind the scenes of a movie in the making.

One St. Mary’s alumnus, Mark (B.B.A. ’80), and his wife Renee Pawzun, (pictured below) recently experienced the real thing first-hand.

Hollywood stint begins with the Alumni Association

The St. Mary’s University Alumni Association hosted its first Oysters and Pearls Gala to raise money for scholarships last February. Legendary Hall of Fame men’s basketball Coach Buddy Meyer (whom Mark played for while at St. Mary’s) encouraged the Pawzuns to attend. It was an easy choice for the couple, because both Mark and his daughter Christina, a junior biochemistry major, received full scholarships from St. Mary’s.

“I was fortunate to receive a four-year basketball scholarship,” Mark says. “I took advantage of it, and I know Christina, who’s an Alumni Scholarship recipient, will do the same.”

Mark and Renee continue to be involved with St. Mary’s, often working the sweepstakes booth during Homecoming Oyster Bake. They also participate in the annual golf tournament benefiting the Herman A. “Buddy” Meyer Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund that supports student-athletes and team managers whose athletic eligibility has expired—a cause that is especially meaningful to Mark.

Going once, going twice…

During the festive gala, attendants bid in silent and live auctions on items including props from the set of Pirates of the Caribbean and a walk-on role in a Hollywood movie, made possible by alum Larry Levinson (B.A. ’79). Levinson, a college friend of Mark’s, is also a well-known movie producer with nearly 200 titles in his filmography and is the owner of Larry Levinson Productions. Many of the made-for-television movies seen on the Hallmark Channel are his productions.

Mark and Renee perused some of the silent auction items, but when the live auction started, Mark had his paddle ready.

“I decided to bid on the Hollywood walk-on role because Larry was a buddy of mine in college,” explains Mark.

Renee adds, “I had no idea he was bidding on anything. I was sitting at a table, watching the auction and enjoying the excitement. Someone up front and someone behind me were bidding back and forth. Then I realized one of them was Mark!”

Mark’s turned out to be the highest bid for the walk-on role in a film called The Christmas Pageant.

Star treatment begins

The Pawzuns didn’t know what to expect once their plane landed in Los Angeles, and they were suprised by the red carpet treatment that started right away. Soon after clearing the gate, they found a chauffeur waiting for them. The star treatment continued. Not only was airfare included in their prize, but also a hotel stay, a chauffeured town car and all meals while they were filming.

“The whole experience from beginning to end was amazing,” Renee recalls. The couple was even given a trailer and monogrammed directors’ chairs on the set.

On the day their scene was scheduled to shoot, Mark and Renee were handled like celebrities. Picked up from their hotel by the chauffer, they were taken to the set where they visited hair and makeup, were fitted for wardrobe, and enjoyed an amazing spread for lunch. The movie’s director, David S. Cass Sr., showed them around the soundstage, and they were allowed to sit behind the camera to watch the action take place.

“I didn’t know we were going to be so up close,” Renee says. Their expectations were far surpassed, and they also learned that acting is a lot harder than it looks. A single scene requires multiple takes, and there’s a lot of sitting around and waiting.

“Most people on the set had no idea who we were or why we were there,” Mark says. But everyone was eager to show the Pawzuns around and explain exactly what was happening. “I guess it’s a testament to the kind of business Larry runs.”

When time came for Mark and Renee’s big scene, they were directed to walk out of a door, and nod and wave when the film’s star, Melissa Gilbert, greeted them. On the first take, instead of just nodding and waving to Gilbert like she was supposed to, Renee waived and said, “hi!”

“I told everyone, ‘I’m from Texas, and when someone says hello to me, I say hi back!’”

Experience of a lifetime

“The whole experience was great– from the time we got there to the trip home,” Mark says. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

And he has St. Mary’s to thank for the happenstance of his Hollywood debut.

“My time at St. Mary’s was one of the best times in my life,” Mark says, but quickly adds, “Well, besides my 25 years married to Renee.”

St. Mary’s had a considerable effect on Mark, one that he acknowledges has only grown with time. The gratitude he feels towards the University is obvious. Now a very successful businessman at Detroitbased AEES Inc., Mark credits his alma mater for his success. “St. Mary’s was good to me and good for me.”

The Christmas Pageant, starring Melissa Gilbert and featuring Mark and Renee Pawzun, will air on The Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” during the 2011 holiday season. Check your local listings for the exact date and time.

Free Volleyball Camp Opens Kids’ Eyes

Being a Hollywood film producer, Larry Levinson knows a little something about crafting made-for-TV moments. His act of philanthropy at St. Mary’s this summer showed as much.

Not being content with providing prizes for the Oysters and Pearls Gala that led to Mark and Renee Pawzun’s big adventure, he was still eager to give back more to his alma mater and the San Antonio community.

This summer, Levinson (B.A. ’79) teamed with former classmate Robert Jaklich (B.A. ’81), superintendent at Harlandale Independent School District (ISD), to fund a fun and educational experience for local underprivileged children. The event? A free, week-long volleyball camp for nearly 75 middle-school children in the Harlandale ISD. The purpose? Much more than teaching the game of volleyball.

“Larry allowed our students to see what it’s like on a college campus,” said Jaklich, citing the opportunity as something rarely available to his students. “They started thinking, ‘How am I going to prepare myself in high school so I can go to college, maybe even St. Mary’s?’

“The camp was great, but the chance to expose our kids to higher education was an amazing opportunity for them.”

Calling Levinson a “true Harlandale hero,” Jaklich told a story of his own college days to illustrate the importance of his students being introduced to college.

Himself a first-generation college student, Jaklich traveled 1,300 miles to St. Mary’s from his native Wisconsin, with only a duffle bag in hand.

“I thought my dorm room would be like a hotel—with my bed made,” Jaklich said. “I didn’t know I needed to bring a blanket, pillow and sheets. So I walk in and was like, ‘Where’s the pillow?’"

Jaklich is certain some of his students may have similar misconceptions about college. That’s why tackling college-readiness is one of Harlandale’s biggest projects.

Levinson, meanwhile, traces his philanthropy efforts to an experience he had while shooting a movie at a South Central Los Angeles high school. The students’ hardships—high dropout, homeless, pregnancy and murder rates—compelled Levinson to give the children a taste of a more normal high school experience.

So he got with his Hollywood friends and funded a prom, complete with complimentary limo rides, top-rate facilities, corsages and dresses. The event was a hit, and it left Levinson with the desire to do even more to help the underprivileged. And as he showed this summer, he can write a good ending.