Foothill Instructor Is Also Writer & Producer of Hit TV Show

Merging Teaching, Technology & Tinseltown

 

Tuning in to the hit television show 24, Foothill College computer science students notice something startling when the credits roll by—their instructor¹s name. No, star Keifer Sutherland isn¹t teaching C++ Programming on the side, but students are excited to learn that Foothill¹s Computer Programming Instructor Michael Loceff is a founding writer and producer for the Emmy-award winning show.

 

Loceff, who started at Foothill as a computer science instructor in 1984, leads a double life as both college instructor and writer for 24—a high-action drama that quickly grabbed a huge following when it debuted in 2000, introducing an innovative format where each episode takes place in the space of one hour.

 

A master of merging creativity and technology, Loceff is fully dedicated to his dual career and is an influential member of Foothill¹s faculty. He also is one of the creative forces behind 24, which features Sutherland as Jack Bauer, an FBI agent working desperately to save the United States from terrorist attacks, nuclear missiles and corrupt FBI agents. Loceff¹s cousin and writing partner, Joel Surnow, is also a founding producer and writer, and the primary reason Loceff got into the television writing business. They collaborated on an earlier hit television show, La Femme Nikita.

 

Balancing a full teaching assignment and the demands of a fast-paced television production like 24 is a skill Loceff has learned over time. Loceff teaches all his Foothill classes online, lives in Seattle, and keeps an apartment in Los Angeles near the set of 24. "It sounds overwhelming," he admits. Yet Loceff compares his hectic routine to any busy professional, especially those who have kids, which he does not. Loceff also credits his supportive wife, Kitty, who takes care of much of their personal life, and the use of technology for allowing him to keep it all going.

 

Still, 24 hours in Loceff¹s life is atypical by any standard. He attends faculty meetings at Foothill, hops on a plane to Seattle, and keeps in contact with his students, writing partners and producers through the Internet and a cell phone. "It¹s an interesting situation," he says smiling. And while he can work in a virtual environment while teaching, writing with his partners on 24 is different. "When I¹m writing I¹m usually with either my partner (Surnow) or my other co-writers. That has to be done in person. Interestingly, you might think I can be at a beach house with a cup of cappuccino and be very creative. Maybe novelists can work that way, but television writers can¹t. They have to be in the office, throwing paper airplanes at each other as they come up with solutions and problems," he says. Foothill Instructor Is Also Writer & Producer of Hit TV Show

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After intense periods of writing on the set, Loceff catches up with Foothill students. During breaks, it's not unusual for him to email students assignments, respond to email questions, plan the next day's lesson on his laptop, all while actors and writers stream by.

 

"Teaching and doing my computer programming is so different from writing, it's like a vacation from the set. I can go back to my office and my break is logging into my classes." Loceff will check the public student lounge board to see who's asked questions, answer emails from students and review homework assignments. "The actors will come by and ask me what I'm doing. They think I'm writing, and I'll show them," he says. "A lot of our actors have seen me teach, I protect my students' names and privacy, but I let the actors watch me teach my students, and they're fascinated by that."

 

Loceff's technology skills are well known in community college circles, as he created and taught one of the first online classes in the history of community colleges in 1994. He later authored an online teaching tool he dubbed ETUDES that allowed Foothill College to become one of the leaders in offering online classes in the U.S.

 

"However, it's Foothill's Dean of Distance & Mediated Learning Vivian Sinou who's taken over the reins on ETUDES, and brought it to a new level nationwide," he says. Meanwhile, Loceff is working with colleagues to ensure Foothill's Computer Technology & Information Systems Division stays in front of the curve with emerging technology.

 

As Silicon Valley emerges from the dot-com era, Loceff sees this as an ideal time to gain skills in computer programming. "It's an opportunity for someone who's willing to throw the dice a little bit," he says. "I believe there is a limit to the utility of long-distance programmers (outsourcing), and now is a good time to get back in the game."

 

Loceff sees the skills gained in computer programming as continually relevant in many career environments. "Under-standing how computer programs are engineered and interact with one another is an extremely useful skill in a lot of areas," he says. "I had no idea how valuable that knowledge would turn out to be with television writing. If you are looking at a field that investigates how the world works on a technological level, that is going to be useful. You're going to find a way to use that, whether you're selling scripts or selling cars."

 

Trends in computer software programming such as Internet security, fighting hackers and tracking terrorists through the Internet, are themes that have come up on 24 .

 

"The confluence of my work in Hollywood and my work as an engineer and teacher at Foothill occasionally comes up," he says. Recently, it came up in an episode involving Internet security. "Cisco Systems approached 24 and asked if we could do a product placement," he says. "They didn't want it to be Œschlockey' but they also didn't want it to be so transparent that you didn't see the name Cisco." So Loceff worked to feature Cisco's new network security product. Loceff's background allowed him to interact with the people who use the product to understand what it did and how to use accurate vocabulary to portray what is termed a self-defending network. "In our episode, the terrorists tried to compromise the computer infrastructure," he says, "but since the good guys had this Cisco self-defending network security module, no dice. They couldn't get through. It took a little bit of living in both worlds to do that comfortably."

 

In another episode of 24 , he slipped in a reference to his teaching career when a character used the secret password, "Etudes," the name of his online teaching software.

 

With a perspective on both the entertainment and technology industries, he finds key differences in the way projects are developed and executed in the respective regions.

 

"In Northern California, in my experience, the technology companies and the academic institutions breed focus. You get on a project, you focus on a project and you follow that project through. You don't deviate if you can avoid it. In Southern California, in the entertainment industry, it's totally different. It's driven by ideas and interruption. Interruption is part of the process. Nothing you plan ever gets done the way you planned it. It's always changed at some point by somebody, and if you fight that, you're not going to do well in that environment."

 

Learn more about Foothill computer classes at www.foothill.edu. on projects, access www.foothill.edu.

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