K.i.t.t. And Flying Taxi Designer To Appear At Film Festival

Jan. 13, 2010

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Michael Scheffe, designer of the "Knight Rider" talking car K.I.T.T. as well as the flying taxi seen in "Back to the Future II," is schedule to appear at the 2010 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival. Scheffe will participate in a special effects workshop for festival attendees March 5.

The workshop will include a screening of the short documentary "A DS in the Future," about the creation of the "Back to the Future II" flying taxi. Bernd Kruyt, director and producer of the documentary, will also participate in the workshop. In addition to his work on the flying taxi and K.I.T.T., Scheffe was construction supervisor for the "Back to the Future" DeLorean time machine. As a designer and senior art director at Sony's VFX company, Imageworks for many years, Scheffe's projects included "I Am Legend," "Monster House," "Superman Returns," "Seabiscuit," "Charlie's Angels II," "Peter Pan," "Starship Troopers," "James and the Giant Peach," "Michael" and others. He also storyboarded or furnished idea sketches for many other films, including "Stuart Little," "Bewitched," "Spider-Man," "Big Fish," "Haunted Mansion," "Ghostrider" and "Astroboy." Most recently, Scheffe contributed concept work James Cameron's "Avatar" and Steven Spielberg's "TinTin." Scheffe will join other notable "Back to the Future" personalities at the festival, including Lea Thompson, Bob Gale and James Tolkan. Other major celebrity guests who have appeared at the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival include Lee Majors, Rance Howard, and Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Ernest Borgnine. The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival is one of the few film festivals hosted by a university. The event was founded in 1998 by UNA alumnus and celebrated actor and entertainer George Lindsey. Lindsey's own film career has included several important roles, including the character Goober Pyle on "The Andy Griffith Show." For more information on the 2010 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com or contact the film festival staff at lindseyfilmfest@una.edu or 256-765-4592.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.