DIRECTOR BRINGS HIS KELLY BAG TO HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL SERIES

Kenny Ortega is getting a glorious feeling and he's happy again.
The director of the über-successful High School Musical series is once again channeling the muse—namely, his former mentor, Gene Kelly—as filming on the franchise's third installment gets underway at East High School in Salt Lake City.
"Every once in a while, I feel his presence in the room with me, and I get a smile and a little, 'Atta boy," Ortega said at a press conference Friday, during which the director and castmembers remained tight-lipped about the plot of HSM3: Senior Year (aside from the whole impending-graduation thing).
One great thing I learned from Gene Kelly was how to design choreography for the camera versus designing choreography for the stage," Ortega continued. "Gene used to say there should be a raison d'etre—a reason for being. What's at the center of everything?