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RALEIGH (AP) — Filmmaker Mark Rydell makes it all look so easy, what with his 26 Oscar nominations for movies such as "On Golden Pond."

But he recalled his early days of breaking into the business as "awful," and said he hopes he can help University of North Carolina students avoid problems he had. He'll start teaching classes at the Chapel Hill campus this week.

"I remember my early days and how awful it was for me," Rydell said in a phone interview Monday, his 75th birthday. "Now that I have a career and kind of a long history, I'm sure I can help them."

Rydell will begin teaching classes in UNC's writing for the screen and stage program Wednesday and finish April 2. He'll also teach classes in the dramatic art department.

Rydell directed 1981's "On Golden Pond," which won three Oscars, including best actor for Henry Fonda and best actress for Katharine Hepburn. He also directed 1979's "The Rose," starring Bette Midler, which received four Oscar nominations.

But teaching is not a new gig for Rydell, who is co-artistic director — along with Martin Landau — of the Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.

"I like teaching, and I like encouraging young talent and helping them get a vision of what the business is really like," he said.

He's also been known to appear in front of the camera, as he did when he played the role of the villain in Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye."

Rydell teaches at UNC because of his longtime friendship with David Sontag, the director of the writing for the screen and stage program. Among Rydell's classes will be Sontag's master screenwriting class, where actors will read a student's script; an acting class for non-actors and a film history class.

"It's terrific to see young people who are innocent and on their way into the jaws of death," Rydell said, laughing. "I like to give them some tips to keep them from going under. It's a very tough world here in California."

Among his tips for students: have a project they want to do and make sure they own it so it can't be stolen; have a terrific script; and have a bankable actor or actress attached.

Given that the first two are possible for a talented student, how does one achieve the third and get a known name to agree to your film?

"You've got to talk to someone like me to help you get to that person," Rydell said. "There are agents and managers whose essential job is stand between their client and anybody who is trying to reach them."

In other words, it's all about whom you know.

"I'll be trying to encourage them and give them the information they need to function in a tough world," he said.

At the end of his short stay, UNC will hold a retrospective film festival featuring five Rydell films, including 1972's "The Cowboys," starring John Wayne, and 1973's "Cinderella Liberty," starring James Caan and Marsha Mason.