Ferris State University Television and Digital Media Production students recently
earned three Michigan Emmy awards for videos produced as part of their coursework,
according to the university’s School of Digital Media.
Professor Glen Okonoski is program chair for the SDM, and said that TDMP Faculty Nick Kuiper, Connie Morcom and Joshua Pardon successfully entered work on their student's behalf in the college/university student production awards competition, which is administered by the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts, Sciences and Education.
“Each category had significant competition, and this year we were more proactive with encouraging students to make entries,” Okonoski said. “We believe this shows the students are capable of excellence, by producing these award-winning works.”
Okonoski said “Tabula Rasa,” the winning entry in the Long Form Fiction category, was the result of a class-wide production effort from a five-week accelerated course offered during the Summer 2015 semester.
“Students come into the class each year with a specific role assigned to them for the project,” Okonoski said. “Their work is conceptualized, produced and completed in that time.”
In the News: General Assignment competition, Okonoski said Ferris’ “Coaches to Cure MD” was selected from among seven finalists, which was the largest number of finalists for any of the 19 award categories.
“We’re proud that the students’ work could win in that category, considering the level of competition,” Okonoski said. “We were thankful for the collaborative efforts of the Ferris Athletics department, and associate athletic director Jon Coles in support of this production.”
The third Emmy award went to “Ferris Theatre,” which was chosen in the Arts and Entertainment/Cultural Affairs category. Okonoski gave credit to professor of Theatre Arts Katherine La Pietra, adjunct professor of Theatre Stephen English and Ferris’ Theatre students, for their support of this project. He added the video was “another great example of TDMP students supporting the university through their learning.”
“These videos help our students develop their story-telling abilities by presenting this information,” Okonoski said. “There was a great deal of collaboration, and the recognition they have earned is truly exciting.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Television and Digital Media Production students from Ferris State
University won three Michigan Emmy awards from the state chapter of the National Academy
of Television Arts, Sciences and Education. Assistant professor Joshua Pardon, (center)
of Ferris’ School of Digital Media, attended the ceremony on behalf of the university
on April 30. (Picture courtesy Michigan Chapter of NATAS)