Video Institute Films Win Eight National Awards

BUFFALO, NY - Eight recent productions of the Canisius University Video Institute have earned national awards.

Two documentaries and two promotional videos created by the video institute were awarded 2012 Communicator Awards. The documentaries On That Road: Reliving the Civil Rights Movement and Game Create: Creativity in the Gaming Subculture each earned Silver Awards of Distinction in the categories of “Student Production” and “Documentary.” The promotional video produced for Our Lady of Hope Home School received a Silver Award of Distinction in the “Charitable/Non-Profit” category and in the “Student Production” category. The SPCA Paws and Patriots promotional video also earned a Silver Award of Distinction in the “Student Production” category. 

The Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program which honors the creative excellence for communications professionals in the US and around the world. These awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media.

Game Create: Creativity in the Gaming Subculture also earned a Bronze Telly Award in the category of “Student – Non Broadcast.” Game Create was produced by Garret Weinholtz ’12, a communication studies and digital media arts major at Canisius University, and Jamie O’Neil, co-director of the Canisius University Video Institute and director of the Digital Media Arts Program. 

The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The video institute project was in competition with national and international production companies, advertising agencies, cable operators and corporate video departments. The bronze Telly is the second-highest award given in this competition, and only approximately 20 percent of the 14,000 entries earn this recognition.

On That Road: Reliving the Civil Rights Movement was recently screened at the Texas Black Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Best Documentary.” The documentary was produced by communication studies majors Sarah Zamer ’10 and Emily Marciniak ’11, and Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, founding director of the Canisius University Video Institute and chair of Communication Studies. This documentary features an introduction by Joshua Robinson (DMA ’12).

Two other student-produced promotional videos earned National Broadcasting Society – Alpha Epsilon Rho Awards. Cradle Beach and Canine Helpers for the Handicapped won grand prizes at the 2011 National Student Electronic Media Competition. Cradle Beach was produced by Sarah Zamer (COM ’10), Perry Silverman (COM ’10) and Ray Robinson (COM ’12). Canine Helpers for the Handicapped was produced by Courtney Helinski (COM ’12), Perry Silverman (COM ’10) and Mike Hopkins (COM ’10). Kaleidoscope, the monthly television program the video institute produces for the Network of Religious Communities, earned an honorable mention from the National Broadcasting Society -Alpha Epsilon Rho. 

In addition, The Canisius University Video Institute also received a Community Partnership Award from Homespace Corporation for their production of a promotional video about the organization. Homespace and its Second Chance Home are focused on decreasing generational foster care, decreasing generational teen pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies, and increasing self-sufficiency among the population they serve.

The Canisius University Video Institute provides students with opportunities to put their classroom lessons to work on projects that enrich their learning and benefit the community. Students produce service-oriented videos and social documentaries – all connected by the theme of social justice – to promote discourse on ethical, social and cultural issues relevant to our world today. The program is interdisciplinary, encourages global awareness and puts students in the position of doing social justice.

The Canisius University Video Institute is funded, in part, by the East Hill Foundation and the Western New York Foundation, and co-directed by Irwin, chair of the Communication Studies Department, and O’Neil, director of the Digital Media Arts Program.

For additional information about the Video Institute, contact Irwin at (716) 888-2108 or click here. 

Canisius University is one of 28 Catholic, Jesuit Colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.BUFFALO, NY - Eight recent productions of the Canisius University Video Institute have earned national awards.

Two documentaries and two promotional videos created by the video institute were awarded 2012 Communicator Awards. The documentaries On That Road: Reliving the Civil Rights Movement and Game Create: Creativity in the Gaming Subculture each earned Silver Awards of Distinction in the categories of “Student Production” and “Documentary.” The promotional video produced for Our Lady of Hope Home School received a Silver Award of Distinction in the “Charitable/Non-Profit” category and in the “Student Production” category. The SPCA Paws and Patriots promotional video also earned a Silver Award of Distinction in the “Student Production” category. 

The Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program which honors the creative excellence for communications professionals in the US and around the world. These awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media.

Game Create: Creativity in the Gaming Subculture also earned a Bronze Telly Award in the category of “Student – Non Broadcast.” Game Create was produced by Garret Weinholtz ’12, a communication studies and digital media arts major at Canisius University, and Jamie O’Neil, co-director of the Canisius University Video Institute and director of the Digital Media Arts Program. 

The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The video institute project was in competition with national and international production companies, advertising agencies, cable operators and corporate video departments. The bronze Telly is the second-highest award given in this competition, and only approximately 20 percent of the 14,000 entries earn this recognition.

On That Road: Reliving the Civil Rights Movement was recently screened at the Texas Black Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Best Documentary.” The documentary was produced by communication studies majors Sarah Zamer ’10 and Emily Marciniak ’11, and Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, founding director of the Canisius University Video Institute and chair of Communication Studies. This documentary features an introduction by Joshua Robinson (DMA ’12).

Two other student-produced promotional videos earned National Broadcasting Society – Alpha Epsilon Rho Awards. Cradle Beach and Canine Helpers for the Handicapped won grand prizes at the 2011 National Student Electronic Media Competition. Cradle Beach was produced by Sarah Zamer (COM ’10), Perry Silverman (COM ’10) and Ray Robinson (COM ’12). Canine Helpers for the Handicapped was produced by Courtney Helinski (COM ’12), Perry Silverman (COM ’10) and Mike Hopkins (COM ’10). Kaleidoscope, the monthly television program the video institute produces for the Network of Religious Communities, earned an honorable mention from the National Broadcasting Society -Alpha Epsilon Rho. 

In addition, The Canisius University Video Institute also received a Community Partnership Award from Homespace Corporation for their production of a promotional video about the organization. Homespace and its Second Chance Home are focused on decreasing generational foster care, decreasing generational teen pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies, and increasing self-sufficiency among the population they serve.

The Canisius University Video Institute provides students with opportunities to put their classroom lessons to work on projects that enrich their learning and benefit the community. Students produce service-oriented videos and social documentaries – all connected by the theme of social justice – to promote discourse on ethical, social and cultural issues relevant to our world today. The program is interdisciplinary, encourages global awareness and puts students in the position of doing social justice.

The Canisius University Video Institute is funded, in part, by the East Hill Foundation and the Western New York Foundation, and co-directed by Irwin, chair of the Communication Studies Department, and O’Neil, director of the Digital Media Arts Program.

For additional information about the Video Institute, contact Irwin at (716) 888-2108 or click here. 

Canisius University is one of 28 Catholic, Jesuit Colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.