Southeastern students win international film awards

Tuesday, July 25, 2017 World Fest winners
by: Tonya Lowentritt

    TOP FILM AWARDS-  Southeastern Louisiana University students producing films for the Southeastern Channel won top 2017 Remi Awards awards recently at North America’s longest-running film festival, the WorldFest International Film and Video Festival in Houston, Tex.  Shown from left are Southeastern Channel General Manager and class instructor Rick Settoon, Mason Dauphin and Jordan Reid of Luling, Jeremy Rhodes of New Orleans, Sarah Barbier of Mandeville, and Steve Zaffuto, channel operations manager and class instructor. Winners not pictured are C.J. Love of Mandeville and Steven Farmer of Ponchatoula.


     HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University students at the Southeastern Channel won four 2017 Remi Awards for three film productions at the annual WorldFest International Film and Video Festival in Houston, Texas.
     All three films were produced for the Southeastern Channel’s student film and music video show “Cinematheque.” “The Messenger” and “Perfect,” which also won national Videographer Awards, were produced at the Southeastern Channel for a field production and editing class in the Department of Languages and Communication, while “Fugue” was produced at the channel as an independent study.
     “The Southeastern Channel helped me by giving me the creative freedom to pursue the art of motion graphics,” said Mason Dauphin of Luling, who produced and edited “The Messanger.” “Working on channel programs allowed me to learn how to hold these professional standards for my videography, editing, motion graphics, and producing in order to make a film capable of winning a Gold Remi.”
     “The Messenger,”directed by Jordan Reid of Luling, and written by Jeremy Rhodes of New Orleans, won a first-place Gold Remi Award in the College Level Student Film category.
Dauphin is working as promotions producer for KLFY-TV in Lafayette, while Reid is now news producer at KATC-TV (ABC) in Lafayette. Both studied electronic media in the Department of Languages and Communications and graduated in May.
     “Fugue,” a 30-minute film produced and directed by Sarah Barbier of Mandeville, won a third-place Bronze Remi for Student Film, while the screenplay for “Fugue,” written by C. J.  Love of Mandeville, won a second-place Silver Remi for Student Screenplay.
     “Perfect,” a music video produced and directed by Steven Farmer of Ponchatoula, won a Bronze Remi in the Student Music Video category.
     The Southeastern Channel’s four awards were the most by any undergraduate program at the festival, which had over 4,000 entries from across the world.  
     As the longest-running film festival in North America, WorldFest celebrated its 50th anniversary at the 10-day event. The festival gave the first awards to renowned filmmakers, such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, the Coen brothers and others.
     “These are top film awards won against the best college level competition from across the world,” said Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick Settoon.  “We’re proud of our students and excited that their talent, hard work and creativity have been honored at such a prestigious film festival. Their films are entertaining and provocative, and won against projects with much larger budgets and production crews.”
     “The Messenger” is a seven-minute comedic drama based on lead character Steven’s quest to find love through the dating app, “Tinder.” Key plot twists allow the viewer to see dramatic ironies unfold before the lead characters do. Both Dauphin and Rhodes played roles in the film, along with Jasmine Jones of New Orleans. Courtney Bruno of New Orleans assisted with the production.
     In winning the award, Dauphin credited Reid’s directing and cinematography, along with the screenplay written by Rhodes.
     “Earning a Gold Remi is very gratifying,” said Reid.  “The team’s hard work paid off, and it is wonderful to be rewarded for doing something you love and working with your best friends.”
     “It’s a fantastic honor to be recognized for achieving something I’m so passionate about,” Rhodes said. “I feel the judges saw a progressive theme to the story and reacted to it in a positive way.”
     Barbier, who won a 2015 student Emmy for directing her short film, “Emma,” created a haunting, post-apocalyptic world with “Fugue,” a 30-minute film which she not only produced and directed, but also shot and edited herself.  
     The story is a surreal battle of wits, worries and weapons in the shadow of modern society’s collapse. It follows three people whose lives and personalities change dramatically when society falls apart. The main character of Percy, played by M.J. Ricks of Lacombe, stumbles through the ruins of cities and barren wilderness, scavenging for survival and tormented by the memories of his life’s love Mary, played by Alexis Durante of Hammond, and his best friend, Gordon, played by Logan Viverito of Gonzales. When he seeks refuge in an abandoned warehouse, an encounter with a mysterious stranger, played by Southeastern Theatre Director James Winter, threatens his very sanity.
     “Perfect” is Farmer’s music video version of the popular song by the group One Direction. The storyline follows three love relationships. Farmer also shot, edited and acted in the video.
     The Southeastern Channel has won over 300 awards in the past 14 years, including 15 Emmy awards and 56 Emmy nominations. The channel can be seen on Charter 199 in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany and Livingston parishes. The live 24/7 webcast and video on demand can be seen at www.southeastern.edu/tv and on mobile devices at www.southeastern.edu/tv/live.




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