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The indie feature Dead Dad, which premieres in April at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, boasts a cast and crew made up primarily of FSU alums.

Two Film School students were chosen to attend the Budapest Cinematography Masterclass, a special two-week program in Hungary, whichincluded 35 cinematographers from 25 countries, and was taught by VilmosZsigmond, ASC, and Elemer Ragalyi, HSC.

For years the Coca-Cola Company has run a contest for students at the nation’s top film schools, and Florida State has had its share of winners. This year, the company decided to shake things up and completely revamped the contest, renaming it the Sprite Refreshing Films Contest, and focusing most of their attention at the high school level. Where once film school students wrote and directed short films featuring Coke, the new contest takes scripts written by students at the top film schools and has crews of high school students shoot the films.

The competition was stiff for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, so the Film School was thrilled when all five of its writing students who participated in the regional competition won awards. Three of their plays were entered into a national pool of regional winners who then competed at the national level in Washington, DC. Adam Groff was one of those regional winners with his hilarious play “Nancies.”

With a total haul of four trophies, three of them for first place awards, recent graduates of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts topped all other film schools in the nation at the 32nd Annual College Television Awards, held recently in Hollywood.

An innovative public-private collaboration between one of the world’s top digital effects and computer animation companies, the Digital Domain Media Group, and one of the nation’s finest film schools, Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts, announced the development of a new digital media enterprise to be located in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Five writing students competed in the One–Act Play and Ten-Minute Play competitions. The Ten-Minute Play Award included six nominees, but FSU dominated the competition as students Kristin Hornsby and Adam Groff shared the top spot, co–winning the event for their original works “Turn Left” and “Nancies.” Rachel Gleicher took the top prize in the One–Act Play Competition for her play “Moving Along,” and Alexandra Landers was selected as Runner–Up/Alternate. The kudos continued as Rebekah Suellau won the New Play Directing Award. 

Adele Romanski is having a busy year. Last spring she was in Cannes with the rest of the cast and crew of Myth of the American Sleepover, enjoying the limelight as Myth screened in the highly selective Critic’s Week program. A few months later she was in Park City, participating in the Sundance Feature Film Creative Producing Lab. And this week she’s been named one of three nominees for Film Independent’s Piaget Producers Award, one of the Spirit Awards given out in an alternative awards ceremony the night before the Oscars.

Tavarius Eberhart's career objective is simple. "I want to be a great filmmaker." The soon-to-graduate senior said Florida State's College of Motion Picture Arts has prepared him well to enter the highly competitive entertainment business.

"Florida State has the best film school in the nation," said Tavarius. "There's no film school in the country where a student gets the experience and training we get here."

Film School grad Micah Ranum (‘08) joins the ranks of screenwriting greats like Allison Anders, Mike Rich and Susannah Grant by winning the world’s most esteemed screenwriting competition He is one of five writers to be selected as winners of the 25th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

After Allison Leger premieres her MFA thesis film in August, she won’t be heading to Hollywood. Instead she’ll be flying to the exotic island of Macau, off the coast of China. That’s because while she was putting the final touches on her capstone project, she learned that she won a prestigious Fulbright grant that will be sending her to Macau for a year.

Seven alumni of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts made a film that was selected by international film critics to screen at the 49th Cannes Critics’ Week, one of the world’s most prestigious film competitions.

A short film cowritten and directed by recent Film School graduate Ken J. Adachi and produced by former classmate Stephen Bell was a winner in the Comedy category at the 31st Annual College Television Awards, or “Student Emmys,” held April 10 in Hollywood, Calif. “Picture Day” won an Emmy for Third Place, ranking it as one of the three best Student Comedies in the nation.

Gina Papabeis (BFA 09) is less than a year out of school and already has worked with an Oscar-winning film, landed a great job, and been lauded by Variety. And it all started with an internship at the Torchlight Program.

Students in the Florida State University College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts have given another bravura performance, claiming a majority of the awards handed out in a new film documentary competition devoted to highlighting the works of philanthropic and charitable organizations.

Matt Lopez (’93) pitched a project to adapt the classic Atari video game Asteroids for the big screen, and found himself in a four-studio bidding war over the right to run with the idea. In the end Universal Pictures outbid its competitors and hired Lopez to write the script. Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been tapped to produce the picture.

Filmmaker Magazine just named Florida State alumnus, Nat Sanders, one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Sanders, who graduated from Florida State in 2002, was working in Hollywood, editing a reality television show, when fellow alum Barry Jenkins summoned him to San Francisco to edit Medicine for Melancholy. He immediately quit his job and went right to work on Jenkins’ film. The gamble paid off, because when Medicine for Melancholy screened at the South by Southwest festival in Austin last year, director Lynn Shelton was taken with his work and asked him to move to Seattle and edit her film, Humpday. Both films have garnered enormous critical acclaim.

Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne dropped by the Film School on a Monday morning to chat with students about filmmaking. He talked about his own creative process, offered advice, and answered questions, peppering it all with the same mixture of cockeyed humor and introspection he brings to his films.

Film School Distinguished Lecturer Geoffrey Gilmore brought a Sundance favorite to Tallahassee right on the heels of the festival, and months ahead of its theatrical premiere. Gilmore, a leading authority on independent cinema and director of the Sundance Film Festival for 19 years, screened 500 Days of Summer at FSU's arts festival Seven Days of Opening Nights. He also held a lecture and discussion, just for Film School students, centered on the current state of the movie business, and the difficulties and opportunities it presents.

Disney's new sci-fi adventure movie Race to Witch Mountain (an update of the classic Escape to Witch Mountain) opened at #1, handily stomping the blockbuster Watchmen, and looks to cement the success of Matt Lopez, one of its two screenwriters. Matt Lopez, who graduated from the Film School in 1993, is on a roll.

Nathan Levine-Heaney has been awarded the Heritage Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in Hollywood. The award is presented annually to one or more film students for outstanding achievement in student cinematography.

Alumnus Josh Tickell is a good example of how many different opportunities there are for Film School graduates. Sure, some go to Hollywood and make blockbusters about aliens or college buddies, but with the rise in popularity of documentaries, and the challenges facing our nation and world, more alumni are using the medium as a tool for change.

Recently The Hollywood Reporter went looking for top film industry executives under 35. It came as no surprise to the FSU Film School that alumna Ali Bell was one of their top picks. She graduated from FSU in 1999 with a BFA and is now the Vice President of Production/Development for Ivan Reitman's Montecito Picture Company.

The Hollywood Reporter is calling Frank Patterson one of the nation's top mentors to a generation of Hollywood filmmakers. A special, August 28, 2008 edition of the major trade publication lists Patterson, dean of Florida State University's renowned Film School, among the 12 most influential film school professors in the United States.

For the fifth time in four years, a Student Academy Award has gone to a film written and directed by a student from Florida State University’s renowned College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School.

With a pair of prestigious wins at this year's College Television Awards, the Emmy-winning tradition continues at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School.

A short film written, directed and produced by FSU film students finished first in its category, while another "short" earned a third-place prize in its division at the 29th Annual College Television Awards, held March 15 in Hollywood, Calif. The producers and directors of both winning films attended the black-tie awards gala, hosted by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

"These latest awards give us a total of 24 top honors from the Academy in 17 years and offer further proof that Florida State is a leader in U.S. film education," said Frank Patterson, dean of the FSU Film School. "In each of those winning years our students have beaten hundreds of entries from other top film programs across the country. In fact, The Film School set an Academy record by winning five College Television Awards in 2004 alone, the most ever for one school in a single year."

DreamWorks Pictures has a brand new filmmaker on their lot, welcomed by Steven Spielberg himself. Recent Florida State University Film School graduate, Will Bigham, triumphed over 12,000 other entrants to win the highly competitive reality show, “On the Lot,” a Fox network program produced by Mark Burnett and Steve Spielberg.

The Directors Guild of America has announced its 2005 Student Filmmakers Awards for African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and women -- and Florida State University's School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts will take home half of them.

In an effort to help expose and combat human trafficking at home and abroad, actress and activist Daryl Hannah hosted a special screening of The Film School's critically acclaimed short film "Fields of Mudan" on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles.

Florida State University alumna Melissa Carter took Cloud Nine all the way to New York City for the premiere of her first major motion picture, "Little Black Book," a dark comedy that opened nationwide August 6 with big-name stars like Brittany Murphy and Kathy Bates.

In the winning tradition of Florida State University's College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School -- three of its recent graduates and a pair of short films they produced as FSU students have earned top awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS).

A senior thesis film written and directed by 2005 graduate Melissa Rossi -- and appropriately titled "Charm" -- endeared itself to the judges and took home an Oscar during the 32nd annual Student Academy Awards. A dozen students from 11 different colleges and universities, including FSU, were honored during the June 12 ceremony at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

A short film written and directed by Florida State University Film School student Matthew Pope has won the 2005 Coca Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award. As winner of the prestigious annual competition, Pope will receive $10,000 and launch a promising career when moviegoers watch "The Line Starts Here" this summer as part of the pre-feature entertainment on more than 21,000 screens nationwide.

The Florida State University School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts was recognized by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) for its distinguished contribution to American culture through film and television, joining fellow honorees Robert De Niro, Jonathan Demme and other entertainment luminaries at the Fifth Annual DGA Honors on Sept. 29, 2004 in New York City.

Florida State University Filmmaker-in-Residence Valerie Scoon has added another line to the long list of industry accolades for FSU's School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts, better known as The Film School.

Scoon, who teaches story development in The Film School's graduate program, has earned an associate producer credit for ABC's television film "Oprah Winfrey presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God" -- premiering Sunday, March 6 at 9 p.m. EST. She worked seven years to help take the best-known Zora Neale Hurston novel by the same name from page to screen, in a major teleplay starring Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry.

The School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts at Florida State University is celebrating another happy ending after two "Film School" grads nabbed a pair of Oscars during the 31st annual Student Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed the honors on June 13 during the awards ceremony at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

For the first time in the history of the Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences a total of five videos from a single school – FSU – have been selected to receive the Academy’s most prestigious national student honors. The annual ATAS “College Television Awards” will be presented at a gala ceremony on March 28 at the Academy Theater in Hollywood. “So many wins would be almost embarrassing if they weren’t so richly deserved by our talented and well-trained student filmmakers, “ said Frank Patterson, dean of the FSU Film School. “This makes 13 top awards from the Academy in 13 consecutive years.”

Daniel Holland and Brandi Bradburn, the editing faculty at Florida State University film school, recently attended the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

For the first time in the history of the Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences annual student competition, five films produced from one film school have been selected to receive national awards.

Filmmaker and educator Frank Patterson will assume leadership of the FSU Film School in June of this year. He succeeds Dr. Raymond Fielding, who is retiring after thirteen years as Dean of the School. Patterson is currently Associate Dean and Director of the Film School at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has taught film for fifteen years at Florida State University, Baylor University and The University of Texas in Austin. He has also served as President of the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. His undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Baylor University.

The high-profile award was won by undergraduate FSU students Sloane Korach and Tony West. The $10,000 prize went to the FSU Film School which also received one of Pioneer’s just-introduced DVR-A05 / DVD-R/ RW recordable drives for the School’s recording suite. The students were accompanied at the awards ceremony by Reb Braddock, Director of the School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.

First, Second and Third Prizes Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
For the first time in the long history of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences annual student competition, the FSU Film School has won all of the prizes in its category.

Eastman Kodak company has donated 25,000 feet of 35mm color film stock to the Florida State University Film School. The donation was made by Kodak’s Director of Worldwide Educational Services, John Mason, at a brunch hosted by the company in Los Angeles to recognize the retirement of Dr. Ray Fielding, the FSU Film School’s founding permanent dean. Fielding is stepping down this Spring after thirteen years of service at FSU and a total of 46 years of teaching and administration at six different film schools.

A large collection of biographical material about American filmmakers and celebrities has been given to the FSU Film School by members of the Rapchik family in memory of their late father and mother, Sidney and Helen Rapchik. The collection, which fills two large rooms, consists principally of clipping files containing thousands of articles from magazines, newspapers and pamphlets from the 1920's through the 1990's, dealing with motion picture actors and actresses, directors, producers and other personalities associated with the American film and television industries. The collection also includes books, posters, press books and related memorabilia.

Armando Salas, a second-year graduate student at the FSU Film School, has been awarded the Robert Surtees Heritage Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in Hollywood. The award is presented annually to one or more film students or recent graduates for outstanding achievement in student cinematography. Salas joins two other FSU Film School students who, in previous years, won A.S.C. commendations for outstanding cinematography. These were Craig Kief in 2000 and Michael Culyba in 1999.

For the ninth time in twelve years, the FSU Film School has won a top award at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences annual Collegiate competition. This is the world's most prestigious award for a student film exhibited in a video format.

For the ninth time in twelve years, the FSU Film School has won a top award at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences annual Collegiate competition. This is the world's most prestigious award for a student film exhibited in a video format.

A second major endowment in three years has been pledged to the FSU Film School by Bert Miller (FSU 1956), Mrs. Betty Miller and their family. The donation is $100,000, which, when the pledge is completed, will be matched by the State of Florida with another $50,000.

The First Prize Patrick Peyton Award for Excellence in Filmmaking of the annual Angelus Film Festival in Los Angeles, worth $10,000 has been awarded to Lector, a graduate thesis film directed by FSU student Greg Marcks (MFA 2000).

FSU Film School leads the field with three finalists out of ten in this year's annual Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Competition. Over 180 proposals were received from that many students at the eight university film schools that Coca-Cola recognizes for this competition.

The Eastman Kodak Company has awarded an annual product grant of professional film stocks to the Florida State University Film School. This will used by Film School students, on both graduate and undergraduate levels, for the production of their thesis and workshop films.

It's hard to imagine a more distinguished Academy-Award-winning crowd of Hollywood filmmakers than were assembled here in Tallahassee the weekend of July 21-24. This was an elite group of sound designers, editors and mixers who, each year, assemble somewhere in the U.S. for a weekend of socializing and information sharing.

Richard Portman, one of Hollywood's most distinguished motion picture sound designers, has been named "Gordon Sawyer Professor of Recording Arts" at the Film School of Florida State University. Although still active in the film industry as a master sound mixer, Portman has served for the last four years on the full-time faculty of the FSU Film School as Distinguished Filmmaker in Residence, where he supervises all sound recording courses and production.

Frank Longo, a recent graduate of the FSU Film School (MFA 1999), has been signed to direct a feature film for Zide/Perry Productions, releasing through New Line Cinema. Zide's most recent film was the hugely successful "American Pie." The Longo assignment was featured in a front page article in the May 18 issue of VARIETY.

Things may never be the same again at the FSU Film School, which has just been given a magnificent classic 1978 Silver Shadow Rolls Royce sedan in mint condition. The three-ton vehicle was donated by one of the Film School's long-time supporters and benefactors, Tallahassee businessman John Hunt, Sr.

A new internship program, exclusively for FSU Film School Students, has been established at Paramount Studios in Hollywood by one of the School's benefactors and supporters, A.C. Lyles. Two undergraduate Film School students, Ali Bell and Nick Verenes, have been selected as the program's first interns. They began work at Paramount on March 13.

The Coca-Cola Company has selected ten students from five major university film schools for participation in this year's film production competition, each of whom will receive $5,000 to make a 50-second film during the next two months. The student who makes the winning film will receive a $10,000 prize at the gala ceremony in Las Vegas in March. The film will then be screened at more than 10,000 theaters in the U.S.

Melissa Carter, a recent graduate of the Florida State University Film School, has sold an 18 page treatment for a new film entitled Catch of the Day, to New Line Cinema in Hollywood for an initial payment of $225,000. She is now at work on the full-length script, the film of which will be produced by Warren Zide, whose mose recent films are American Pie and Flight 180.

At a gala ceremony held on June 13 in the Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, the FSU Film School thesis film, Slow Dancin' Down the Aisles of the Quickcheck, was awarded a Student Academy Award in the narrative film category. The award, accompanied by a $1,000 cash prize, was accepted by the film's director, Thomas Wade Jackson. Together with eleven other award winners in different categories from various film schools in the U.S., Jackson was treated to a week long all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles, complete with press interviews, visits to studios, receptions, and a dinner given for the winners by the Governors of the Academy.

In January Caress of the Creature, a 2006 Masters thesis film written and directed by Stewart McAlpine, was accepted into the nationally recognized Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The January 21 and 24 screenings of Caress as a part of the "Gallery Shorts" program for the acclaimed rebel festival marked the film's national debut, and garnered the film an Honorable Mention Award in the shorts category.

In one of the most watched and prestigious short film competitions in the country, Florida State University film students have beat out hundreds of other filmmakers to garner three of the 10 national finalist spots for the 2007 Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Award.

At a Florida film industry reception hosted by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Film School professor and Academy Award winner Stuart Robertson was honored by Film Florida, a not-for-profit collective of film industry professionals and professional organizations, for “Appreciation of Outstanding Professional Achievement in Film and as an Educator Building the Future of Florida’s Film and Entertainment Industry."

With a recent top-three finish at the 28th Annual College Television Awards in Hollywood, Calif., the Emmy-winning tradition continues at Florida State University's College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts—best known as The Film School.

For the fourth time in three years, a Student Academy Award has gone to a film written and directed by a graduate student from Florida State University's College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School. This year the FSU Film School MFA thesis film "Rundown" has garnered the gold in its category.

DreamWorks Pictures has a brand new filmmaker on their lot, welcomed by Steven Spielberg himself. Recent Florida State University Film School graduate, Will Bigham, triumphed over 12,000 other entrants to win the highly competitive reality show, “On the Lot,” a Fox network program produced by Mark Burnett and Steve Spielberg.

The Directors Guild of America has announced its 2007 Student Film Awards for minority and women filmmakers, and student directors from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School -- have earned two of them.

Florida State University Filmmaker-in-Residence Valerie Scoon just added another line to the long list of industry honors at FSU’s College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School.

With a pair of prestigious wins at this year's College Television Awards, the Emmy-winning tradition continues at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School.

The Directors Guild of America has announced its 2007 Student Film Awards for minority and women filmmakers, and student directors from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School -- have earned two of them.

Florida State University Filmmaker-in-Residence Valerie Scoon just added another line to the long list of industry honors at FSU’s College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School.

As an associate producer of the critically acclaimed motion picture The Great Debaters, Scoon has earned a share of the credit for its near-sweep of the 39th annual NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 14 in Los Angeles. The film received the Image Award for “Outstanding Motion Picture” and also garnered three of the evening’s top prizes for acting, one of which went to Debaters star and director Denzel Washington.

Barry Jenkins, a Filmmaker magazine New Face of Indie Film, has found a way to meet Hollywood on his own terms, with a little help from his friends. His first feature film, Medicine for Melancholy, produced by fellow Film School alums at Strike Anywhere Films, has received widespread praise from critics and has been an audience favorite at film festivals. The film garnered Jenkins a nomination for a Gotham Independent Film Award in the category Breakthrough Director, and three nominations for Film Independent's Spirit awards.

An MFA Directing 3 project, "Abe" follows a dog whose doting mistress has died without making arrangements for his care. As he strikes out on his own, he discovers that the world can be less than friendly to a wandering pooch.

A 2007 MFA thesis project, "The State of Sunshine" tells the story of Danny and Lily, a pair of siblings who are illegal immigrants from China to the vibrant backdrop of the Florida Panhandle, and must turn to prostitution in order to repay their smugglers.

For the second year in a row, an FSU Film School student has won a lucrative Princess Grace Award. The Princess Grace Foundation—created in honor of the late Princess Grace to support young artists in the areas of film, dance and theater—awarded MFA student Iman Zawahry $20,000 to help her make a short film about a Muslim American undercover detective. Zawahry has recently finished production on the film, a Directed Independent Study (DIS) project that she shot here at FSU.

In "Rundown," a 2006 MFA thesis project, a local TV news reporter looking for her big break causes a serious accident that she then has to report on the evening news broadcast. Her situation gives new meaning to the idea of covering the news.

An MFA Directing 3 project, "The Wall" is a glimpse into the life of Bernard, a New York City Cellist who, after years of struggling against unbearable guilt, finds little solace in the world, save for his music. As Bernard’s fate hangs in the balance, a woman moves next door who shares not only his passion for music but is herself no stranger to tragedy.

An MFA Directing 3 project, "Tough Crowd" is about Jihad, a young Muslim American college student who is following her dream of becoming a comedian, despite her family's lack of support. Can she win them over when she displays her talent at a multicultural fest?

An MFA thesis project, "My Four Inch Precious" was one of the first Film School films to use the new RED cameras. It was also the first digital-capture film to ever win a prize from the American Society of Cinematographers. It's a playful story about a lonely garbage collector who falls in love with a woman who is quite a bit smaller.

After sold out screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival, Bright Star screened at The Florida State University just before opening in theaters around the country. The free sneak preview came courtesy of the Film School’s Torchlight Program and its director, Paul Cohen.

An innovative public-private collaboration between one of the world’s top digital effects and computer animation companies, the Digital Domain Media Group, and one of the nation’s finest film schools, Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts, announced today the development of a new digital media enterprise to be located in West Palm Beach, Fla.