University of La Verne Students Win Two WAVE Awards for Film Productions

Six University of La Verne student projects were among the winners and finalists of this year’s Alliance for Community Media West Region WAVE Awards, which were presented during a ceremony held Feb. 20 in Monterey.

Participating in events such as the WAVE Awards allows students to see and hear what experts in their field think of the films they have produced.

Having six projects place as well as they did is an impressive accomplishment for a small program like the one at the University of La Verne, said Don Pollock, University of La Verne professor emeritus of communications. .

“I’m a big believer in entering student competitions,” Pollock said. “Winning really bolsters students’ confidence.”

This year’s award winners were:

• Spotlight 2018 – It earned an award in the best magazine show-community producer category. The entry consisted of some of the best short documentaries that were created by student in the Advanced Video Production course and aired in Fall 2018. Spotlight has consistently earned awards in national and regional competitions, Pollock said.
• Guadalupe – The film took the award in the best narrative-community producer category. The film tells the story of an abused woman who comes to the United States from Mexico, her efforts to improve her life and that of her daughter and the hurdles she encounters. Jessica Velazquez produced and wrote Guadalupe. Mariela Sanchez directed the film, Alexis Castro did the camera work, and Flo Schinoff was the editor. Guadalupe was a Spring 2019 senior project.

This year’s finalists were:

• Mireya’s Story – The film, which competed in the documentary-community producer category, centers on a University of La Verne volleyball player who gets cancer and goes on to become a nationally-recognized model. Madison Rubino produced and reported the film.
• The Industry – The film competed in the underserved voices-community producer category. The production is described as “a film about the lives of strippers in Los Angeles.” Jocelyn Ortega produced and reported the film.
• Unseen – The project was a finalist in the experimental-community producer category. The film was produced by intermediate video students Jacob Galeazzi, Tyler McGee, and Adam Van Lul and is based on sound design by Jon Oh, an adjunct professor who teaches radio and TV audio controls and techniques.
• The Alf Museum – A finalist in the educational access-community producer category, the film’s producer was Tre Pogue. Ashley Sayas directed the film, Nathan Keeler did the camera work, and Alyssa “Bronx” Munoz was the editor. The film aired on Spotlight in 2018.

Pollock was an advisor for most of the projects that garnered awards or nominations. Morgan Sandler, assistant professor of digital film production, was advisor for Guadalupe.

The Alliance for Community Media represents more than 3,000 public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access organizations and community media centers across the nation, according to its website. In addition, the Alliance “advocates, promotes, and preserves the right to media training, production, distribution, civic engagement and education in support of diverse community voices, through public, educational and government access channels and other forms of media.”

The Alliance for Community Media West Region encompasses Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, and New Mexico.