TWO USC STUDENTS WIN TOP FILM AWARDS
USC’s School of Cinema and Television reinforced its position as one of the country’s top film schools Tuesday night when two of its students took first-place FOCUS Awards for young film makers at a ceremony at the Directors Guild of America.
Seven other USC film school graduates took lesser awards, while three other winners were from Loyola Marymount University in Westchester and two from CalArts. More than $60,000 was awarded to the winning film makers. First-place winners also received Nissan automobiles.
The Films Of College and University Students Awards, now in their 11th year, recognize achievement by collegiate film makers. The awards bash is sponsored by Nissan Motors U.S.A. and a host of Hollywood companies, including Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and Dolby Laboratories.
Mary Beth Fiedler won first prize in the narrative film category for “Tell Me,” a film made while she was a USC graduate student. Fellow ex-Trojan David Hartwell copped the first-place documentary award for his film about “Jeopardy!” contestants, “Wise Guys!”
Animator Karen Kiser, a recent graduate from CalArts, took first prize in the animation category with her mixed-media film “Solitaire’s Sanctuary.” Ex-Georgia State University film and journalism student Roy Johansen broke the Southern California winning streak by taking the top screenwriting honor with “Murder 101.”
Peter Strauss emceed the awards show.
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