The Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is presenting Producers Circle Awards to three very special friends of RISCA and the educational film community, Sherilyn Brown, Dana Neugent and Lew Place, on
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at 7 PM at The Vets in Providence. This award is presented to members of the community who have actively worked to support and promote the mission of Flickers: The Rhode Island International Film Festival.
Sherilyn Brown, Education Director at the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), has worked closely with the RI Film & Television Office and the
RI Arts Learning Network on the
Give Me Five Teen Film Festival and has been a tireless supporter of media education for young Rhode Islanders. Her vast experience and knowledge have enhanced arts education in our beautiful Ocean State for over 25 years.
Dana Neugent, Media Supervisor at the URI/Kingston Campus and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Film/Media Program, has been in the film/video business for over 25 years. He has worked on commercials, marketing videos, educational videos, documentaries, news stories and short and feature length films. He is a former RISCA Council Member and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Directors for the
Rhode Island Film Collaborative. He has won numerous national and regional awards for his film and video work and in 2009 he was awarded the Metcalf Diversity in Media Award by Rhode Island Community for Social Justice.
Lew Place, Webmaster/Location Photographer for the Rhode Island Film & Television Office, is an accomplished editor who has contributed to many promotional and educational videos, and he is an experienced motion picture and television prop maker. He has helped build a very user-friendly website for the Film Office, and his unique photographs have been published in and on the covers of national and international magazines and newspapers.
Pell Grants: A Passion for Education, a film by
Steven Feinberg, will screen after the awards presentation ceremony. This documentary highlights the compelling, often suspenseful behind-the-scenes battles privately waged behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. during the 1970's. Also showcased are leaders who have been positively impacted by the Pell Grant, those who fiercely oppose the program and the current fight for the survival of the Pell Grants by a wave of students actively promoting their views through social networking and media. The war for the future of American education has begun. Who will win?
A Q&A with a panel consisting of the film makers and legendary special guests, moderated by veteran award winning investigative reporter Jim Taricani of WJAR-TV, will close out the program.
