Hello Dyrk,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the great production assistant support that we received from UT.  Your students ROCK!
If you were looking for Brett Myers anytime after FRI Feb 22nd he was with us.  He came on as our 2nd PA and worked a lot.  Our field producer depended on Brett a great deal especially on the final day of shooting when our 1st PA dropped out--tired and disgruntled.  Brett exhibited a good amount of maturity at that moment when we needed him to step up to the #1 position. He did it without reserve and executed it brilliantly.  Brett is a special young man.  
We also hired Emily Feller and David Kuznicki for the wedding day and they were invaluable.  I would highly recommend either of them anytime and anywhere.
So there you have it--in the end your students were our best and brightest.  
We very much appreciate all that you did to support the Grand Rapids episode of Bridezillas.  This episode is part of Season V that will start airing in June on the WE Network.

My very best,
Ann Plyley
Production Manager, Bridezillas V
September Films

Craig Dirienzo, a junior film major from Campbell, Ohio, has been awarded a USR&CAP (Undergraduate Summer Research and Creative Activity Program) grant to aid in funding his documentary project Combining an Exploration with an Expectation: A Documentary Film on Church Practices and Beliefs.  This is a highly competitive grant, and the first time it has funded an undergraduate film or video project - congrats Craig!  

Well, Chris Lohman also just won an undergraduate research award and will be creating an interdisciplinary piece over the summer relating to both his majors (FILM and PHILOSOPHY).  I'm the faculty mentor on the Film side.  He's a bit shy and told me  that he'd prefer fanfare after he's created something, not when he's been told he has a good idea.  So if this is the 'first time' film projects have been funded, then it’s the first time AND we have two! 

David Steingass, a sophomore film major from Defiance, Ohio, has won the Short Prose Essay category in the annual Dean's Essay Prize contest.  This is the second year in a row that a film major has won a Dean's Essay prize - go UTFV!

Scott Elbin, a UT sophomore and film major, presented a paper at the University of Notre Dame in April at the Second Annual Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference. His paper titled, "David Fincher’s Se7en: Intersections of the Messiah and the Mass Murderer," was presented as part of the "Representations of Christianity" portion of the conference. 
Scott describes his paper in this way, "My paper explores the character John Doe, a serial killer created by David Fincher in the film "Se7en."  Through his character, Fincher creates a man who seems to be religious, yet murderous, and throughout the film, Fincher alludes to the character of Jesus Christ.  Fincher alludes to similarities between the two, not to say that John Doe is Jesus Christ, but to show that Doe is a misguided "prophet" of sorts.  The goal of my paper is to draw parallels between John Doe and Jesus, while at the same time drawing great contrasts in character and methodology."
Congrats, Scott!