September 2023 College News

Bryan Poyser 's short film DON'T YOU GO NOWHERE won 5 awards over the spring and summer - the Best Texas Short at the Deep in the Heart Film Festival in Waco, TX, the Audience Award for Best Dramatic Short at the Vero Beach Film Festival in Vero Beach, FL, and Best Director – Short Film, Best Script – Short Film and the "Jorge Jellinek" Prize for Best Short Film of the Festival at the Cine del Mar Film Festival in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The film also screened internationally in Italy (ShorTS International Film Festival in Trieste), Australia (Revelation Perth Film Festival in Perth) and South Africa (Music Imbizo Film Festival & Music Conference) and this fall is slated to screen in Austin, Texas at the ATX Short Film Showcase, Bay City, Michigan at the Hell’s Half-Mile Film Festival and Bend, Oregon at the Bend Film Festival. Annie Silverstein ’s short documentary Breaking Silence has played at festivals internationally and won numerous awards including Best Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival, Special Jury Award at River Run Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at Oak Cliff Film Festival, and Best Documentary Short at Snake Alley Festival of Film. For its win at Atlanta Film Festival, Breaking Silence became an Oscar qualifying short. In October the film will screen at the Hamptons International Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival. Directing faculty Yong-Suk Yoo starred in University and Theatre ’ directed by Ki-Woong Sung at Daehak-ro Theatre QUAD in Seoul, South Korea this June. He also participated in this production as the production concept and composition advisor. The production was invited to the 44th Seoul Theatre Festival this year. On June 9th, Yong-Suk Yoo also provided a special lecture titled 'For Young Actors Aspiring an Acrobat of the Heart', to the students of Youngsan University department of acting-performing arts in Busan, South Korea. STUDENT ACCOLADES Amber Adamez wrote and produced Mourning Doves that is currently a semi finalist in the Equity Library Theater of New York Play Festival. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 25 Salem Aguilar was featured in the Women in Film and Television Member Showcase in early September for her film entitled MEAT , at the Austin Film Society Theater in Austin. Jordan Banks' capstone film, Justis , premiered at the Hip Hop Film Festival in NYC in August. Kevin Bowman performed as Zebulun in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at The Palace Theatre. Wallis Brown and Schaeffer Certenberg were part of the cast of Short Shakespeare over the summer at the Zilker Hillside Theatre. Shavonna Butler was a production assistant for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Stevie: The Musical this July in Dallas. Simone Straub-Clark and Marcus Brooks opened Jesus Christ Superstar at Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw. Joann Gilliam and Albert Igbinigie opened as Joann and Steve in Rent at Theatre Aspen. Rhett James Menchaca wrote, produced, directed, starred, and edited short film, COUNTRY , which has been selected to screen as well as received honorable mentions from Texas film festivals. [2] Carson Palmer played Rum Tum Tugger in Cats at MT Wichita over the summer alongside Andrew Fleming as Coricopat and Jackson Wood as Mistofellees. These three were also in Ragtime as younger brother and ensemble roles, and Beauty and the Beast as ensemble. Carson Palmer was the dance captain for MT Wichita’s Red, White, and Broadway! In July. Janae Payton was awarded Best Costume Design at The Schmidt & Jones Awards for her work on The Addams Family Musical in Wylie. [3] Eric Shawn opened Rent at The Muny in August. He also opened Cabaret at the Virginia Theatre Festival in July.