- Hockey 101: How to become a superfanOK, Tiger fans. It’s time to sharpen your knowledge of the RIT hockey program now that the men’s team has advanced to the NCAA Hockey Tournament. Afterall, you want to appear to be the smartest person at Thursday's viewing party being hosted at the Gene Polisseni Center. So, let’s load up on some history and fun facts about the program: The women’s hockey team won the NCAA Division III crown in 2012 and elevated to Division I that same year.While hockey was unofficially played by RIT students in the 1950s (even at one time being named the Techmen with blue and gray uniforms), it wasn’t until the 1961-1962 season that a team was officially sanctioned by the university. The team’s goal (pun 100 percent intended) this year is to win an unprecedented triple crown in hockey by winning the Division I national title. The Tigers already captured the Division II crown in 1983 followed by a Division III title in 1985. The men’s team moved to Division I in 2005. The women’s hockey team won the NCAA Division III crown in 2012 and elevated to Division I that year. All three of these NCAA championship trophies are displayed in the Gene Polisseni Center. RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson and Associate Head Coach Brian Hills already have a national championship ring. The duo were the captains of the 1984 championship team at Bowling Green. RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson is in his 25th season at the helm of the Tigers. He was just named Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year and is the ranked 34th all time in NCAA wins. With 30,000 plus in attendance, the Tigers have played in one of the largest indoor hockey competitions in history when they squared off against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2010 Frozen Four. The Frozen Four was hosted that year at Ford Field in Detroit. That year, the Tigers regularly played in sold-out Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena. Capacity: 2,100. David vs. Goliath? RIT’s opponent, Boston University, currently has 17 players in the National Hockey League. RIT has one, Chris Tanev of the Dallas Stars, who played on the 2010 Frozen Four team. The Terriers currently have 13 NHL draft picks on their roster. RIT has none. Macklin Celebrini, Boston’s freshman center and youngest player in the NCAA at 17, is the consensus top prospect for the 2024 NHL Draft. This is the first time RIT and Boston University have faced each other. After the amazing 2010 Frozen Four run, university officials decided it was time to build a larger arena then Frank Ritter. The “Power Plan” campaign was on to build a new arena. RIT alumni Stephen Schultz ’89 (computer science) and his wife, Vicki Schultz ’94 (business administration), ’99 (MBA), presented the campaign’s opening gift of $1 million. A founding member of RIT’s colorful Corner Crew cheering section, Schultz considers this donation an extension of his ongoing loyalty to the Tigers. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Polisseni Center. There is one lone orange seat at Polisseni. That seat is in honor of Green B. Williams ’78 (business administration), a former RIT goaltender. After graduating, Williams enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served with distinction. Tragically, he was killed in a pilot-training accident on March 21, 1984 So, are you ready to cheer on the Tigers with your superfan knowledge? If you want to learn more, there is even a book published by RIT Press, Frozen in Time: The History of RIT Hockey. Get your game on and Go Tigers!
- Alumni know anything can happen in NCAA tournamentAlumni know RIT may seem like an underdog among the hockey powerhouses in the 2024 NCAA tournament, but several alumni have seen exciting upsets by the Tigers over the years—Steve Schultz among them. provided Steve Schultz, town of Henrietta supervisor and RIT alumnus. “Hockey is full of stories where teams get hot at the right time, ride a hot goalie, or have offensive lines that just click and take it up a notch,” said Schultz ’89 (computer science). “When you look at how we’re playing right now, outscoring opponents 26-6 during the Atlantic Hockey tournament, we’ve got the hot goalie, we’ve got the strong defense as evidenced by our penalty kill, and we have the clicking offensive lines with production from multiple lines. Hopefully, that spells upset.” Schultz has a lot of history with the team. The men’s team made it to the Frozen Four tournament semifinals in 2010 and it seems natural to compare that experience to the possibilities of this year’s team making as big an impression at the 2024 tournament. Different teams, but school spirit unchanged. In 2010, the Corner Crew was voted the Third Star of the Tournament by the press. “I would be curious if that has ever happened before, a cheering section taking home a star of the tournament either before or since 2010,” said Schultz, the town of Henrietta supervisor and one of the original Corner Crew members, who remains a familiar face at games today. Returning to the NCAA tournament brings back memories not only for alumni who watched the Tigers in the 2010 Frozen Four, but for players like Dan Ringwald, who was captain and part of the first Division I competition team. He remembers the amazing fan support, great team camaraderie, as well as better pre-game meals at the tournament, he joked. “Our team had come a long way in the years leading up to that, “ said Ringwald ’09 (management), ’10 (MBA). “It was great to represent RIT on the national stage and it turned into great memories that I’m thankful for today.” Ringwald, a major accounts district manager for ADP, a human resources, payroll, and tax services company, was named in 2023 to the AHA’s inaugural Hall of Honor class to commemorate his successes as a player. He had this advice for the Tigers: “These opportunities don’t come up often, so seize the moment and enjoy it in the process. Continue to put the team first. Focus on the ‘controllables’ and what’s made you successful throughout the year.”
- RIT Esports unites students with a competitive spirit and a passion for gamingRIT’s Esports Counter-Strike 2 team won the Varsity Premier division of the National Association of Collegiate Esports last semester, and its Hearthstone team has had players enter the top eight, two semesters in a row. These are just a few of the achievements of the team, which strives to earn many more accolades as the spring esports season gets underway. The team, which brings together nearly 300 students in each of RIT’s nine colleges, competes in 19 games across various genres. Some of the games they compete in are Overwatch, Rocket League, and even Chess. Students compete in different levels, including JV and varsity, and play against other colleges and universities around the nation, hoping for a chance to compete in, and ultimately win, nationals to become the best collegiate esports team in the country. Dan Squire, RIT Esports competitive director and a fifth-year game design and development major from Medina, N.Y., shared what draws him to this community. RIT Esports The RIT Esports ‘Halo’ team is preparing for its spring gaming season. I've always had a very deep love for competition and gaming,” he explained. “I knew when I got to RIT that I wanted to continue to pursue that passion in some way, so I tried out for the Hearthstone team and the Magic: The Gathering Arena team in my first semester. Since then, I’ve been growing my skills and helping others develop their own, and I am deeply grateful for the experience I’ve had thus far.” Esports practices are conducted similarly to physical sports practices. Both require countless hours of time commitment to hone one’s skills, and practice time is spent reviewing footage from past games, studying opponents’ strategies, scrimmaging other teams, or perfecting strategies through repeated attempts. Dylan Pegg, a third-year game design and development major, is student manager of the Halo team and competes at the highest level. “It is such an exhilarating feeling,” Pegg said. “The people are playing out of passion and out of love for the game. In the college scene, there’s a community outside of the individual teams. A lot of people are friends from different schools.” One of the benefits of esports, according to fifth-year computer science major Gerrit Krot, is the level of accessibility afforded to players due to the absence of requiring very specialized equipment or training fields. “Everyone that has access to a computer and the internet can compete. The beauty of esports is that the barrier to entry is really low, so we see all kinds of people playing and competing,” Krot said. Viewers can watch RIT Esports team practices and competitions on its Twitch livestreams.
- RIT recognizes newest class of PI MillionairesRIT celebrated another exemplary year of research funding and honored 15 faculty and staff researchers in its newest class of PI Millionaires. The honorees, all principal investigators on innovative projects, were recognized at a reception on March 26 at the university. The 15 distinguished researchers inducted as PI Millionaires are those receiving $1 million or more in funding over the fiscal year and leading some of the most active projects under way at the university. The group was praised for its work and impact the research could make in areas such as behavioral health, semiconductor design and development, cybersecurity, and 3D printing and sustainable preservation. University research funding has topped $1 billion collectively since 2010, said Ryne Raffaelle, RIT vice president for Research and associate provost. “The strategic plan goals set for the Research Division were exceeded and reached earlier than expected. The amazing thing about this year is we’re on track to remain among the top universities in research spending. The state of our research union is strong,” he said. Since 2001, RIT has recognized its accomplished faculty-researchers through the annual PI Millionaire Reception. Today, there are more than 350 principal investigators and colleagues on active, multi-disciplinary projects. Faculty and staff honored as PI Millionaires for 2023 are:Cassandra Berbary, research faculty, College of Health Sciences and Technology Paul Craig, professor, College of Science Feng Cui, associate professor, College of Science Betsy Dell, professor, College of Engineering Technology Carlos Diaz-Acosta, associate professor, College of Engineering Technology Doreen Edwards, dean and professor, Kate Gleason College of Engineering Christina Goudreau Collison, professor, College of Science Bonnie Jacob, associate professor, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Jason Nordhaus, associate professor, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Justin Pelletier, director and professor of practice, ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute at RIT Keven Poore, director, Substance and Addiction Intervention Services for the Deaf, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Emma Richardson, director of research, Image Permanence Institute, College of Art and Design Iris Rivero, professor, Kate Gleason College of Engineering Joseph Sirianni, associate director, research and business development, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, College of Science Brian Tomaszewski, professor, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Also recognized at the event were Seed Funding awardees, who are faculty members in the beginning stages of a research career. Members of the 2023 class are:Catherine Beaton, associate professor, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Zipeng Guo, assistant professor, Kate Gleason College of Engineering Dustin Haraden, assistant professor, College of Liberal Arts Abu Islam, associate research professor, Golisano Institute for Sustainability Ahmad Kirmani, assistant professor, College of Science Clifton Langdon, assistant professor, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Jian Liu, assistant professor, College of Science Rachel Peng, assistant professor, College of Liberal Arts Haibo Yang, assistant professor, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Ryan Wang, assistant professor, College of Liberal Arts Both the PI Millionaires and Seed Funding awardees are part of the growing research initiatives taking place at RIT and contributed to the more than $94 million awarded to scholars across RIT’s colleges. Key research areas include nanotechnology, optics and imaging science, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. Many of these awards were funded by national agencies such as the National Science Foundation ($16.5 million), the Department of Defense ($15.2 million), National Institutes of Health ($8.1 million), and the Department of Energy ($7.5 million). Since 2004, 19 faculty members have received NSF CAREER awards, including the two newest honorees this academic year: Bing Yan, for improving low-carbon grids with renewables and energy storage, and Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans, to better understand fiber bundle failure mechanics for ultra-high reliability applications. The total value of the proposals submitted was $325 million—a 23 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, putting RIT in the top 50 of all private research universities in the country.
- Constellation Brands enhances endowed scholarship for diversity in computing fieldConstellation Brands is enhancing its endowed scholarship at RIT, aimed at increasing diversity in the field of computing. The Constellation Brands Endowed Scholarship is now available to support students in both the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences and the Saunders College of Business. The newly expanded endowment was made possible by a $500,000 gift from the company. “Constellation Brands is dedicated to cultivating a diverse workforce that authentically represents the vibrant tapestry of our consumers and communities,” said Mark Brown, manager of Acquisition and University Relations at Constellation Brands. “By supporting education and empowering underrepresented groups, we not only foster stronger recruiting outcomes, but also open doors to unique faculty collaborations. This endeavor isn’t just about giving back—it’s about shaping a future where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive, enriching both our company and the communities we serve.” The scholarship was established in 2021 to support women, students of color, and first generation students in the Golisano College. It is now available to students enrolled in the Saunders College. The goal of the scholarship is to help foster an inclusive culture within computing, characterized by diversity in background and thought. Third-year student Chloe Pendergast was the first recipient of the Constellation Brands Endowed Scholarship. She recently switched majors from new media interactive development into the individualized program, with a concentration in user experience in web design. She said that speaking with people at Constellation Brands has given her peace of mind, in the sense that many of their employees start their careers in one field, but then evolve into an entirely different area of specialty. “Being financially backed by such a huge company where their main goal is to lift up and promote women in these male-dominated jobs feels very rewarding and reassuring,” said Pendergast, who is from Ridgewood, N.J. “I’ve met some amazing people at Constellation Brands and they have supported me and helped me grow as a student—and honestly as a person.” The endowment will provide a scholarship of about $3,750 to one student every year. The scholarship is administered by financial aid. “On behalf of Saunders College of Business, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to Constellation Brands for their generous investment in student scholarships,” said Saunders College Dean Jacqueline Mozrall. “This commitment will enable students to access a transformative business education at RIT and we couldn’t be more grateful. Constellation Brands has a strong history of partnering with Saunders College of Business and this gift reaffirms its commitment to RIT, Saunders College of Business and to our region.” Based in Victor, N.Y., Constellation Brands is a Fortune 500 company and leading international producer and marketer of consumer-loved beer, wine, and spirits brands—including Corona, Modelo, Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, and The Prisoner.
- Atlantic Hockey champions 2024!Fasten your seat belts, RIT—the men’s hockey team is on the road to the Frozen Four. The Tigers captured the Atlantic Hockey Championship with a 5-2 victory over American International College in front of a standing-room-only crowd Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Center. The victory is RIT’s fourth Atlantic Hockey postseason title, with the others occurring in 2010, 2015, and 2016. “The thing I can say about this team, probably more than other teams I've coached, is the contributions came from everyone,” RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson told reporters in the post-game news conference. “Every night it was someone different, whether it came from our captains and guys you expect production from, or freshmen, our goaltending, our role players, and special teams.” NCAA The road to the Frozen Four. RIT now enters the NCAA Tournament field of 16 teams vying for the national crown. First up: perennial hockey powerhouse Boston University. The Tigers face off against the Terriers in the regional being hosted in Sioux Falls, S.D. The puck drops at 5 p.m. Thursday in a game that will be televised on ESPNU and ESPN+. The tournament concludes April 11 and 13 at the Men's Ice Hockey Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn. The Terriers are no stranger to the NCAA Tournament (39 appearances), nor Frozen Fours (23, including last season). They’ve won five national championships. But RIT has a history of performing well as the underdog. In 2010, the Tigers shocked the college hockey world by earning a trip to the prestigious Frozen Four. Prior to moving up to Division I competition in 2005, the Tigers won the national crown at the Division II level in 1983 and Division III level in 1985. RIT’s hockey history is on the mind of RIT forward Carter Wilkie, a third-year biomedical sciences major from Calgary, Alberta. The Tigers have built a winning tradition since the program’s inception in 1962. “On our walls (in the Gene Polisseni Center), you see the pictures of people who have won championships hosting the trophy,” said Wilkie. “It's a constant reminder that this stuff is hard. To create a memory like that, you're going to see a guy 30 years down the line and we'll remember this the rest of our lives.” For more information, including about tickets, stay tuned to ritathletics.com and @RITAthetics on X, or download the RIT Athletics app to have the latest information delivered directly to your mobile device.
- Famed tabla musician to perform and build bridges at RITSandeep Das, a Grammy-winning musician and internationally known master of the Indian tabla, will work with students and give a concert at Rochester Institute of Technology during a four-day artist-in-residency. He’ll be joined by world-class North Indian Classical and Afghani artists, who aim to foster cultural curiosity and community conversations. Das is the founder of Harmony and Universality through Music (HUM), a nonprofit organization that promotes global understanding through music performance and provides learning opportunities and scholarships for visually impaired children with artistic potential. Das, whose daughter Sonakshi Das is a third-year business student at RIT, gave a concert at RIT last year. He returns this year to teach two master classes, a dance workshop, participate in a panel discussion, and perform a concert at 8 p.m. on March 29 in Ingle Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public. School of Performing Arts Director Erica Haskell expects his events will draw students from the sizable Indian community on campus (which has 982 international students from India attending RIT this year) as well as from the greater Rochester area. Sandhya Vaidyanathan, who graduates in May with a degree in mechanical engineering, co-founded RIT Awareness in Music (AIM) in 2022. This student-run performing arts club is dedicated to fostering musical awareness of Indian and South Asian classical styles of music to the RIT community. Vaidyanahan, of Chennai, India, says Das and his ensemble’s music inspires her with their theme, “transcending borders,” bringing together unique instruments and different music styles. “I’m also always in awe of how effortlessly he blends in the tabla in all the fusion music he performs,” she said. “They are going to be playing instruments we probably haven’t heard. We will be exposed to new sounds, new song structure, new scales, and see a new way of interaction between the musicians. The concert is definitely a rare opportunity to witness fusion music from India and Afghanistan live.” Nominated for Grammy awards in 2005 and 2009, Das won “Best World Music Album” in 2017 for his collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma for “The Silk Road Ensemble–Sing Me Home.” Das started playing the tabla when he was 6 years old. “There was a complaint from my school and my father was called into the principal’s quarters because I was constantly tapping my hands on the desks,” Das said. “I stopped tapping my hands, but started tapping with my feet. So my father went out and bought me a tabla. They say you don’t choose an instrument, the instrument chooses you.” Since then, he has performed with numerous symphony orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “The tabla makes an incredible sound, unlike any other drum,” he said. “This instrument has a soul. It almost speaks a human language.” Das said people who attend the concert will leave feeling happy, and he’s grateful they will be supporting live music. “What I’m purely hoping to accomplish at any concert is for them to see the sheer joy, love, and happiness that we have, without any concerns about who we are, what our given names are, and where we come from,” he said. “Sharing, caring, and loving is what I’m hoping to share.”
- RIT part of U.S. Department of Energy initiative to improve national energy gridRochester Institute of Technology will be a contributing partner on a $4.5 million U.S. Department of Energy initiative to improve the operation of grid transmission and distribution systems, including how information about energy resources can be better transmitted securely. The university will provide optimization models and methods as more solar energy resources are added to the current grid. Referred to as TRANSFORMATIVE, the project is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Technologies Office. Based at the University of Connecticut, the lead organization, expertise from academia, industry, and national research labs will work together on the project to improve current and future power systems. Investments in alternative, renewable energies and more coordinated processes could decrease consumer costs and increase clean energy options for residences and industries. RIT will be represented by Bing Yan, assistant professor of electrical engineering in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, an expert in operations and management of power and energy systems. Her research is in modeling how extensive energy networks can better balance resources and demands. Yan will contribute to improving distributed and asynchronous optimization mechanisms required by grid operators. “There is a need to have a system that is better coordinated, but also makes information sharing both effective and secure so that the privacy-sensitive, distributed energy resources will be willing to participate in the market,” said Yan, who recently received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to explore options for smart grid management and increase energy storage capacity. According to the Department of Energy, it is sponsoring projects to develop new, state-of-the-art planning and operations tools to enable solar energy to be better integrated and utilized within the electric power grid. This asset could provide Americans with more affordable and secure sources of clean energy. These research activities will help improve the resilience of energy systems with increasing amounts of renewable energy. Efforts in this area are intended to meet the Biden Administration’s goals for achieving a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035. Conventional grid management methodologies fall short in maintaining privacy and optimizing system operation in the presence of distributed energy resources. Conventional centralized control mechanisms provide shared data among stakeholders, elevating privacy risks and computational complexity. The TRANSFORMATIVE project team expects to achieve a 30 percent improvement in privacy preservation metrics and a 20 percent reduction in computational time compared to existing models, Yan explained. TRANSFORMATIVE is an acronym for Transmission and Distribution Systems with Flexible and Optimal Coordination: Resilience, Modeling and Technologies for VRE and DER-integrated Adaptive Energy Grid. The University of Connecticut announced this major project award and focus on March 21. Team members include the host university, RIT, the University of Utah, South Dakota State University, Southwest Power Pool, ISO-NE, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Resource Innovations National Grid, Raytheon Technologies, Avangrid, American Electric Power, and Polaris Systems Optimization. More about the partners, project and Department of Energy focus can be found online.
- RIT men’s hockey plays Saturday for Atlantic Hockey ChampionshipUnfinished business. The RIT men’s hockey team is coming off its second straight Atlantic Hockey regular season championship. But in Atlantic Hockey, being crowned regular season champ (the Tigers have won a league high six trophies) only gets you so far in the world of college hockey. It’s all about who stays hot in the conference tournament. After being upset in last year’s tournament, the Tigers have redemption on their mind. Follow the Tigers The championship puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the Gene Polisseni Center. While the game sold out in a record two hours, there are several ways to follow the Tigers. Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch Play-by-play announcing: Gene Battaglia, John DiTullio Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com Play-by-play announcing: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar, Matt Campbell Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey Twitter: @RITMHKY In a winner-take-all-game Saturday night, No. 1 seed RIT hosts No. 5 seed American International College. The winner of the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Championship earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. RIT is making its sixth trip to the Atlantic Hockey Championship and its first since 2016. The Tigers have claimed three Atlantic Hockey Postseason titles (2010, 2015, 2016) in their previous five appearances in the title game. In 2010, the Tigers shocked the college hockey world by earning a trip to the NCAA’s prestigious Frozen Four. If victorious on Saturday, the Tigers will enter the NCAA Tournament with 16 of the nation’s best teams remaining on the road to the Frozen Four. The 2024 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament begins with the selection show on Sunday, March 24. Championship selections, along with pairings for the tournament, will be announced live on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. The tournament begins March 28 with regionals and concludes April 11 and 13 at the Men's Frozen Four in Saint Paul, Minn. In national rankings, RIT checks in at No. 18 in the latest USCHO poll and No. 19 in the latest USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll. For individual honors, the Tigers are racking up Atlantic Hockey accolades. Goaltender Tommy Scarfone, a business management student from Montreal, was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of Year, while Wayne Wilson was named Coach of the Year. Six Tigers overall landed Atlantic Hockey All-Conference honors. Nationally, three Tigers have also been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s most prestigious award. Coach Wilson knows Saturday night will be an intense game with AIC making its fourth appearance in the Atlantic Hockey Championship, all of which have come since 2019. “AIC has done a great job. It’s a great matchup,” Wilson said in a recent podcast with Atlantic Hockey. “Every weekend series has gotten tougher and tougher. This is what we have been playing for all year.”
- Graduate students selected as finalists in the 2024 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films programTwo graduate students from RIT’s School of Film and Animation are representing the university as finalists in the 2024 Coca-Cola® Refreshing Films (CCRF) program. Lou Duchin, a film and animation graduate student, and Maria Palmeri, a dual-degree graduate student in film and animation and communication, worked together to create a short branded-spot film for the competition titled How’s The View? Duchin, from Hollywood, Fla., and Palmeri, from Greece, N.Y., met last semester as incoming first-year graduate students. When they learned about the CCRF competition, they were eager to participate. The pair shared that they were filled with a range of emotions, including excitement and happy tears, upon hearing that they were selected as one of four finalists to receive funding to bring their script to life for the big screen. “I am coming back to writing and film after pursuing a career in a different field, so now that I’ve written this script, was accepted into the program, and we made it to the finals—it’s all super validating for me. It’s like confirming that I’m making the right decisions and it gave me confidence in what I can do as a writer,” said Duchin. Kashif Bin Arif The commercial was filmed overnight at a local Cinemark Tinseltown theater in early February. Here, the production team operates a jib crane in the theater to get the best angle for their film. The CCRF program is a platform that provides students the opportunity to create content for the big screen. Each year, the program creates a student scripting challenge which invites students from partnered schools to submit their ideas. Four scripts were selected as finalists this year to receive funding for production. The program offers two awards: the grand prize and the Cinemark Fan Favorite Award. To determine who receives the grand prize award, the finalists’ films will be judged by a Red Ribbon panel made up of industry professionals. This year’s grand-prize-winning film will get screened for a limited time in Coca-Cola-partnered theaters nationwide, including Cinemark theaters, AMC theatres, Megaplex, Landmark Cinemas, and Cineplex Cinemas. They’ll also receive a battle-tested RED KOMODO camera to launch their careers. Additionally, the program has teamed up with Cinemark to offer the Cinemark Fan Favorite Award, which was created to allow movie fans to participate and help create more awareness for the finalists’ films. All of the films will be hosted online during the month of April and moviegoers can vote for their favorite film. The film that receives the most votes will win a cash prize. Provided There were four animators who worked on the film. From left: Amandeep Singh, Katie Schneider, Vinh Nguyen, and Reagan Christie. The theme for this year’s challenge is celebrating the real magic of the movies and over 900 scripts were submitted by students from across the country. When brainstorming their ideas, Duchin and Palmeri reflected on their own experiences and how watching movies provided an escape from reality. How’s The View? follows Charlie, a movie theater employee who loves watching movies from the projector booth. One day when watching one of his favorite movies, Charlie sees that the characters are in trouble and he decides to go into the movie to rescue them. For Duchin, writer and director of the film, and Palmeri, producer of the film, this is their first time working on a production of this scale. With over 60 people on set during their overnight filming at Cinemark Tinseltown theater in Gates, N.Y., Palmeri said the experience taught her a lot about the importance of pre-production planning. “There were a lot of things to keep track of from a producer perspective, from trying to get contact information from all of the crew and cast to make sure they’re updated to keeping the communication flowing between all of the department heads. All of our pre-production meetings with the crew and our mentors from CCRF really helped us stay organized, and helped me see how much work goes into a project on this scale,” said Palmeri. Past winners In 2022, students Anna McClanahan and Gabriel Ponte-Fleary received the grand prize award for their film, Say Cheese. Learn more about their film. Their film is a unique blend of live-action and 2D animation, a first for the CCRF competition. A team of four animators helped bring Duchin and Palmeri’s vision to life: Amandeep Singh, lead compositor and background designer; Katie Schneider, storyboard artist, production coordinator, and animation creative director; Vinh Nguyen, supervisor, in-betweener, and cleanup; and Reagan Christie, character designer and lead animator. “I feel like live-action and animation are two mediums that get separated a lot, but I think they both are great ways to express art and stories. Most of the stories I love are animated, so I wanted to include that as part of the magic in the film,” said Duchin. “And because I’ve met so many great animators here, I wanted to give opportunities to people who work in both mediums to showcase what we all can do.” Duchin added that the live action elements of the short film wouldn’t have been possible to create without contributions from Aimee Finkelstein, director of photography, and Jayla Alston, assistant director. The grand prize winner of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program will be announced on April 11 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Duchin and Palmeri look forward to attending the screening of the finalist films and exploring all that CinemaCon has to offer. “This is really exciting for both of us because we’ve never been to Vegas. It’s going to be a whole new world for us, especially because the whole event takes place at Caesar’s Palace,” said Palmeri. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the studio slates at CinemaCon. Actually being there in the moment when they’re releasing clips from movies that aren’t coming out for another year and have never been seen before is just so exciting.” Visit the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films webpage for more information about the program, and show your support by voting for How’s The View? as the Cinemark Fan Favorite Award during the month of April. Kashif Bin Arif The full production crew for Duchin and Palmeri’s short film.
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