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For Immediate Release/Nov. 29, 2007 Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu NCSA FILMMAKING STUDENT NAMED BEST WOMAN STUDENT FILMMAKER BY DIRECTOR'S GUILD OF AMERICA
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) student Jesse Pilkes of Paoli, Pennsylvania, was named Best Woman Filmmaker (East Coast) for her third-year film, NEST OF SPIDERS, as part of the Director’s Guild of America’s (DGA) annual Student Film Awards. The award includes a $2,500 prize. Pilkes is a college senior studying directing in the School of Filmmaking at NCSA. The East Coast award-winning films will be screened at an awards ceremony on December 6, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. in the DGA Theatre at DGA Headquarters, 110 West 57th Street, New York City. Pilkes will travel with her key creative crew to New York to receive the award; these include: producer Setu Raval, cinematographer Jeremy Grant, editor Sal Caino, and production designer Glenn Peison. Composer Kim Planert will also be in attendance. NEST was written by Matt Beasley, who is unable to travel to New York due to a previous commitment.	Jesse Pilkes
The DGA awards are designed to honor, encourage and bring attention to outstanding minority and women directors in film schools and select universities across the country. In addition to Best Woman Filmmaker, the DGA also awards Best African-American, Asian-American, and Latino filmmakers. “The Guild is honored to recognize these talented young directors through the DGA Student Film Awards,” said Michael Apted, president of the Guild. “We are committed to spotlighting promising new talent and encouraging diversity in the entertainment industry. We look forward to seeing what our awardees do next.” The North Carolina School of the Arts, located in Winston-Salem (“The City of the Arts”), was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. The North Carolina School of the Arts is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Chancellor John Mauceri, the deans, and faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding, and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum. Founded to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the state of North Carolina and the Southeast, NCSA offers numerous public performances, on- and off-campus, as well as community education in the arts. School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others. # # #
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For Immediate Release/Nov. 29, 2007
Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu

NCSA FILMMAKING STUDENT NAMED
BEST WOMAN STUDENT FILMMAKER
BY DIRECTOR'S GUILD OF AMERICA

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) student Jesse Pilkes of Paoli, Pennsylvania, was named Best Woman Filmmaker (East Coast) for her third-year film, NEST OF SPIDERS, as part of the Director’s Guild of America’s (DGA) annual Student Film Awards. The award includes a $2,500 prize.

Pilkes is a college senior studying directing in the School of Filmmaking at NCSA.

The East Coast award-winning films will be screened at an awards ceremony on December 6, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. in the DGA Theatre at DGA Headquarters, 110 West 57th Street, New York City. Pilkes will travel with her key creative crew to New York to receive the award; these include: producer Setu Raval, cinematographer Jeremy Grant, editor Sal Caino, and production designer Glenn Peison. Composer Kim Planert will also be in attendance. NEST was written by Matt Beasley, who is unable to travel to New York due to a previous commitment.

Jesse Pilkes

The DGA awards are designed to honor, encourage and bring attention to outstanding minority and women directors in film schools and select universities across the country. In addition to Best Woman Filmmaker, the DGA also awards Best African-American, Asian-American, and Latino filmmakers.

“The Guild is honored to recognize these talented young directors through the DGA Student Film Awards,” said Michael Apted, president of the Guild. “We are committed to spotlighting promising new talent and encouraging diversity in the entertainment industry. We look forward to seeing what our awardees do next.”

The North Carolina School of the Arts, located in Winston-Salem (“The City of the Arts”), was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. The North Carolina School of the Arts is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Chancellor John Mauceri, the deans, and faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding, and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum. Founded to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the state of North Carolina and the Southeast, NCSA offers numerous public performances, on- and off-campus, as well as community education in the arts.

School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others.

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