News Article

For Immediate Release/Nov. 28, 2007 Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu NCSA FILMMAKING STUDENT NAMED BOOK VIDEO AWARDS FINALIST
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) student Alaina McManus of Charlotte has been named a finalist in the Kirkus Reviews 2007 Teen Book Video Awards. McManus attended the awards celebration and screening at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York City on Monday, November 26. She is a college junior studying cinematography in the School of Filmmaking at NCSA. The Teen Book Video Awards is an annual competition for young filmmakers. Students from across the country compete to create book videos for three of the hottest teen books of the year. Out of dozens of students who applied, nine filmmakers were chosen by a panel of judges from Random House, Expanded Books and The Nielsen Company (parent company of The Book Standard and Kirkus Reviews) to create video for one of three books: The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott; Runemarks, by Joanne Harris; and Love, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli. Three book videos, including one by McManus for The Alchemyst, were chosen as the best for each specific book and were screened at Tribeca. Winners were chosen based upon various criteria including best adapted screenplay from the novel, cinematography skills, and use of actors, costumes and set design.	Alaina McManus
A graduate student from Columbia University was chosen as the overall winner of the event. He received $1,000, while McManus and the other finalist, also from Columbia, received $250. McManus directed a cast and crew composed of North Carolina School of the Arts students. She told The Book Standard: “The book definitely lent itself to the visual and was very cinematic. We had fun visual effects to work with and it was very challenging.” Five other teams of NCSA students led by John Roberts (’07) of Raleigh; Jonathan Sikes (’07) of Raleigh; Sergey Rahkmanov (’09) of Gibsonton, Florida; Marco Garcia (’09) of Alpharetta, Georgia; and Nicolas Gonzalez (’10) of Barcelona, Spain, also competed and were named semi-finalists. This year’s event is the third Book Video Awards from Kirkus Reviews and The Book Standard. In May 2006, The Book Standard presented the first Book Video Awards (two NCSA productions were finalists), and last November, the 2006 Teen Book Video Awards. Each of the three 2007 finalist’s videos, as well as interviews with the filmmakers, will be available online starting mid-December at BookVideoAwards.com, Random House’s website and through Expanded Books’ network on video-sharing websites. 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. ###
Back

For Immediate Release/Nov. 28, 2007
Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu

NCSA FILMMAKING STUDENT NAMED
BOOK VIDEO AWARDS FINALIST

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) student Alaina McManus of Charlotte has been named a finalist in the Kirkus Reviews 2007 Teen Book Video Awards. McManus attended the awards celebration and screening at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York City on Monday, November 26. She is a college junior studying cinematography in the School of Filmmaking at NCSA.

The Teen Book Video Awards is an annual competition for young filmmakers. Students from across the country compete to create book videos for three of the hottest teen books of the year. Out of dozens of students who applied, nine filmmakers were chosen by a panel of judges from Random House, Expanded Books and The Nielsen Company (parent company of The Book Standard and Kirkus Reviews) to create video for one of three books: The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott; Runemarks, by Joanne Harris; and Love, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli.

Three book videos, including one by McManus for The Alchemyst, were chosen as the best for each specific book and were screened at Tribeca. Winners were chosen based upon various criteria including best adapted screenplay from the novel, cinematography skills, and use of actors, costumes and set design.

Alaina McManus

A graduate student from Columbia University was chosen as the overall winner of the event. He received $1,000, while McManus and the other finalist, also from Columbia, received $250.

McManus directed a cast and crew composed of North Carolina School of the Arts students. She told The Book Standard: “The book definitely lent itself to the visual and was very cinematic. We had fun visual effects to work with and it was very challenging.”

Five other teams of NCSA students led by John Roberts (’07) of Raleigh; Jonathan Sikes (’07) of Raleigh; Sergey Rahkmanov (’09) of Gibsonton, Florida; Marco Garcia (’09) of Alpharetta, Georgia; and Nicolas Gonzalez (’10) of Barcelona, Spain, also competed and were named semi-finalists.

This year’s event is the third Book Video Awards from Kirkus Reviews and The Book Standard. In May 2006, The Book Standard presented the first Book Video Awards (two NCSA productions were finalists), and last November, the 2006 Teen Book Video Awards.

Each of the three 2007 finalist’s videos, as well as interviews with the filmmakers, will be available online starting mid-December at BookVideoAwards.com, Random House’s website and through Expanded Books’ network on video-sharing websites.

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.

###

Back