New York - The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures announced today that it will be awarding $75,000 in student grants in 2008. This year’s program includes 10 schools, all of which are located near or around the tri-state New York area. Each participating school will receive a total that ranges from $3,000 to $11,500 to be distributed to the top student filmmakers based on their submitted short films. Both undergraduate and graduate students were eligible to submit their work for grant consideration. The schools include Brooklyn College, City College, Columbia University, Ghetto Film School, Hunter College, Ithaca College, New York University, School of Visual Arts, SUNY Purchase and Wesleyan University.
In addition to the student grants, the Charlie Andrews Award for Film History will be presented to two Wesleyan students. The inaugural Marion Carter Green Award, honoring the former NBR Board Member, by her son, Laurence Mark, was awarded to Stephen Neary of New York University. The NBR also awarded $3,000 to The Children’s Aid Society to purchase film and video equipment.
“As we approach our Centennial year, we are thrilled to award these talented film students,” said Annie Schulhof, President of the National Board of Review. “We are so pleased with the growth of our student grant philanthropy and we are committed to continue our outreach next year.”
Each school submitted their top nominees to the NBR Student Grant Committee. The committee then selected the final awardees and announced each at the school’s individual ceremonies. In addition to the grant money, each student will receive a one-year membership to the NBR screening group and participate in the yearend awards vote; honors to be announced Thursday, December 4th 2008.
The grant program has grown significantly over the past nine years. The first grant was awarded in 2000 to Joan Stein, a Columbia University student, for One Day Crossing, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short. Each year the program has been able to honor more recipients and the number has grown from one in 2000 to 29 in 2008. For information about each year’s awardees please visit: http://nbrmp.org/features/sga.cfm
About The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
Formed in 1909, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is dedicated to film, foreign and domestic, as both art and entertainment. The NBR has supported free expression in motion picture arts for over 99 years when, in an effort to avoid government censorship of films, the National Board became the unofficial clearinghouse for new movies. From 1916 into the 1950’s thousands of motion pictures carried the legend “Passed by the National Board of Review” in their main or end titles. To the public, this was the catchphrase of confidence. The organization works to foster commentary on all aspects of film production, to endow scholarships for film students and to underwrite educational film programs and seminars. For more information on the National Board of Review, please visit www.nbrmp.org.
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