THE 2006 AMERICAN VISIONS FESTIVAL
Friday, May 5, 2006 Emcee Script by Chris Palmer Thank you, Larry. Welcome everybody to an evening of celebration – a celebration of student work and the creative projects that SOC students have accomplished over the past year. The School of Communication is like a family and it’s important we all know each other. So please turn to the people around you and introduce yourself. You are members for life of a very special community here at SOC, and the friendships you make here may well last throughout your lives. It is true, as Larry indicated, that I am novice stand-up comic. The good news is that I’ve just signed my first contract with HBO. For $20, I get all the movies. On behalf of us all, I want to thank Dean Larry Kirkman. It was Larry who had the vision to broaden this Festival to include all three SOC divisions. John Anderson is the Festival Director and has done a wonderful job. John told me earlier this evening that Larry Kirkman gave him the best advice he ever got: “John, never approach a horse from the rear, a bull from the front, or Chris Palmer from any direction.” John also told me today that the only times he felt stressed planning the Visions Festival were during the day and again at night. John is actually very grateful to Larry for bringing religion back into his life. Until John had to deal with the AU bureaucracy, he never believed in hell. I want to thank everyone who submitted an entry to the 2006 Visions Festival. All of us on the faculty and staff salute you for doing that. John Anderson tells me that the judges were highly impressed by the quality of all the entries. Introduce Journalism awards and Neal Pattison Now it is my privilege to introduce the Journalism awards and Professor Neal Pattison. Neal tells me that everything in his life seems to come late to him. He didn't discover how much he loved teaching until he’d already spent nearly 30 years in newspapers. And now that he’s middle aged, he’s just learned that he and his wife Sarah are expecting their first child -- a son -- this October.
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Neal says he’s currently accepting bids for the naming rights. This is a strategy he picked up from Larry Kirkman and the SOC development staff as they raise money for our new building. Neal says he plans to consider all reasonably generous offers, and thinks he has a real chance at Apple Ipod Pattison. Neal’s completed four marathons. And he was recently asked to redesign the base newspaper for the U.S. Marines at Quantico. Obviously, they haven't yet discovered the FBI files that contain the photos of him as a long-haired rabble-rouser during the Vietnam War. Please give a warm welcome to Neal Pattison. Introduce Film and Media Arts Awards and Randall Blair It is my privilege now to introduce the Film and Media Arts awards and Professor Randall Blair. Randall has been teaching at SOC for thirteen years and is the cofounder and director of the masters programs in producing for film and video, which is graduating its 10th cohort this month. He is currently raising money for a feature film about his time in a Turkish prison, and Randall is also writing a script for a film that he calls the anti-Forest Gump movie. Please give a warm welcome to Randall Blair. Introduce Dean Larry Kirkman to introduce Rob Henninger Introduce New Media Awards and Brigid Maher It is now my privilege to introduce the New Media Awards and Professor Brigid Maher. Brigid will likely go to either Pakistan or Canada this summer to work on a documentary on Muslim women leaders. Many of you, I hope, have seen her movie AWOL. Brigid tells me that while they were shooting at the Lebanon/Syria border, she and her crew would wave to smugglers at night who traveled back and forth between Lebanon and Syria. Then Lebanese security forces would drive by and ask Brigid if she wanted to borrow a machine gun to protect herself and her crew on location. Despite the dangers, Brigid assures me she’d rather be on that border than in a faculty council meeting. Please give a warm welcome to Brigid Maher.
3 Introduce the Environmental awards The first one is for the Best Environmental Film Proposal. The judges chose one written by graduate student Andrea Bloom, who created a compelling treatment for a film on environmental justice. Andrea will be working in LA this summer with World of Wonder Productions. As you would expect from someone from the great state of Oregon, she has a strong environmental ethic and is one of the best students I have ever had at AU. I am delighted that SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking is giving a substantial monetary award to Andrea for winning tonight. The second environmental award goes to Katie Gerringer and Ken Cornwell for their excellent thesis film Feeling Fuelish. The Center for Environmental Filmmaking was honored to help fund this film and is now again honored to give a substantial cash award to Katie and Ken for winning the award for the Best Environmental and Wildlife Film. Unfortunately neither of them could be here tonight. You can find more information about their film at www.feelingfuelish.com. Introduce Public Communications Awards and Gemma Puglisi and Maria Ivancin I am now delighted to introduce to you Professor Gemma Puglisi and Professor Maria Ivancin. You may have seen their poster in the hallways – the poster of Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton! It tells you where Gemma and Maria’s offices are. They call it the “penthouse.” You may not know this, but Gemma was a music major and a drama major. Her motto is, “The world’s a stage…so is the classroom!” Gemma worked for years at NBC News – with Tom Brokaw as well as Katie Couric. She has also worked for talent agencies, in media relations for The NASDAQ Stock Market, and for Edelman PR worldwide. Gemma has won many awards for her work in public affairs and journalism. What you may not know is that her parents and sisters are from Messina, Sicily. In January, Gemma found out she is going to be knighted by the Italian government for her many contributions to Italian culture and education. Let’s give her a round of applause! Professor Maria Ivancin is unique at SOC in that she is, I believe, the only faculty member with an MBA. Her office, like the offices of many researchers, is always knee-high in paper. She is a numbers person and loves the quantitative side of things. Maria is a baseball fan -- Washington Nationals. She is missing a game tonight which goes to show her dedication to SOC students. She plays the violin – her undergraduate degree is in music – and the last time she was on a stage in a theater was when she was playing in an orchestra – the Georgetown Symphony. Please give a warm welcome to Gemma Puglisi and Maria Ivancin.
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Introduce more Film and Media Arts Awards and Professor John Douglass It is now an honor for me to introduce Professor John Douglass. John is head of the Film and Media Arts Division of SOC and my boss. John tells me I’m one of his most valued faculty members because my ineptitude consistently raises the self-esteem of everyone else in our division. John has wrestled with three big questions in life: Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? And why does Larry have the SOC logo on his underpants? John is a certified barbecue judge, was once an actor, and is a serious biker. In spite of a fairly traumatic bicycle accident in February, he will be leaving for New York tomorrow to ride in the New York City Five-borough marathon. We wish him luck and safe cycling! Please give a warm welcome to John Douglass. Introduce the Photography Awards and Iwan Bagus It is now my privilege to introduce Professor Iwan Bagus. Iwan was born in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 23, 1970. He has an Italian greyhound called Giorgio. He’s a highly accomplished commercial and magazine photographer. Iwan loves to garden, to cook – especially spicy food – and he loves to tango. My kind of guy! Please give a warm welcome to Iwan Bagus. Introduce more Journalism Awards and Prof Rose Ann Robertson It is now my privilege to introduce the one and only Rose Ann Robertson, who is SOC’s Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. I asked Rose Ann what her summer plans are. This is what she said: My summer plans are: --not to have a nervous breakdown --not to quit my job for a promising career at Burger King --not to adopt any more cats for fear that having five cats will put me in the strange lady category --not to date George Clooney --not to finish my novel So I asked Rose Ann how she would spend her summer. This is how she answered:
5 --First, I will reconsider my original career plans – to enter a convent – a place with no computers, no phones, no emails and no meetings. --Second, I will play the lottery --Third, I will calculate how many days I have left until retirement --And finally, I will reconsider my decision not to date George Clooney – if he asks nicely. Please give a warm welcome to Rose Ann Robertson. Introduce John Anderson Some of you may not be aware of this but the initials of the American Visions Festival form an ancient Latin word meaning, “Too Many Awards.” I want to introduce the Festival Director John Anderson to say a few words. As I said earlier, he’s done a wonderful job. John graduated from Iowa State University with two BFAs – one in graphic design and one in painting. He spent a year in Italy getting his MFA at American University in painting. Since graduating last May he has worked as a carpenter, painting contractor, graphic designer, and in various art galleries, and also as an adjunct professor. He recently exhibited in the Katzen as co-creator of America's Grave with Randall Packer. Yesterday John learned that he has received a grant from the DC Commission for the Arts for an installation he will be erecting this November in the Glenview Mansion Art Gallery in Rockville, MD. Let’s applaud him for his success! John, would you like to say a few words? Closing Ceremony Let me thank again our sponsors, alums, judges, volunteers, faculty, staff and all of you in the audience. And let me end by giving you the wolf credo by Del Goetz: Respect the elders Teach the young Cooperate with the pack Play when you can Hunt when you must Rest in-between
6 Share your affections Voice your feelings Leave your mark I commend all of you who are connected in some way to SOC and American University. All of you will leave your mark on this world. Thanks for coming and for supporting the 2006 American Visions Festival. Goodnight everybody!
Visions Festival 2006 emcee script May 2006