Dordt Video Wins International Award
Dordt College's video production company, Prairie Grass Productions, has won a Platinum Award on its very first entry in the international MarCom Film Competition.
The award-winning entry is SPICE, a seven-minute promotional film based on one of the college's semester abroad program, the Studies Program In Contemporary Europe. The 2008 film awards competition recognizes outstanding creative achievement by marketing and communication professionals.
"It's an honor to be recognized by your peers, and for them to recognize the quality of your work," said Mark Volkers, coordinator for the Digital Media Production program. Volkers joined the Dordt faculty in 2005 to head up the Digital Media Production program.
Volkers was previously a photojournalist and documentary film maker for Christian Reformed World Missions and other organizations, where his films about the cultures and peoples of the world earned him 15 Telly Awards (awarded for excellence in local, regional, cable, non-broadcast video, and TV programming).
Volkers helped the college establish a Digital Media Production lab that meets film industry-standards, including new high definition filming capabilities. The SPICE video was created by Volkers and a student production assistant, Jesse Brauning. Brauning is a senior Digital Media Production major from the Dominican Republic.
Volkers traveled to Europe last March during Dordt's spring break and captured about 12 hours of film footage. Editing and special effects were done over the next few months to create the finished product, now available for viewing online on Dordt's website, the website of the Gereformeerde Hogeschool, and on Dutch YouTube.
"Videos like these give us a global presence on the internet," said Volkers. "That's the new age we're living in."
Prairie Grass Productions has begun work on a documentary about the slums of the world which is being funded by a grant from the Andreas Center.
During Christmas break, Volkers and 10 Digital Media majors will travel to Manila to film slums in that region of the world. According to Volkers one in every six people in the world live in slums, many on less than $1 a day. "I'm really excited about creating a documentary that will contribute to a discussion of this issue, in light of projections that within 20 years this poverty level may double."
Prairie Grass Productions has produced a wide variety of films since the introduction of the Digital Media major in 2005. Many have benefitted Christian ministries, including the Timothy Institute at Calvin Theological Seminary and Christian Reformed Home Ministries.
This year MarCom received more than 5,000 entries for the contest, submitted by corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, public relations firms, design shops, large and small production companies, and freelancers.
Winners were selected from over 200 categories in seven forms of media and communication efforts: marketing, publications, marketing/promotion, public service/pro bono, creativity and electronic/interactive.
About 18 percent of the entries won a Platinum Award, the organization's top honor. A complete list of Platinum Winners can be found on the MarCom Awards website at www.marcomawards.com. Winners were recently announced at a meeting in Dallas, Texas.
