Category Archives: Alumni

The 2017 Vermont International Film Festival (VTIFF) released its lineup, and recent creative media graduate, Jeremy Lee MacKenzie, made the cut. His featured piece, “Hidden Blueprints,” is a hybrid documentary. The film will be screened on Friday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. in the Main Street Landing Black Box in Burlington. It tells the history of his wood scrollwork collection that he designed and hid while he was in prison, and the powerful transformation it created in his life.

VTIFF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to enrich the community through film. The entire festival takes place from Friday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, Oct. 29. For more information about “Hidden Blueprints” or this year’s programming, please visit the festival’s website.

(This photo appeared in a 2015 article from the Seven Days by Rachel Elizabeth Jones).

Julia Woodward – ’18

Filmmakers David LaRosa, Janine Laino, and Kathleen McGrath from Feenix Films recently visited students in the Filmmaking program at Champlain College. They showed their latest feature, Clandestine, and held a panel on independent filmmaking during the evening of April 8. Earlier that day they held a workshop with the students about directing actors. The next day, LaRosa appeared on FOX morning news program as a guest on Julia Swift’s “At the Movies” weekly Segment.

The aspiring filmmaking majors also spoke to the filmmakers about interning and working on their next film. The filmmakers, so impressed with the Champlain students, went into the Champlain College school store to buy merchandise to flaunt the school name. They spoke of coming back when they have finished their next film. They are looking forward to connecting with our students at film festivals.

“In all of my classes this week, the students keep referencing stories and advice that they learned from the Feenix team over the weekend.” -Julia Swift, Filmmaking Assistant Professor

Ten Graphic Design majors recently traveled to New York City for a company tour of VICELAND, courtesy of Art Director Gerry Weber, who is also a Graphic Design class of 2010 alumnus. Students, along with Program Director Suzanne Glover, had the opportunity to spend time with the Champlain alumnus to learn about company culture, gain exposure to new and emerging industries, meet recruiters, and expand their professional networks and aspirations as they begin to plan for life after college.

VICE Media is a North American digital media and broadcasting company that has expanded primarily into youth and young adult-focused digital media, including online content verticals and related web series, the news division VICE News, a film production studio, and a record label among other properties. In February 2016, VICE Media launched a cable television network in Canada and the United States known as Viceland—a millennial-targeted network which draws upon the resources of the lifestyle-oriented verticals of VICE.

“I thought the highlights were touring the VICE offices, learning from Gerry about the design culture at VICE, and seeing some of the behind-the-scenes video footage and sizzle reels that embody the VICE brand.” – Hannah Campbell, Director – Alumni Relations & Annual Giving

Champlain Publishing Announces “Publishing: Digitized and Personalized”

Please plan to join the students, faculty, staff and alumni who make up the Champlain College Publishing Initiative on Friday, Feb. 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Center for Communication and Creative Media’s Art Gallery, at Champlain College for the launch of our latest book.

Publishing: Digitized and Personalized is an anthology of essays written by Champlain students and alumni that examines modern-day publishing strategies and innovations from the student perspective. This book has been written, edited, designed, and produced by Champlain College students, is being published by Champlain Alumna Colleen Rooney ’16, and is sponsored by the Champlain College Publishing Initiative.

Publishing: Digitized and Personalized begins with Jeremy Allmendinger’s hilarious history of the publishing industry and moves quickly through several enlightening assessments of latter-day book marketing, including Kristin Orlando’s take on “stalkertizing.” It includes, among other great pieces on publishing, Tristan Lozuaway-McComsey’s treatise on educational fair use policies, and Colleen Lloyd’s clear-eyed comparisons of self-publishing v. traditional publishing that will help elucidate the pertinent issues for anyone considering this choice, no matter what the stage of their career.

Current student author Jessica Demarest of Champlain College Publishing Initiative will be on hand for a panel discussion with Editor Rooney, who spearheaded the project while she was a senior at Champlain, and author/former Champlain Publishing MVP Taylor Covington. Rooney and Covington plan to video-call into the discussion from Florida and Texas, respectively.

This event is free and open to the public, and books will be available for purchase.

CCM Dean Heads Vermont International Film Foundation

Congratulations to Paula Willoquet-Maricondi, the new Board President of the Vermont International Film Foundation (VTIFF), a Vermont based cultural non-profit organization founded in 1985 whose mission is to enrich the community through film. Willoquet-Maricondi is the Dean of the Communication and Creative Media Division at Champlain College.

Willoquet-Maricondi has been a member of VTIFF’s Board and on the Programming Committee for its International Film Festival since 2014, having also been the Board’s Vice-President. During her time with the Foundation, she has contributed to its efforts to foster film appreciation, support Vermont filmmakers, and be a year-round resource for culture, education, and social justice through film. She is excited about her new role and future initiatives for the organization.

“I am honored to have been chosen by my Board colleagues to carry forward VTIFF’s mission to bring the best of independent filmmaking to Vermont, support Vermont filmmakers, and be a vibrant platform for the enjoyment of film and the exchange of ideas. ”

A film scholar and enthusiast, Willoquet-Maricondi has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature & Film Studies from Indiana University, and a MA in French from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the editor of Framing the World: Explorations in Ecocriticism and Film; Pedro Almodóvar: Interviews; and Peter Greenaway’s Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema.

Prior to moving to Vermont in 2013, Paula taught film studies at Marist College in New York. She was born and raised in Brazil.

Van Dora Williams, Associate Professor and Program Director in the Division of Communication and Creative Media, served as a researcher for the archival footage featured in the documentary, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, directed by Stanley Nelson. The film premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and will air on PBS in Fall 2017.
The Hollywood Reporter Review
Shadow and Act Review
Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle Interview with Director

Champlain College Hosts Game Program Alumni Exhibition

How does the world you play in a video game come to life? What is it like to have a career in the video game industry? On Monday, Nov. 14 Champlain College’s Communication and Creative Media Division hosted the Game Program Alumni Exhibition. Two alumni, Joshua Terry, a 3D environment artist, and Justin Superty, a senior artist, were invited to speak at the exhibition to current students in the game studio.

The event consisted of portfolio reviews, a presentation and Q&A with Terry and Superty about their careers at Raven Software and more. Donovan Violette, a senior Game Design major at Champlain College, attended the event and noted that, “It was a really worthwhile experience to be exposed to someone who had been in the industry, but was also a real person who I could comfortably go up to and chat about various things relating to the future.” – Contributor, Caitlin Ludke, ‘17

(Joshua Terry) (Justin Superty)

Toni Lee Sangastiano’s Elephant Sculptures at Shelburne Museum

Toni Lee Sangastiano is an artist, designer, Ph.D. candidate and Associate Professor at Champlain College in the Division of Communication and Creative Media. She is reknowned for her realistic portraits of sideshow performers and is one of the leading sideshow banner painters in the United States. Inspired by the final elephant performance at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Sangastiano will review a brief history of the elephants at Ringling Brothers. Her elephant sculptures featured in Papering the Town: Circus Posters in America will be displayed and Sangastiano will be speaking during two different events at the museum and her artwork will be on view until January 22, 2017.

Shelburne Museum PechaKucha (PKN)

Thursday, Nov. 10

6 – 8 pm

Drinks and snacks, suggested donation $6

Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education

Shelburne Museum

Leveling Up with Sony Recruiters

You’d be hard–pressed to find a game design student that hasn’t credited playing a Sony Playstation as an influence in their career choice. For the first time, Champlain College is welcoming Sony Playstation University Recruiters to campus. The event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 12:30 p.m. and will continue until 2:00 p.m. Recruiters will be discussing summer internship positions with interested students in the CCM Gallery Lounge.Daphne Walker, career advisor for the game cohort at Champlain, has been in contact with the recruiters for the past few years through the Game Developers Conference. These interactions have led Sony to include Champlain on their traveling schedule. – contributor, Jade Ye, ‘18

Weathervane

Weathervane is the official magazine of the Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College. It offers Champlain students the opportunity to work on a professional publication, under the direction of Managing Editor Dr. Rosalynne Whitaker-Heck, and Dean Paula Willoquet-Maricondi, Editor and Publisher of Weathervane. Weathervane publishes features, news stories, and profiles showcasing […]

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