Fresno State MCJ scores on silver screen
By Karlotta Richardson
The Collegian
It’s been a long time coming but they’ve finally struck silver. Two Telly awards were awarded for a live concert produced by Fresno State’s mass communication and journalism department and the CSU Summer Arts program.
“Summer Arts Celebrates the Blues” won the Silver Telly in Live Event category.
Although, the MCJ Department has previously been awarded with nine Bronze Tellys, this is the first time it has been awarded the Silver.
“It’s something that we’ve been trying to get for a long time,” said Don Priest, Chair of the MCJ Department. “It means that we’ve stepped up to that next level.”
“Breath of Life,” a harmonica piece that was featured within the show, was awarded the Bronze Telly in the Documentary category.
The Telly awards are a national award that recognizes independent television productions.
The Telly award was founded in 1978 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable television commercials. Non-broadcast video and TV program categories were soon added.
“It’s like the equivalent of the Emmy for non-commercial broadcasts,” Priest said.
The Silver Tellys go to category winners and Bronze Tellys go to runners-up.
The concert and live TV show, broadcast on PBS, were the result of the CSU Summer Arts’ live television and production course.
“Summer Arts Celebrates the Blues” was performed at the Tower Theater in Fresno and featured Steve Ono and Eddie Gordon, Three Guys Playin’ the Blues and the Mofo Party Band.
Priest, who has been affiliated with the CSU Summer Arts program since 1986, said the experience students get is very beneficial to their careers.
“It gives them a chance to work in a very professional environment, under tight deadlines to produce high quality programming,” Priest said.
The CSU Summer Arts program is a system-wide program that brings students and faculty together from surrounding CSU campuses to do very intensive workshops in the arts.
The program will return to Fresno State this July and will attract about 500 students and feature more than 40 public performances.
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