STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS HONORS AFI CONSERVATORY
ALUMNI RYAN PROWS AND JUSTIN TIPPING WITH
MEDALS IN NARRATIVE FILMMAKING
AFI Conservatory is Only School Recognized with Multiple Medal Wins
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 11, 2012 – AFI Conservatory Class of 2011 directing alumni Ryan Prows and Justin Tipping have been awarded the Silver and Bronze medals in narrative filmmaking at the 39th annual Student Academy Awards for their thesis films, NARCOCORRIDO and NANI, respectively. AFI Conservatory – named the #1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter for the quality of its instructors and speakers, and its “glittering parade of alumni” – was the only school at this year’s Student Academy Awards with multiple medal winners. The AFI Conservatory, a program of the American Film Institute, is renowned for its collaborative approach to hands-on filmmaking and its advanced training of the next generation of storytellers in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting.
NARCOCORRIDO, directed and written by Ryan Prows, centers on a gravely ill border cop’s reckless cartel heist and the desperate souls destroyed in her wake. The AFI Conservatory thesis team also includes producer L. Onye Anyanwu, cinematographer Benjamin Kitchens, editor Jarod Shannon, production designer Callie Andreadis and story editor Shaye Ogbonna.
NANI, directed and co-written by Justin Tipping, tells the story of a teenage graffiti artist and an elderly nursing home resident who form an unlikely bond through misadventures in graffiti. The AFI Conservatory thesis team also includes producer West McDowell, co-screenwriter Joshua Beirne-Golden, cinematographer Soren Hiorth, editor Linda Jildmalm and production designer Bonnie Bacevich.
Last year, AFI Conservatory Class of 2010 directing alumnus Julian Higgins won the Gold medal in narrative filmmaking for his thesis film, THIEF. Higgins was most recently behind the camera directing a 2012 episode of the Emmy Award-winning HOUSE, M.D.
AFI Conservatory was also recognized at this year’s 33rd College Television Awards, with AFI Conservatory alumni Steffen Schier winning 2nd Place Drama for producing BOSCO’S GUITAR and Justin Edwards winning for Best Use of Music for COME BACK TO ME.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards, with past winners including directors such as Spike Lee, John Lasseter and Robert Zemeckis. The College Television Awards is a national competition recognizing excellence in college student-produced video, digital and film work. As with the primetime Emmy® Awards, entries are awarded based on excellence in overall production.
About the American Film Institute
AFI is America’s promise to preserve the history of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. AFI provides leadership in film, television and digital media and is dedicated to initiatives that engage the past, the present and the future of the moving image arts.
AFI preserves the legacy of America’s film heritage for future generations through the AFI Archive, comprised of rare footage from across the history of the moving image and the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, an authoritative record of American films from 1893 to the present.
AFI honors the artists and their work through a variety of annual programs and special events, including the AFI Life Achievement Award and AFI Awards. Celebrating its 40th year in 2012, the AFI Life Achievement Award has remained the highest honor for a career in film while AFI Awards, the Institute’s almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year. AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies television events and movie reference lists have introduced and reintroduced classic American movies to millions of film lovers. And as the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the United States, AFI offers film enthusiasts a variety of events throughout the year, including AFI Fest presented by Audi, the Institute’s annual celebration of excellence in global cinema; AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs, the largest documentary festival in the U.S., celebrating its 10th edition this year; and year-round programming at the AFI Silver Theatre in the Washington, DC area.
AFI educates the next generation of storytellers at its world-renowned AFI Conservatory, named the #1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter for the quality of its instructors and speakers, and its “glittering parade of alumni.” AFI Conservatory offers a two-year Master of Fine Arts degree in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. Aspiring artists learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on storytelling.
For more information about AFI, visit AFI.com or connect with AFI at twitter.com/AmericanFilm, facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute and youtube.com/AFI.
