A Presidential Scholarship recipient at Tel Aviv University, Pablo Utin has taught film and television courses in Tel Aviv.

With three Academy Award-nominated Best Foreign Language films produced within the last three years, the international movie-making industry has noticed Israel can create powerful and inspiring films. Visiting Film Scholar Pablo Utin will be teaching a specialty course at the University of Miami’s School of Communication this fall semester titled Contemporary Israeli Cinema, which examines this emerging cinema.

Utin, who was born in Argentina and immigrated to Israel as a teenager.

“This class looks at how issues affecting the country are represented in film, how politics are involved, and how cinematic film styles have changed over time,” said Utin.

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Sam L Grogg

Sam L Grogg, who has served as dean of the University of Miami School of Communication during a period of tremendous growth, will step down from his position on  June 1, 2011.

Grogg became dean of the School of Communication in 2004, after serving as dean of the American Film Institute, an accredited national graduate conservatory. Under his leadership, the school completed a major expansion: the five-story, 27,000-square-foot International Building, which houses state-of-the-art media classrooms, a multimedia news bureau, labs, and post-production suites. In 2007 the school opened its new Knight Center for International Media, which utilizes compelling visual media across borders to broaden awareness of the world’s most urgent and underreported problems.

The school acquired two significant film collections under Grogg’s watch: the Raymond J. Regis Motion Picture Archives, a collection of rare original prints of theatrical motion pictures such as The Sound of Music, Gone with the Wind, Around the World in 80 Days, and nearly all of the Alfred Hitchcock films; and the $32 million Norton Herrick collection, which includes approximately 3,500 titles from the golden age of moving pictures and television, spanning the 1930s through the 1970s.

Other school achievements during Grogg’s tenure include its new all-digital broadcasting capabilities, a renovation of the Cosford Cinema, recruitment of internationally recognized scholars to the faculty, and the addition of senior professional faculty members with award-winning experience from the most respected publications in the world. Two such appointments include Knight Chairs: Joseph B. Treaster, a reporter and former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, in cross-cultural communication; and Rich Beckman, a prize-winning international photojournalist, in visual journalism. Grogg also recruited broadcast news veteran Ellen Fleysher as the Frances L. Wolfson Chair in Broadcast Journalism.

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Whether racing against deadlines for a final quote or learning to apply movie makeup, high school students attending University of Miami communications and filmmaking summer programs aimed for perfection.

Last month, the School of Communication welcomed 26 students to Summer Scholar programs in broadcast journalism and filmmaking and 19 students to the Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media.

In three weeks, the students produced TV news packages, multimedia pieces targeted primarily for the Internet, a live radio broadcast, and the Miami Montage newspaper under the guidance of School of Communication faculty members Grace Barnes, Yves Colon, Natalia Crujeiras, Paul Driscoll, and Paul Lazarus. They also enjoyed field trips to The Miami Herald, WLRN public radio, and WPLG-ABC 10, where they learned from industry professionals.

“It’s been ‘go’ from the start,” said Anthony Cave,” 17, of North Miami Beach, who was working on Miami Montage. The paper’s theme this year was the impact of January’s Haiti earthquake on the South Florida community. Cave wrote a profile of a woman who lost 11 relatives in the disaster.

“These students are learning about the work that is involved to build a story and how to write a story correctly,” explained Journalism and New Media Workshop Director Yves Colon.

The Summer Scholar filmmaking program included lessons in costuming, movie makeup, and set lighting taught by UM graduates. Stephanie Castillo, B.S.C., ’10, taught students how to create scars and a zombie face. Matt Wallach, B.S.C. ’10, showed them how to build basic lighting for sets. The film students also learned the business side of film in addition to working with storyboards and shooting and editing their own movies.

A scene from the UM-produced film One Water, which makes its television premiere on August 2 on the Discovery Networks' Planet Green channel.

Will the world’s supply of drinking water run out? Top experts and a variety of leaders, including the 14th Dalai Lama and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., address the global water crisis in the University of Miami-produced film One Water.

Narrated by actor Martin Sheen, the film makes its television premiere tonight, August 2 at 9 p.m. E.D.T. on the Discovery Networks’ Planet Green channel.

Written and co-directed by Sanjeev Chatterjee, vice dean of UM’s School of Communication, One Water (www.onewater.org) is part of Planet Green’s “Blue August” special, a month-long lineup of compelling water-themed programming hosted by Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau.

The film will also be broadcast at 12 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3; and at 1 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturday, August 7 on the Planet Green Channel. In the Miami area, Comcast offers Planet Green on channel 113. DIRECTV: channel 286, also available in HD. DISH Network: channel 194, and AT&T U-verse: channel 465 or 1465 in HD.

Filmed in 15 countries, One Water explores the human relationship with water on a global scale: how people from India to Ecuador, Hungary to Kenya, and China to the United States struggle to obtain water for their most basic needs, while the more fortunate squander this precious resource as they fight for control of water resources. The award-winning film also highlights how the water crisis is becoming more aggravated by population growth and climate change and compromises the future of all life on the planet. To view a clip of the film, click here.

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The University of Miami School of Communication Knight Center for International Media and the Discovery Channel Networks present the cable-television premiere of One Water. The documentary film is the result of a six-year-long collaborative project involving the School of Communication, College of Engineering, and Frost School of Music. Narrated by Martin Sheen and featuring captivating music and stunning images, One Water is the story of the many ways water touches human lives around the globe and the struggles some endure for this valuable resource.

The film will air on the Planet Green channel as part of “Blue August,” a month of programming focusing on our oceans, seas, and critical water issues, as follows:

Monday, August 2 at 12 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST
Tuesday, August 3 at 4 p.m. EST
Saturday, August 7 at 1 a.m. and 10 p.m. EST

Comcast offers Planet Green on Channel 113; DIRECTV subscribers can tune into Channel 286, also available in HD. DISH Network offers Planet Green on Channel 194, HD (coming soon); AT&T U-verse subscribers can tune into Channel 465 (1465 for HD).

Gaby Loria won third place for her spot-news assignment focusing on security issues in a post-9/11 world.

Gaby Loria, B.S.C. ’10, a broadcast journalism and Latin American studies major, won third place in the Hearst Journalism Award’s 2010 Broadcast News Championship, becoming the first student from the University of Miami to capture a top-ranking prize in the prestigious contest.

Sponsored by The William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the finals competition, held June 8-12 in New York City, featured ten college broadcast journalism students from around the country challenging each other in a spot-news assignment for the opportunity to win up to $5,000 in prize money. The assignment was to produce a story in two days about post-9/11 security. Professionals in the radio and television industry served as judges.

Loria, who is 22, focused her story on the perspectives of Arab-American communities. “It was the most challenging assignment I’ve done in my reporting career, but also very rewarding,” she said. “I was producing a story in a city where I had no contacts or sources and on a very quick deadline. I think the key was finding the people I needed to talk to and approaching them as someone who was generally concerned and had an open mind, not someone who just wanted a sound bite.”

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Left to right, School of Communication dean Sam L Grogg and director of development Randy McKey welcomed alumni Charles Vignola, B.S.C. ’88, director of development for Bruckheimer Films; Carlos Coto, B.S.C. ’88, producer and writer for 20th Century Fox Television; and Miguel Ferrer, B.S.C. ’07, a filmmaker and assistant to producer/director Michael Robin, to the ‘Canes Film Showcase.

Audience members at the 2010 ’Canes Film Festival Showcase called this year’s selections “evocative,” “polished,” and “moving.” The third annual School of Communication event, held in collaboration with the University of Miami Alumni Association, featured six graduate and undergraduate short films, screened for industry leaders and alumni on May 27 at Paramount Studios.

“We are proud to present these emerging filmmakers and their works to some of the industry leaders who once walked in their shoes,” said Dean Sam L Grogg. “Our students seized the opportunity to make excellent films and will now build the contacts that will help them succeed. Films can come from anywhere in the world, and our students showed that Miami has arrived.”

The showcased films were the winners of the ‘Canes Film Festival held earlier in May, when student filmmakers competed for the opportunity to meet with industry leaders to network and receive feedback about their films. Film festival judges and School of Communication alumni who also attended the event included Charles Vignola, development director at Bruckheimer Films, and Carlos Coto, producer and writer for 20th Century Fox Television (Heroes, 24).

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Medalist: Norton Herrick, second from right, receives the UM President’s Medal. Standing with him are, from left, School of Communication Dean Sam L Grogg, President Shalala, and UM Trustee and alumnus Robert Mann, who is holding a proclamation that was also given to Herrick. Senior Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs Sergio M. Gonzalez also attended the ceremony.

In recognition of the $32 million collection of rare films and television programs that he recently donated to the University of Miami’s School of Communication, successful entrepreneur and philanthropist Norton Herrick received the UM President’s Medal on May 24 during a private ceremony and luncheon on the Coral Gables campus.

With Herrick’s family and friends looking on, UM President Donna E. Shalala awarded the medal to him during the ceremony held in her boardroom, saying that the collection he donated “will assure that wide audiences of movie lovers and scholars alike will have access to this treasure of rare and classic” moving image materials.

The Herrick collection includes approximately 3,500 high-quality films in two formats from the golden age of moving pictures, spanning the 1930s though the 1970s. Some of the rare films include early silent films featuring Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Mack Sennett’s The Keystone Cops. Among the animated features are early Betty Boop, Felix the Cat, and Bosko cartoons. The Golden Age of television is also represented in the collection, including programs such as This Is Your Life, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.

Noting the rare and unusual film and television titles in the collection, School of Communication Dean Sam L Grogg, who attended the medal ceremony, said his school’s “faculty and students will eagerly mine this treasure trove of cinematic history and popular culture.”

During the presentation, Shalala said Herrick, who is chair of Herrick Entertainment, a motion picture and theatrical production and financing company, recognizes the historical and cultural legacy motion pictures capture and preserve.

“Whether in black and white or vivid Technicolor, motion pictures have the power to entertain and educate,” Shalala said. “Mr. Herrick will make both possible through his generous donation.”

UMTV, the University of Miami’s award-winning and student-operated cable television channel, captured eight first-place awards this year’s National Production Competition of the National Broadcasting Society-Alpha Epsilon Rho. Winners included:

SportsDesk for Best Sports Program

NewsVision for Best News Program

Off the Wire for Best Comedy program

Sebastian Alarm Clock for Best Commercial

Off the Wire and The Slate tied for Best Promo

Bocas on the Brink for Best Magazine Program

Dumpster Diving by Gaby Loria for Best Feature Package

“These are the most awards, across the entire spectrum of our electronic media curriculum, garnered in years,” says School of Communication Dean Sam L Grogg. “The faculty team of Andy Barton, Ed Julbe, Terry Bloom, and Wolfson Chair Ellen Fleysher, as well as UMTV Director of Operations Natalia Crujeiras have made an incredible difference for our students.”

Grogg notes that technology upgrades instituted three years ago, new broadcast management systems, the move to all-digital postproduction, the addition of campus-wide remote capabilities, the brokering of expanded relationships with local news affiliates, the establishment of relationships with Univision and Telemundo, and collaborations with local news and weather professionals have “dramatically transformed” the school.

Expansion of station coverage through a relationship with cable operator Comcast, increase of radio station power, and other potential ventures are planned in the near future.

“These are results that are giving our students and program the kind of national recognition they and it deserve,” Grogg said.

The ACEJMC report praised UM’s School of Communication for its “first-rate facilities, technology, and equipment” and also noted its hands-on teaching approach.

The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) voted unanimously at its annual meeting on April 30 to reaccredit the University of Miami School of Communication. The school’s programs in journalism, electronic media, media management, advertising, and public relations are reviewed every six years by ACEJMC, the nation’s foremost accrediting body for higher education in journalism and mass communication.

“This decision is testimony to the consistently excellent work of our faculty and the accomplishments of our students,” said Dean Sam L Grogg. “Seeking accreditation from ACEJMC is a voluntary commitment on the part of our faculty to constant improvement of the student learning experience.”

Quoting from the ACEJMC report, UM Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc said, “By all accounts the six years since its most recent accreditation review have seen a great deal of progress and remarkable advancements on a variety of fronts, from a beautiful new building to a growing faculty to a multimedia curriculum to bold outreach programs.” He added, “We are pleased that the efforts of our faculty and dean have been endorsed by the ACEJMC accreditation process.”

A team of educators and professionals visited the School of Communication in January after the school prepared an exhaustive self-study of its curriculum, governance, resources, and administration, faculty, and student accomplishments. The team also looked at service to the community and profession. The team reported that since the last review six years ago, the school has shown “a dramatic rise in the overall caliber and profile of the unit.”  The team also noted the school’s “first-rate facilities, technology, and equipment” and recognized its “committed faculty who demonstrate a high level of instruction.”

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