Recent Mott Community College graduate receives Best Director award for documentary

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Michigan (NATAS-MI) announced on April 25 that recent Mott Community College graduate, Markeice Patrick, had been selected as Best Director in the college entry division for his work on Pandemic Diaries: Parenthood. Patrick faced some challenges finishing the film when he was called up for National Guard duty to help with the country's COVID response. Two other MCC students were also recognized for their work on separate projects.

An announcement of the news from MCC explains that Patrick first became passionate about filmmaking when he joined the Media Arts and Entertainment Technology degree program at MCC. He states that he entered the program because it seemed cool, but that he stayed because of the instructors and the experiences he gained. Now that he has graduated, Patrick is pursuing a bachelor's degree at Wayne State University. 

Dr. David Rembiesa, Media Arts Program Coordinator at MCC said of Patrick's accomplishment, "This is an amazing achievement as Markeice completed this film last spring while campus was shut down during the pandemic, and also while serving full-time in the National Guard during the crisis."

Indeed, Patrick admitted that he faced challenges completing the film when he was called to serve National Guard duty twice since April 2020 to assist with the national pandemic response. Patrick gives credit to a couple friends for helping him finish the process, "If it wasn't for my friends Charles Dudley and Zackary Atkinson I wouldn't have gotten this film project done at all."

In addition to the award received by Patrick, fellow MCC students Jonathan Eaton and Kimberly Kelling were also recognized by NATAS-MI. Eaton was nominated for  Best Commercial Award. Kelling, who will be continuing her education at UM-Flint, was awarded a Dr. Lynne Boyle/John Schimpf Scholarship.