Recent Washtenaw Community College grad earns first-place trophy for his non-fiction production, "To All the Songs I'll Never Finish"

Three digital video students from Washtenaw Community College took home first-place finishes at the 43rd annual Michigan chapter of the National Association of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS-Michigan) Student Production Awards. Winners included Tyler Ferrell (Best Director), John Sherry (Animation/Graphics/Special Effects), and recent WCC graduate Patrice Scott (Non-Fiction Short-Form.) The virtual awards ceremony was streamed live on the NATAS-Michigan YouTube channel virtually April 29, and hosted by Brett Kast from WXYZ Channel 7. Faculty member Matthew Zacharias advised all three student filmmakers, along with two others who were nominated.

Scott, who graduated from WCC in December 2020 and is now attending Grand Valley State University, has been recognized previously by NATAS-Michigan, according to a news release from the college. In 2020, Scott won in the Best Director category for "Distorted," a music video. Scott began combining film and music in high school for a senior project. He said of that experience, "It was then that I decided I needed to keep combining the two. It’s what provides the most fulfillment for me."

This year's win for Scott was for a film he created in a Documentary Video Production class at WCC. Scott created "To All the Songs I'll Never Finish" during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Scott describes the project in the news release, saying, "The first big project for that class is a project about yourself. In quarantine, all we had was ourselves. So during one of the times we did meet on campus, Matt [Zacharias] put us in a chair for interviews and we had to take that footage home, add our own b-roll and make it a film."

Zacharias offered his reaction to Scott's film, "His story poured out his truth about being a music composer and allowing that passion to become an obsession that took over his life," he said, adding, "He realized that he was losing touch with his school, his family and himself. The story celebrates 'failure' and shortcomings and, in the end, turns into a triumphant work of art, film and documentary."

Another winner mentored by Zacharias, Tyler Ferrell, was nominated for his project, "My 2020 Experience." The film was created for the Foundations in Digital Video class, an introductory course. Zacharias noted Ferrell's accomplishment by saying, "To garner a nomination after completing an introductory course is an extremely rare occurrence. And then to win it? This is a testament to Tyler's talent as a young gun with a vision. I'm stoked for him and his future as an amazing artist."

The winner in the Animation/Graphics/Special Effects category was also from WCC. John Sherry won for "Captain Calculator: Train Freeze – Episode 1," and was also nominated for another project, "WCC Digital Video Program - GFX-promo." Zacharias also reacted to Sherry's nominations and win, "He writes, produces and develops original content. We were not surprised by his two nominations because of the way he eats and breathes animation," he said.

Other WCC nominees included Ta'mar Reynolds for three projects in different categories; "Isolation" (Animation), "Avid" (Non-Fiction Short Form) and "ReaLemon" (Commercial.) Zacharias described Reynolds as a "powerhouse" for her creativity and technical skills. Patrick Sullivan is another nominee from WCC, nominated in the Non-Fiction Long-Form category for "Empty Skies," a documentary about declines in bird populations and attempts to save them. Zacharias offered praise for this entry saying, "This film will be in festival contention soon."