GFDD and FUNGLODE’s Global Media Arts Institute will be holding a closing ceremony on Friday, June 29, 2007, in FUNGLODE’s auditorium, to celebrate the successful completion of the Institute’s summer course, “Introduction to Audiovisual Production: Film and Television.” During the ceremony, course participants will present the commercials and short films they developed throughout the course.

This intensive course on audiovisual production exposed students to all phases of pre-production, production, and post-production. The first week of the course, students developed 30 second commercials or public service announcements and learned how to edit them using Final Cut Pro. The second week of the course, students learned about the production of live television programming at the Telecentro Studio. The third week of the course, students utilized Final Draft software to produce short scripts. During the final week of the course, students worked to develop and produce four original 10 page scripts.

The certificates of course completion will be distributed to students by Irving Vincent , Course Instructor and Director of NYU’s Opportunity Program; Omar de la Cruz, Director of FUNGLODE’s Audiovisual Department; and Arturo Rodríguez, Director of the National Film Commission of the Dominican Republic; and Vince Diesel,  Actor and Executive Director of One Race Films.

The five students awarded scholarships by the Global Media Arts Institute, New York University’s Opportunity Program, and One Race Films to continue their studies this summer in New York, with New York University’s Opportunity Program, will also be announced. Students selected to study film and television production at New York University were selected based on interest in the audiovisual arts and academic achievement. Scholarship recipients are: Alexander Estrella, Rainer Maldonado, María Patricia Díaz Ferreira, Katy Cruz Germosen, and María Victoria Hernández.

The Global Media Arts Institute, New York University’s Opportunity Program, and One Race Films intend to continue to develop courses of this kind, in an effort to positively contribute to the development of the television and film industry in the Dominican Republic.

The Global Media Arts Institute was officially launched and presented to a national and international audience during the first edition of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, November 9, 2006, and has grown rapidly. It has offered courses, workshops, and seminars on diverse areas of audiovisual production such as: script writing, cinematography, directing, and production to more than 300 individuals.

The Global Media Arts Institute is dedicated to providing comprehensive training in all areas of television and film production. The Institute seeks to provide up-in-coming professionals in the television and film industry with instruction in the latest trends in audiovisual production.