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Film Commission scholarship awarded to TAT student

Nicholas Fryou is this year’s recipient of the Monterey County Film Commission’s student scholarship.

Fryou, a senior at California State University, Monterey Bay studying Teledramatic Arts and Technology, is from Aromas. He plans to use the $2,000 grant to help with expenses for his capstone project.

“This scholarship will help out tremendously, and will allow me to . . . jumpstart my career in film,” Fryou told the film commission.

“Ever since I was very young, I have had a passion for filmmaking, acting and being around the camera. It was a fun hobby that has now become a career choice for me.”

The annual Monterey County Film Commission Director Emeritus Richard Tyler Scholarship Award is named in memory of Tyler, who served for 20 years on the film comission’s board of directors. It was created to provide financial aid and incentive to students of film and beginning filmmakers who reside in Monterey County or are enrolled in a college or university in the county. The fund was established as a permanent endowment with the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

The scholarship was created in 2008 and has gone to CSUMB students each year. Estee Blancher and Veronica Calvillo shared the inaugural award. In 2009, Juan Ramirez – who now works in the TAT Department as a media specialist – was the winner. Rachel Asendorf received the award in 2010; Dominic Parisi won it in 2011; and Joey Blackburn was last year’s winner. Learn more about the film program at CSUMB.Photo courtesy of Monterey County Film Commission