May 19, 2009

CSUMB student wins film scholarship Monterey County Film Commission makes award

Juan Ramirez was selected as the 2009 recipient of the Monterey County Film Commission's Film Student Scholarship in the amount of $1,000. He is a graduating senior in the Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department at CSU Monterey Bay.

The Salinas native's most recent film, "Letters From Within," was screened at the university's capstone festival on May 15. The documentary, co-directed by CSU Monterey Bay student Steven Sprague, features the stories and voices of young people in Juvenile Hall.

"Working with incarcerated teens, I learned the meaning of film and what I can do with it to help make someone's life better," Ramirez said. "This experience honestly changed my life and gave me the certainty that documentary filmmaking is what I want to pursue. I want to work on films that bring help, hope, justice and love to people all over the world."

Said Enid Baxter Blader, a professor of digital media at CSUMB, "We are elated to hear that Juan Ramirez has won the Monterey Film Commission scholarship. He is an absolutely wonderful young filmmaker, and the film, 'Voices From Within,' is fantastic and deeply moving."

The Monterey County Film Commission scholarship program 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 program chair is film commission board member Phyllis Decker.