MONTEREY COUNTY FILM COMMISSION SELECTS JUAN RAMIREZ FILM STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
N E W S / Monterey County Film Commission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Nordstrand, 831-646-0910 / cell 831-594-9410
info@filmmonterey.org www.FilmMonterey.org
MONTEREY COUNTY FILM COMMISSION SELECTS JUAN RAMIREZ
FILM STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
CSUMB Student Wins $1,000 Prize
(Monterey, CA – May 18, 2009) — Juan Ramirez was selected as the 2009 recipient of the $1,000 award in
Juan Ramirez
the Monterey County Film Commission Film Student Scholarship and Awards Program. Ramirez is a recent graduate of California State University, Monterey Bay, where he majored in Teledramatic Arts and Technology.
A Salinas resident, Ramirez had his latest film and senior project, “Letters From Within,” screened at the CSUMB Capstone Film Festival on May 15 at the CSUMB World Theater. The film features the stories and voices of young people within the Salinas juvenile hall. It was co-directed by CSUMB student Steven Sprague.
“Upon 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.”
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 chairperson is film commission board member Phyllis Decker.
“We not only want to congratulate Juan Ramirez for his extraordinary ambition, creativity and outstanding achievement, but also the faculty in the film programs at CSUMB and the local community colleges, Hartnell and Monterey Peninsula College, for turning out such an impressive group of promising young filmmakers,” Decker said.
# # #