2010 Scholarship Competition
MONTEREY COUNTY FILM COMMISSION SELECTS RACHEL ASENDORF
AS $1,000 FILM STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Rachel Asendorf, a student at California State University, Monterey Bay, was selected as the 2010 recipient of the $1,000 prize in the Monterey County Film Commission Film Student Scholarship and Awards Program. Asendorf is a junior in the Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department.
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.
Asendorf, a Seaside resident, is putting herself through college, currently working as a news intern in the office of strategic communications at CSUMB, learning how to merge news and technology. She is also a production assistant for the Monterey Teen Film Festival, helping manage media and marketing. Asendorf had her own political talk radio show, “Raving Raven,” focusing on issues such as media influence, and next semester she’ll be hosting the radio show, “Cult Pop.”
In 2007 she won the Hispanic Heritage Bronze Award in the Los Angeles area for excellence in news writing. In high school in Apple Valley, Calif., she produced, directed, edited and filmed two documentaries that were distributed to each student who purchased a yearbook.
Her career goal is to produce video packages and enter the online or broadcast journalism field. “I want to enlighten, inform and entertain audiences through my future productions,” Asendorf said.
Contributions to the Monterey County Film Commission Film Student Scholarship and Awards Program are welcomed. The chair of the film scholarship committee is board member Phyllis Decker. For more information call 831-646-0910 or email info@filmmonterey.org.
Last years winners
2009 MONTEREY COUNTY FILM COMMISSION
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 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.
l-to-r Estee Blancher, Alison Eastwood, Clinton Kuska, Anna Veronica Calvillo
Estée Blancher and Anna Veronica Calvillo were named the first recipients of $500 scholarships in the new Monterey County Film Commission Film Student Scholarship and Awards Program. The two are students in the Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department at California State University, Monterey Bay. Blancher's film was created in collaboration with fellow CSUMB student Clinton Kuska.