The YouTube community picks three young artists from Colorado, Germany and Mexico; VFS rewards winners with scholarships to their programs of choice VANCOUVER and SAN BRUNO, CA, June 2
VANCOUVER and SAN BRUNO, CA, June 2 /PRNewswire/ - Vancouver Film School,
Canada's premier post-secondary entertainment arts institution, and
YouTube(TM), the leading online video community that allows people to
discover, watch and share originally created videos today announced the
results of the Vancouver Film School/YouTube Scholarship challenge, an
international competition that awarded three members of the YouTube community
with full scholarships to VFS. Hundreds of aspiring artists entered the
contest and, after VFS narrowed the field down to 10 finalists, the YouTube
community selected the three winners.
The three winners (listed in no particular order) are Christopher
Harrell, Stefan Ramirez Perez and Jorge R. Canedo Estrada. Harrell of
Colorado, US, and Estrada of Monterrey, Mexico, will both receive full-tuition
scholarships to attend VFS's Digital Design program. Perez, who lives in
Bavaria, Germany, will receive a scholarship to study Foundation Visual Art &
Design at VFS.
"We're very excited to welcome these three fine artists to VFS, and we
can't wait to see what they'll be able to do after their year here," said
Stephen Webster, Director of Marketing at VFS. "I am most grateful to YouTube
for providing the platform for these young artists to be heard. The quality
displayed in the winning videos, and in all the other submissions, is simply a
great testament to the kind of talent that's out there in the world, just
waiting for a place to come alive."
"Our community responded to VFS's call with incredible creativity and
enthusiasm. It is exciting to see so many promising individuals from all over
the world compete for a chance to attend film school," said Sara Pollack,
community manager for film, YouTube. "Thanks to VFS, three previously
undiscovered artists will soon be embarking on their dream of becoming
professional filmmakers."
About the Filmmakers
--------------------
Christopher Harrell is a 25-year-old graphic designer. He moved around a
lot as a child, but recently settled in Colorado. Together with his wife Asia,
he works for an international non-profit organization. Over the past years,
they have spent time all over the world working on everything from advocacy
projects through film and media, to relief and development after natural
disasters. His interest in design began out of necessity: orphanages in India
don't have big budgets and need to get the word out about what they do. Chris
taught himself the basics of design and grew to love the field. He enjoys
creating, and the feeling of making something out of nothing. Watch
Christopher's winning submission here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF5g2i8_HM8.
Stefan Ramirez Perez is 19 years old and just graduated from high school.
He grew up in a small village in Bavaria, Germany where he still lives with
his family. His father is from Spain and he visits his relatives there almost
every summer. Stefan started making movies at the age of 14 with his twin
brother Benjamin. Experimenting with a digital photo camera, they created
their first little video clips and slowly developed their own methods and
style of filmmaking. Ever since, Stefan has been passionate about making
movies and is constantly working on different projects. Besides filmmaking,
his other hobbies include traveling, music, literature and art. Watch Stefan's
winning submission here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BerKZy9lVZ4.
Jorge Rolando Canedo Estrada is 17 years old. He was born in Cochabamba,
Bolivia and he now lives in Monterrey, Mexico. His interest in video and
animation began in Christmas of 2000, when his father bought him a handy cam,
and he made his first stop motion film with his brother. His brother started
to make short films, and Jorge continued making stop motion using toys with
his friend Paolo Torrico. Since then he's made multiple short films and
animations frame by frame in Flash. Jorge is entirely self-taught, and says
that he built his skills using his free time and the "crazy new ideas in his
mind." Besides film, he has a passion for music. Watch Jorge's winning
submission here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KExoP97KUnY.
About VFS
Vancouver Film School (http://www.vfs.com) is Canada's premier
post-secondary entertainment arts institution and one of the most
distinguished in the world. Its 14 production-oriented programs span one year
or less and cover all aspects of visual media, from Animation & Visual Effects
to Film Production to Game Design to Sound Design. Industry veterans guide
students as they create the professional-quality reels and portfolios that get
them noticed on the global stage.
About YouTube
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) is the world's most popular online video
community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally
created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and
inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for
original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC is
based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.
CONTACT: YouTube Media Contact: Victoria Katsarou, press@youtube.com;
Vancouver Film School Media Contact: Naomi Thomas, naomit@vfs.com
SOURCE Vancouver Film School
