Emmy Award-Winning Producer Donald Hancock is Named Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production at CCM

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the appointment of Donald Hancock to the position of Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production in CCM’s Division of E-Media. Hancock joined CCM’s faculty as an adjunct in 2012. His new appointment will begin on Aug. 15, 2019.

Hancock is an Emmy Award-winning producer, professor and an active member of the media community. He has an MA in Film and Television from Savannah College of Art and Design and a BFA in E-Media from CCM. Hancock currently works as a producer at CET, Cincinnati’s PBS Member Station. He has produced “The Art Show,” CET’s weekly art magazine program, since 2013. He also produces content for a variety of partners with CET, including ArtsWave and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Hancock won a Regional Emmy Award for “Cincinnati’s Music Hall: The Next Movement,” a 60-minute documentary that he co-wrote, produced and shot. The documentary details the historic $150 million renovation of Cincinnati’s National Historic Landmark. Watch a promotional spot for the documentary below.

In 2013, Hancock was chosen as one of 25 producers from around the country to participate in the PBS/CPB Producer’s Academy, whose goal is to engage a talented pool of diverse producers in public broadcasting. Hancock has also partnered with WGBH and PBS to produce content around national programming including “Finding Your Roots,” “American Experience” and “Downton Abbey.”

For the past seven years, Hancock has been an adjunct professor at CCM, teaching Digital Video and Integrated Media Production courses to sophomore and junior-level students. In his spare time, he serves on the Executive Board for the UC Center for Film and Media Studies, as well as the community advisory board at Elementz Urban Arts Center. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, a member of the Broadcast Education Association and volunteers as a Big Brother in the Big Brother Big Sisters Program.

Dean Romanstein thanked search committee members Kevin Burke (chair), Peter DePietro, John Hebbeler, Tondra Holt and Hagit Limor for their work on finding CCM’s new Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production.

Please join us in congratulating Donald Hancock on his new appointment!

CET Spotlights Revolutionary New iPad App Developed by CCM and DAAP Faculty Members

Two University of Cincinnati faculty members will appear on local PBS member station CET at 6 p.m. this Saturday, July 18, to discuss a revolutionary new project that could change the world of psychiatry.

The CET program arts Bridge will feature CCM Assistant Professor of Electronic Media John Hebbeler and DAAP Assistant Professor of Design Emily Verba. The duo are developing an iPad application entitled Brain to Screen, which is a visual and auditory interactive tool for patients diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder as well as their psychotherapists.

The proposed app converges cross-disciplinary expertise in design, sound, psychology, neuroscience and software development in order to deliver immersive, interactive experiences. The Brain to Screen app works in conjunction with a biofeedback headset and allows patients complete control of all visuals and sounds on their iPad screen using only their brainwaves.

The two UC professors and co-investigators bring a great deal of professional experience and expertise to this ambitious project. Professor Hebbeler has over a decade of experience in sound, video and web production, and 10 years of teaching experience in a variety of production-based courses. His area of expertise is creating interactive trans-media compositions that integrate a wide range of technological devices. His focus in this project is the sound development of Brain to Screen, as well as its interaction with the biofeedback headset.

Meanwhile, Professor Verba brings several years of experience in the field of graphic design and design education to this empirical research project. Her area of expertise and research focus is data visualization — the simplified depiction of complex content for ease of understanding by the masses. She is spearheading the visualization of biofeedback headset data and the design of an interface for psychotherapists to access and interpret the information collected from the app.

The arts Bridge segment will also bring Hebbeler together with several current and former students from CCM’s Division of Electronic Media and UC Blue Ash’s Department of Electronic Media Communications. Alumnus Don Hancock (BFA Electronic Media, 2006) is producing the story, and Deshon Able (AAS Electronic Media Technology, 2013) acts as the production assistant; furthermore, current E-Media student Ari Kruger is also working at CET as an intern, writer and editor.

arts Bridge is a locally-produced program that is part of a unique public television collaboration. Features about Cincinnati area arts and artists are paired with stories from across the country. In addition, Cincinnati area segments from arts Bridge are made available to public television stations nationally, extending the reach of greater Cincinnati arts well beyond southwest Ohio.

For more information, please make sure to visit www.cetconnect.org/arts-bridge.

The Brain to Screen segment will premiere at 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, on CET (Channel 13 or 1013 on Time Warner Cable; Channel 48 on DirectTV). There will also be several repeat airings:

• 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, July 19 (Channel 16 Time Warner and Direct TV)
• 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday, July 20 (Channel 987 Time Warner)
• 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday July 21 (Channel 987 Time Warner)

Learn more about CCM E-Media by visiting ccm.uc.edu/emedia.

Next Installment of Student-Produced ‘Gold Rush Expedition Race’ Film Series Premieres on May 27 on the Universal Sports Network

The newest installment of the University of Cincinnati‘s student-produced Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary film series will receive its national broadcast premiere on NBC’s Universal Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27.

Created by UC’s Production Master Class, the 90-minute long documentary film is part of a three-year series about the Gold Rush Expedition Race, one of the world’s premier expedition races. The race features an international field of 50 elite athletes as they trek, mountain bike, climb and kayak along a grueling 275 mile course admits the beauty of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. The race is part of the Adventure Racing World Series.

The 2014 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary will air 10 times on USN. The cable network aired the 2012 and 2013 installments of this action-packed documentary series last October. You can learn more about those initial broadcasts by visiting ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/student-produced-film-series-airs-on-universal-sports-network.

The UC Production Master Class involves an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty who work with nationally recognized television and film professionals to produce digital media content that reaches a national and global audience.

Since 2012, it has involved three UC Professors, a UC alumnus, a cadre of media professionals and over 90 students from nine different academic programs at CCM, DAAP and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information about the 2014 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary’s broadcast schedule, please visit goldrushracedoc.com/2014-premiere.

CCM E-Media Faculty Member Hagit Limor Receives ‘Best of Festival’ Honors at this Year’s Broadcast Education Association Convention

Hagit Limor, Assistant Professor of Electronic Media at CCM.

CCM Assistant Professor of Electronic Media Hagit Limor received the “Best of Festival” award in the Faculty News Competition at this year’s Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Festival of Media Arts. She was recognized for her report on fake memorabilia being sold at charity auctions.

The BEA’s Festival of Media Arts is a competitive festival open to both faculty and student members of the BEA. Any full-time student attending a BEA institutional members receives free membership in the association.

This year’s festival ran from April 12 – 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The festival received 1,352 entries in 2015 and went on to recognize 17 “Best of Festival” winners. Each “Best of Festival” award recipient was honored with the presentation of a specially produced tribute video and a $1,000 cash award from the Charles and Lucille King Family. You can view a roundup of all of the 2015 Best of Festival King Foundation Award Winners by visiting www.beaweb.org/2015/bof.

You can watch Limor’s original report on fake autographed memorabilia below.

Limor joined CCM’s Division of Electronic Media (CCM E-Media) after an extensive career in broadcast journalism and as national president of the Society of Professional Journalists. She teaches media writing, ethics and journalism, taking students from the classroom and newsroom into the studio for taped productions.

Limor has served as an anchor, general assignment reporter and investigative reporter at  network-affiliated stations in five markets, currently at Cincinnati’s Fox 19 WXIX-TV in Cincinnati, where she serves as investigative reporter. She’s covered news stories throughout  the United States, Central America, Europe and Asia, including the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Limor’s abilities as a writer and reporter have garnered her dozens of national, state and local awards for investigative, documentary, general assignment and feature reporting. She’s won 10 Emmy Awards, three national Sigma Delta Chi Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, a National Headliner Award, national finalist for the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association, and other national awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists, plus more than 100 state Associated Press, state SPJ and local SPJ awards.

In December of 2014, Limor was recognized by the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education for her work using the media as a vehicle for speaking out against hatred.

Limor also is very active for the cause of journalism on a national level. She’s served as President of the national Society of Professional Journalists, representing 8,000 journalists across the United States after holding several other national and local offices, including president of the Greater Cincinnati SPJ chapter. She currently serves as national chair of the Society’s Legal Defense Fund, member of the Ethics Committee and recently served on the committee that rewrote the Society’s widely quoted Journalism Ethics Code. Limor also sits on the board of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, which promotes excellence and ethics in journalism through educational programs and grants for journalism-related projects.

Beyond journalism, Limor volunteers throughout the Tri-State, and was honored by the Bethesda Foundation for her local service. She also emcees, speaks and hosts events for various community organizations.

She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

Learn more about CCM’s accomplished faculty by visiting ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/faculty.

CCM Musical Theatre Presents Annual Senior Showcase March 26 and 28

Cincinnati audiences will get a sneak peek of an original showcase created by the 2015 graduating class from CCM’s Department of Musical Theatre during the annual “Not Famous Yet” Showcase, which runs on March 26 (Friends of CCM benefit performance) and March 28 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

The March 26 benefit performance starts at 7 p.m. and features dinner by the bite and a post-performance celebration. Tickets for this benefit event are on sale now. For tickets and additional information, visit ccm.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/NotFamousYetShowcase2015.

The March 28 performances take place at 4 and 8 p.m. and are free, but reservations are required. Tickets for these free performances become available at noon on Monday, March 23.

Each year, seniors from CCM’s musical theatre program travel to New York to present a showcase for the leading agents, casting directors and managers in the business. The show takes the format of a Broadway audition, with the actors showing off their solo and ensemble skills through song and dance numbers. The work is created by the students themselves under the supervision of program chair Aubrey Berg and with the assistance of musical director Julie Spangler.

This year’s performance is the 23rd edition of the CCM “Not Famous Yet” showcase. The annual showcase began with the establishment of the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre in 1991. At the time of its inception, it was the only academic chair of its kind in the United States. Learn more about the Musical Theatre Class of 2015 here.

Friends of CCM Benefit Performance
The opening performance of the Musical Theatre Showcase on March 26 is part of a benefit for the Friends of CCM. The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes dinner by the bite.

CCM alumnus Mickey Fisher.

This event also includes the presentation of the Musical Theatre Young Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding professional achievement by graduates of CCM’s musical theatre program from the past two decades. This year’s recipient is Mickey Fisher, who graduated from UC in 1995.

A writer, director and actor, Fisher created and serves as executive producer for Extant, a science fiction television program developed by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television and CBS Television studios. The thriller stars Academy Award-winner Halle Berry and is currently shooting its second season. Fisher’s credits also include the films King of Iron Town and Summer Nuts, as well as the musical Something in the Water.

Tickets for the March 26 benefit are:

• Patron Tickets: $100 each; includes a patron reception before the performance honoring Mickey Fisher, general performance seating, dinner by the bite and garage parking.
• General Public Tickets: $75 each; includes general performance seating, dinner by the bite and garage parking.
• Friends of CCM Member Tickets: $50 each; includes general performance seating, dinner by the bite and garage parking.
• Young Professional (40 and under) and CCM Alumni Tickets: $35 each; includes general performance seating, dinner by the bite and garage parking.

Proceeds benefit student career development grants and scholarships. Seating is limited. To reserve a ticket, call CCM External Relations at 513-556-2100 or visit ccm.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/NotFamousYetShowcase2015.

CCM Hosts FREE Performances of the Showcase on March 28
Admission to the Musical Theatre Showcase at 4 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, is FREE. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 23; please visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to make a reservation. Limit two tickets per order.

Performance Times

• 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26 — Friends of CCM Benefit
• 4 & 8 p.m. Saturday March 28

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing and Reserving Tickets
Tickets to the Friends of CCM benefit performance are on sale now. Ticket options include $100 patron level tickets (includes pre-show patron reception), $75 general public tickets, $50 Friends of CCM member tickets and $35 young professional (age 40 and under) and CCM Alumni tickets. Seating is limited.

To purchase, call CCM’s Office of External Relations at 513-556-2100. Learn more at ccm.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/NotFamousYetShowcase2015.

Admission to the 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 28, performances is FREE, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 23. Please visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to make a reservation. Limit two tickets per order.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM Alumna Ellie Jameson Appears on CBS Drama ‘Criminal Minds’ This Week

CCM alumna Ellie Jameson.

We are thrilled to report that CCM alumna Ellie Jameson (BFA Dramatic Performance, 2013) appears in a guest starring role as Detective Carpenter on the CBS police-procedural television program Criminal Minds at 9/8c this Wednesday, Nov. 5. The episode is called “If the Shoe Fits.”

Jameson lives in Los Angeles and appeared in productions of Red Light Winter, Arcadia, The Time of Your Life, Coram Boy and The Matchmaker while at CCM.

She was named a Rising Star by the League of Cincinnati Theatres for her body of work while in Cincinnati. She also appeared in the 2009 feature film The World’s Greatest Dad with Robin Williams.

Learn more about CCM Drama’s actors at work here.

Universal Sports Network Premieres Student-Produced ‘2013 Gold Rush Expedition Race’ Film Tonight

Photography by Kaori Funahashi.

The Universal Sports Network presents the premiere broadcast of the student-produced 2013 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary film at 6:30 p.m. ET tonight, Oct. 24!

The Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary films chronicle one of the foremost expedition races in the world. Each 90-minute documentary features an international field of 50 elite athletes tackling a grueling 275-mile course through the California wilderness as they test their mental and physical limits in the toughest competition in North America. Over the course of four days, teams face merciless heat and sleepless nights while trekking, mountain biking, climbing and kayaking amidst the beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The race is part of the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) and the winning team receives an entry into the ARWS World Championship.

Each film has been produced by a team of UC students hailing from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP), and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.

Working under the guidance of professional television director/producer and CCM Electronic Media (E-Media) alumnus Brian J. Leitten (BFA, 2001) and E-Media Professor Kevin Burke, these students shot, edited, scripted and produced the film on location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Both Leitten and Burke advise the project and provide professional guidance and feedback to the students during all phases of the documentary’s development.

Earlier this month, GearJunkie.com hailed the Gold Rush Expedition Race project as “undoubtedly one of the most amazing educational initiatives we’ve seen.”

Learn more about the Gold Rush Expedition Race project by visiting ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/student-produced-film-series-airs-on-universal-sports-network.

All broadcast times Eastern and subject to change. Learn more about the Universal Sports Network by visiting http://universalsports.com.

CCM Video: Introducing CCM’s Summer Film Scoring Institute

Earlier this month, CCM launched a new two-week immersion program in contemporary film music composition and production.

Under the direction of CCM Professor of Commercial Music Production Thomas Haines, the CCM Film Scoring Institute gives young composers the opportunity to work with acclaimed industry professionals like Blake Neely (TV’s Arrow and The Mentalist), Jeff Rona (movies Traffic, Black Hawk Down and The Thin Red Line), Tyler Bates (TV’s Californication and Low Winter Sun), Jack Smalley (movie orchestration on The Last of the Mohicans, The Gladiator and Conan the Barbarian) and Lennie Moore (video games Fighter Within and Halo: Combat Evolved).

From June 2 – 13, students will experience 60 hours of instruction in writing labs, master classes and recording studios.

In today’s video, Haines and Neely discuss the industry in general and what our young recruits are doing during their residency at CCM. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes looks at this exciting new summer program.

Learn more about the CCM Film Scoring Institute by visiting ccm.uc.edu/summer/film_scoring.

Cincinnati Children’s Choir Featured on CET Arts Channel

Cincinnati Children’s Choir, Ensemble-In-Residence at CCM.

The award-winning Cincinnati Children’s Choir is coming to a television set near you this weekend! CET Cincinnati Public Television‘s arts and culture series SHOWCASE with Barbara Kellar will spotlight the CCM ensemble-in-residence at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 18.

In addition to a conversation with Choir Founder and Managing Artistic Director Robyn Reeves Lana and Executive Director Mary Kay Koehler, the program will also feature nearly 80 members of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir performing two songs.

The Cincinnati Children’s Choir is an educationally based choral ensemble program that provides high quality music education to children ages 6-18 in the Greater Cincinnati community. This program offers its participants the opportunity to demonstrate their musical understanding, artistry, and achievement by performing and collaborating with premier ensembles and children’s choirs throughout the world.

This episode of SHOWCASE with Barbara Kellar airs at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, on CET Arts, which is available over-the-air on channel 48.3, on Time Warner Cable channel 987, on Cincinnati Bell Fiberoptics channel 248 and on Insight Cable channel 192. Learn more about CET Arts by visiting www.cetconnect.org/cet-arts.

After Making the Transition from the Theatre to the Courtroom, Alumnus Darrell Miller Prepares his First Book on ‘The 16th Minute of Fame’

Alumnus Darrell Miller took the lessons he learned at CCM and used them to become one of the world’s leading entertainment attorneys.

CCM alumnus Darrell D. Miller (BFA, 1985) has worked with some of the biggest names in music, television and film … but probably not in the capacity that is typically expected of musical theatre graduates.

After completing his studies at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), Miller came to CCM intent on pursuing a career in voice performance and musical theatre. Early professional experience with the Civic Light Opera (CLO) in Pittsburgh left Miller well-poised for success on Broadway.

Miller graduated from UC with honors in 1985. Tours with several national production companies followed, along with a lead role in the jazz opera Leo and an international tour of the musical The Princess and the Pea, before Miller decided to take his career in a slightly different direction.

In 1990, Miller received his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center, and he has gone on to become one of the world’s leading entertainment attorneys, working in film, television, theatre and digital media.