Screen writers from Glendale CC sweep awards

Four screenwriting students from Glendale Community College’s film and media production program swept this year’s Artists of Promise one-act play/script and traveler one-act play/drama competitions, setting a record by winning the top three spots for their short screenplays in both competitions.

The district-wide Artists of Promise competition sponsored by Maricopa Community Colleges recognizes student achievement in the creative writing categories of poetry, fiction, essay and one-act play/script.

Winners will be showcased in MCCCD’s annual publication, "Passages," and honored at the Artists of Promise Gala on Tuesday, April 16. First place winners will also be submitted to the national competition.

The "Traveler" publication spotlights student creative arts and is produced annually by GCC’s English and art departments. Categories include fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and one-act play/drama.

This year’s award winning GCC FMP Students are:

Artists of Promise: One-Act Play/Script

First place: "Message of Atonement" by Sarah Dahdal

Second place: "Echoes in Agony" by Noah Hoppe

Third Place: "Chinchilla" by Adrian Castillo

The Traveler: One-Act Play/Drama

First place: "Messages of Atonement" by Sarah Dahdal

Second place: "Chinchilla" by Adrian Castillo

Third place: "Randall’s Birthday" by Brigham Rhett Larson

Another Film and Media Production student, Cindy Lee, has won accolades for her documentary, "The Stories They Didn’t Tell Us – Nina’s Story."

The film has received Official Selection for two festivals, the 2024 Phoenix Film Festival and 2024 Boston Indie Film Festival. The 17--minute documentary covers what Lee describes as an example of “concealed life stories.”

The film chronicles the life experiences of Nina Newell, a Vietnamese refugee who came to the U.S. in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, revealing stories that she had never before shared with anyone, including her children. The film crew consisted of former and recent GCC graduates.

"The Stories They Didn’t Tell Us – Nina’s Story" will be screened with the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Shorts block of six films at the Phoenix Film Festival at 6:35 p.m., Thursday, April 11, at 3 p.m.,  Saturday, April 13 and  at 9:05 a.m., Sunday, April 14.

Glendale Community College provides 41 associate degrees, 61 certificate programs, and a range of non-degree offerings, available to students in traditional, online and hybrid formats.