Film & Video

With a chart-topping single on iTunes, Alternative Hot 100, and Sirius XM's Alt Nation, the foursome SomeKindaWonderful is off to strong start — fueled by a video created by CCAD alums.

New kids on the alternative rock block, the Cleveland-based group recently debuted the music video for Reverse, their single that was spontaneously recorded in just three hours following a chance meeting at a Cleveland bar.

“When visual effects artists do their jobs well, the world takes note, which makes winning an Emmy award that much sweeter,” said Steve Hubbard (CCAD 2010).

Hubbard was the 3D supervisor on Black Sails, a Starz original series that took home awards for Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series at the Television Academy's 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

When Erwin Lian Cherngzhi (CCAD 2004) couldn't find a sketchbook with the perfect combination of high quality features, he went to the drawing board and created his own.

A self-proclaimed "sketch-hunter," Cherngzhi has been traveling the world for nearly 14 months putting pen, pencil, and paintbrush to paper.

Just over a year after Andrew Ina (CCAD 2006) began working as a videographer at public TV station WOSU, the painter and filmmaker took home an Emmy award for his work on Broad & High, an arts and culture program in its first season.

"To win, especially for Broad & High as a series, was very exciting," Ina said. "Our city is rich with art, artists, and a variety cultural events, and we feel privileged to have the creative freedom to showcase it."

Work by Media Studies Time-Based alumna Sucheta Bhatawadekar (CCAD 2005) is included in The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2: Exhibition at Nucleus Art Gallery in Alhambra, CA.

Media Studies Time-Based alumnus Doug Zablocki (CCAD 2009) worked on visual effects for an episode in the latest season of the HBO series Game of Thrones: season four, episode nine, The Watchers of the Wall.

Media Studies Time-Based alumnus Nick Cavalier (CCAD 2009) is putting the finishing touches on his first full-length feature, Forced Perspective, scheduled for release in 2015.

The documentary is an intimate portrait of Cleveland artist Derek Hess—creator of politically charged fine art pieces and concert posters and CD covers for bands such as Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, and Motion City Soundtrack.

Cinematic Arts adjunct faculty member Cheng Zhang and Media Studies alumna Sheri Larrimer (CCAD 2006) received the People's Choice Award for their web-based computer game "Moon Rush" in the Shoot for the Moon game design contest sponsored by Games for Change, a nonprofit community dedicated to using digital games for social change.

The contest challenged game designers to envision an interactive experience that encourages space exploration, while at the same time capturing comprehensive real-world data that will inform the mission of nonprofit organization SpaceIL.

By Sakhile Vanqa

On the bottom shelf of the bookshelf in the living room, next to my mum’s batch of medical journals and texts, sat my dad’s stacks of National Geographic magazines. The other shelves were too high for me to reach, so I settled quite comfortably with something I could flip through, and understand; Gray’s Anatomy is not an easy read at nine years old.

Disney's latest animated feature, Frozen, is on fire and three CCAD alumni are basking in its success.

The film nabbed a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film and is nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.

"The Golden Globe win has us all excited," said Alex Alvarado, 2011 Illustration alumnus and look development artist for Disney.

Media Studies Time-Based alumni Fawn Veerasunthorn (CCAD 2005) and Darren Simpson (CCAD 2011) also worked on the film.