Virginia Commonwealth University

The VCU-TV/HD website went online February 19, 2007. For the first time we are able to compare year to year statistics and here are some results from March 2007 to March 2008:

-Total web hits are up 408%
-Average hits per day are up 407%
-Average length of session is up 250%
-Average hits per session are up 228%
-Total pageviews are up 227%

If some of the terms above are foreign to you just understand that a lotta peeps are finding our shows! Thanks to everyone who have visited us so far. You can look forward to a lot more HiDefinition programming from VCU-TV/HD in the years to come. Don't forget to download your favorite shows to your iPod or for your HiDefinition display at home.

VCU-TV/HD on the Shortlist for “Oscars of the Internet”

Richmond, VA – April 8, 2008 - The 12th Annual Webby Awards, today nominated VCU-TV/HD for the Best Student Online Film or Video of 2008.

Winners will be announced on May 6, 2008 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 9th.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Websites. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, "Simpson's" creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington, and Harvey Weinstein.

"The Webby Awards honors the outstanding Websites that are setting the standards for the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "VCU-TV/HD’s Webby Award nomination is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators."

From now through May 1st, online fans around the world can cast their own votes for VCU-TV/HD’s student produced “Webisodes” in The Webby People’s Voice Awards presented by Nokia at http://pv.webbyawards.com.

The 12th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states. Past Webby Award winners include Amazon.com, eBay, Yahoo!, iTunes, Google, FedEx, BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, NPR, Salon Magazine, Evite, Meetup, Wikipedia, Flickr, ESPN, Comedy Central, PBS, and The Onion.

Founded in 1996, The Webby Awards are known worldwide for its famous five-word speech limit. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote”), Beastie Boys (“Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Prince (“Everything you think is true.”)

About VCU-TV/HD (www.vcutvhd.com)
VCU-TV/HD is a student run HiDefinition television facility at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Overseen by Executive Producer Dan Brazda and Senior Producer Lisa Figueroa, current students produce cinema verite documentaries on VCU and Richmond area stories of interest. The students also take part in tongue-in-cheek promotional “Webisodes” to help spread the word about the facility.
About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 12th Annual Webby Awards received a record 9,500 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Adobe; The Creative Group; .ORG; The Barbarian Group; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Variety; Wired; IDG: Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

###

In yo' face suckas!

Nominated for Best Documentary: Historical was "Cinemaphiles: Byrd Theatre" (Senior Film Student Alexander Germanotta) http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/cinemaphiles/byrd.html
Nominated for Best Public/Current/Community Affairs Program/Special were "VCU Inside Out: Planet Bonnie" (Senior Film Student Michael Bell) http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/insideout/bonnie.html and "VCU Medical Center: Trauma" (previous Kinetic Imaging student Xi Lin) http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/medicalcenter/trauma.html.

VCU-TV/HD was the only college television facility nominated. Stay tuned for the always tacky, self-absorbed promos TV stations are known for to follow (done in our own satiric webisode style of course).

Winners will be announced in Washington, DC on June 14.

We just got back from the Emmy awards where we were nominated for 3 documentary programs. You've all heard the phrase "it's an honor just to be nominated". Well as cliche as the phrase itself is- it is true for us. College students stick out like a sore thumb at these gatherings but we truly relished each and every awkward glance.

While we didn't walk away with any statues (but did get a great pic with Barry Levinson), the incredibly talented students who were nominated (Alex Germanotta, Michael Bell and Xi Lin) entertained us to no end on our no-frills journey to the awards ceremony at the Ritz in DC. You can all look forward to a "webi-show-isode" (that term will make sense later) since the entire trip was documented in glorious (and sometimes not-so-glorious) HD.

We rock and so do you for "getting" us.

We are in the middle of uploading all of our shows to iTunes. Free downloads of all VCU-TV/HD programs are available in both iPod (640x360) and HD (1280x720) versions. Just go to the general search engine for iTunes and type in "vcutvhd". All shows should be uploaded by Thanksgiving 2008. New shows after that date will be uploaded as they are produced. Remember that all shows are also available for free download at vcutvhd.com.

We are in the process of adding the Red Digital Cinema camera lineup to VCU-TV/HD. While cinema verite documentary programming will continue to be the staple of our programming efforts, we feel the Red One, Scarlet, Epic and yet to be named DSLR from Red Digital Cinema are at the cutting edge of future cinema technology and we are in all the way. Cinematic television has been the throughline for VCU-TV/HD from the beginning and we are looking forward to being "RED"! Pix coming soon- stay tuned.

Weighing in at 38 pounds 2 ounces, here's a pic of the newest member of the VCU-TV/HD family.

This is her in a bright & cheery mood:

Here's her dark and slightly sinister side:

We haven't named her yet. Please email me your suggestions for a name for this beauty to:

djbrazda@vcu.edu

Update as of 4/22/09: "Rosebud" is in the lead. Time to sweeten the pot- submit a name you think is better than "Rosebud" as well as your desired prize... this should be fun...

We're headed to the Capital Emmy Awards for the 2nd year in a row! Three more nominations this year:

-VCU Inside Out: Gary Sange (Producer: Michael Bell)
http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/insideout/sange.html

-Chop Suey (Producer: Alex Germanotta)
http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/local/chop.html

-VCU Qatar (Producers Lisa Figueroa and Jordan Rodericks)
http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/studyabroad/vcuqatar.html

The big shindig is June 6 at the Ritz Carlton in DC. We'll be the ones that look REALLY out-of-place.

Alex Germanotta....Chop Suey...Lisa Figueroa and Jordan Rodericks.... VCU Qatar!!!!!!

VCU-TV/HD filmmaker Alex Germanotta won an Emmy for "Chop Suey". Here's a link to the show where you can watch it live streaming or download it in HD or for your iPod:

http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/local/chop.html

VCU-TV/HD Senior Producer Lisa Figueroa and Producer Jordan Rodericks also won for "VCUQatar". Here's the link:

http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/studyabroad/vcuqatar.html

Congrats to the hardest workin' group in showbiz!