Cal State Fullerton Students Top Hollywood Reporter Award Nominations

Flexing their talents in the 'real world' setting of Hollywood marketing and advertising, Cal State Fullerton students led the way in capturing the most nominations - four out of 12 - in the inaugural student scholarship competition that is part of the Hollywood Reporter's 31st annual Key Art Awards, which honor achievements in motion picture marketing and advertising.

Jackie De La Cuadra of Huntington Park and Giovanni Noisy of Fountain Valley snagged nominations in the one-sheet (movie poster) category, while Justin Ridge of Apple Valley and Kari Stringham of Long Beach were chosen in the trailer (movie preview) category. The competition received more than 100 entries from 22 California schools and was judged by entertainment industry veterans - representatives from the major movie studios and creative agencies that studios contract with to develop marketing materials.

DreamWorks SKG supplied the films that the students worked on - "Gladiator" and "Almost Famous" - in addition to such collateral materials as production stills, logos and images from each film. Commenting on the nominated finalists, Mike Gottlieb, DreamWorks marketing executive and one of the judges for both the professional and student competitions said, "It's neat to see what the students can do. … There's some very dramatic and original ideas here. You see their books, but it's apples and oranges at that point; it's school projects. But this is a chance for them to do something that we've worked on. And, we see what they would come up with if they had the same art as us. So it's apples to apples."

Six cash prizes totaling $22,000 will be awarded to the top three winners and their schools in each category June 28 during the Key Art Awards at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

The Key Art Awards were launched in 1972 to honor the accomplishments of art directors, designers, illustrators, photographers and copywriters responsible for developing the art used in motion picture marketing and promotion. Serving on the program's advisory board is CSUF alumnus Jeffrey Bacon, president of IdeaSpa Design & Marketing.

Inclusion of a student contest had been a goal for Bacon over the last few years. Subsequently, Hollywood Reporter publisher and editor-in-chief Robert Dowling established the Key Art Awards collegiate fund on behalf of the publication by setting aside $25 from the entry fee collected for each Key Arts submission.

Media Contact: Gail Matsunaga, Public Affairs, at (714) 278-4851 or gmatsunaga@fullerton.edu