A Great Festival Begins with a Great Committee

It all began on a Wednesday night in December, 2002. Over drinks and appetizers at the Angus Barn’s Wild Turkey Lounge, thirteen people broke away from the revelers at the RDC-MCA-I chapter’s annual holiday party to brainstorm about the upcoming Silver Reel Festival. They had already broken the mold: they were planning a Spring gala–unheard of in the 21 years of the festival, traditionally scheduled for November through January. They had, however, fit the mold set by 20 other committees through the years–they cheerfully and enthusiastically exchanged ideas–and then committed to bring those ideas to life through the next five months. And it worked. Assignments came easily and naturally. People gravitated to jobs they enjoyed. Meetings were fast-paced and productive. Ideas flew fast. And then it was early May and the creative team was putting the finishing touches on what turned out to be a flawless night showcasing some pretty flawless work, according to judges in Atlanta, Seattle, and Minneapolis. Kudos to the people who made it all happen:

MCA-I Carolina Silver Reel Festival Committee
Chair: Melanie Raskin, Writer/Actress

Awards Chair: Tilla Fearn, NC State University

Creative Chair: Sue DiMaggio, SAS

Creative Committee
Kaki Carl, Jonothon Demers, Monique DeRocher, Rowell Gormon, Nancy Rich, Rod Rich, Marjorie Strauss

Communications Co-Chairs: Darren Ley, NC State Video Communications
and Monique DeRocher

Entry Management: Walt Rassel, Take One Productions

Judging Chair: Jeff Raskin, N8Cutter

RDC MCA-I President: Eugene Murray, Horizon Video

RDC MCA-I Chapter Treasurer: Jim Babel, Actor

Reciprocal Judging Chair: Kevin Silva, SilvaLines

Sponsorship Chairs: Marjorie Strauss, Actress/Voice Talent
and Kaki Carl, Writer/Voice Talent

Technical Chairs: Bob and Kathy Gubar, RMG Satellite Productions, Inc.