Two outstanding Dodge College alumni received massive, early holiday gift this year: a grant from the Caucus Foundation to celebrate their filmmaking passion!

Michael Fitzgerald (MFA and Maura B. Kelly (’13, MFA Film & Television Production) were winners of Student grants from The Caucus For Producers, Writers & Directors in 2012. They were among five others who attended the Caucus Awards Dinner on December 1st, and vying for two Gold Circle awards for outstanding student films.  And much to Maura Kelly’s delight, she was selected for her work on her senior thesis project, Ode In Blood.

What is The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors?

Our Mission: The Caucus strives to elevate program quality in Television and New Media by promoting and protecting the artistic, intellectual and economic rights of Producers, Writers & Directors.

For the past 30 years in Network Television (and now in Cable and Satellite Television as well),  The Caucus has provided a forum for the best and the brightest creative talent in Hollywood, to network together as the ‘creative conscience’ of the Television industry.  Read the mission statement and Chair’s message.

The Caucus, as the leaders of the creative Television community, have always stood for better and more meaningful television.  That means Television Programs produced, written and directed in a working environment that supports the best product that we can create for our audience.  Caucus Journal

Along the way, The Television Caucus also singles out those individuals in our industry who have not only worked for quality television but have also achieved it.  Each year we celebrate the extraordinary work of our fellow professionals (executives, producers, writers, directors, New Media executives et al) at our Annual Caucus Honors Dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Sounds like a great cause to us!

The Caucus hosts regular panels and discussions on topics affecting the industry, as well as the American Spirit Awards, and the annual Student Film competition which awards three prizes to the top student films of the year.  Chapman professors are invited to speak – as was Professor Frank Chindamo recently, at the Crowdfunding panel held off-site.

While it’s a regular destination for students, alumni, and faculty alike, this year Chapman students nabbed the #2 spot (out of only three!) spots in the ceremony!

Caucus Foundation Student Film Gold Circle Award Winners:
1st Place: Keola Racela, Columbia University for Above the Sea
2nd Place: Maura Kelly, Chapman University for Ode in Blood
Television Grant Award: Creative Team for Doubleblind from UCLA

This is incredible news for us as a school, and especially for these two fantastic filmmakers, Maura Kelly and Michael Fitzgerald.  We wish them, and all the entrants, the best of luck, and we can’t wait to see what they’ll produce with the grant monies they received!