UToledo 2010 Film/Comm Alumnus, Andrew Makadsi at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys

Andrew Makadsi, art director to pop star, Beyoncé, was nominated for an Emmy in the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He graduated from the University of Toledo in 2010 with dual undergraduate degrees in Film and Communication. Andrew, along with production designers Ric Lipson and Rachel Duncan, were nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special for their work on “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé.”

The show, produced through Beyoncé’s company, Parkwood Entertainment, originally aired on Netflix last April. The show also received Emmy nominations in five other categories: Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Non-Fiction or Reality Programming, and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special.

https://www.emmys.com/shows/homecoming-film-beyonc%c3%a9

The awards were held in mid-September. Although the award ultimately went to RENT, Makadsi was thrilled to have been nominated and the University is equally proud of his tremendous accomplishment. Andrew posted to Facebook, “My first Emmy nomination. A date I will never forget. Feeling so grateful and thankful for all the support and love.”

One of Andrew’s UToledo film faculty, Holly Hey, said, “We are confident that this year’s Emmy nomination is only the beginning of Andrew’s professional recognition. Andrew’s work at UToledo always showcased his personal style, his dedication to creative expression, and his unparalleled commitment to crafting his work. Words hardly express how proud we are of Andrew and how happy we are to have played even the smallest part in preparing Andrew to work at such a high level in the Arts and Entertainment industries. Well done, Andrew!”

Leading up to the Creative Arts Emmys, Andrew was also recently profiled in an article in Vogue Arabia, the Middle Eastern edition of Vogue magazine. https://en.vogue.me/awards/beyonce-art-director-andrew-makadsi/. The article, written by Caterina Minthe, covers Makadsi’s education at UToledo and his meteoric rise in the art direction world, from fashion runway art director to his work with arguably one of the most famous stars on the planet, Beyoncé.

Toledo, OH, July 18th, 2018 – The National Educational Telecommunications Association (“NETA”) has contracted with Professor Holly Hey, Head of the Film/Video program at the University of Toledo for exclusive public television distribution rights of Hey’s film “Crossing Water – Flint Michigan – 2017,” a documentary about the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI. Hey worked with the non-profit service organization Crossing Water to highlight the continuing needs and challenges facing the residents of Flint and the social service volunteers who help them. The film will broadcast regionally for the first time on WNED Buffalo, NY on Saturday August 11 at 5 p.m. Katherine Larsen senior director of Radio/TV programming for WNED says Hey’s film is a, “great program on an ongoing issue. Clean water is vital to our communities, especially in the Great Lakes region.”

Holly Hey, Professor of Film – The University of Toledo

Flint, Michigan made national news in 2014 when the city’s emergency manager switched the source of the city’s water, plaguing residents with a host of immediate and toxic problems, including: deadly bacteria, outbreaks and deaths from Legionnaires’ disease, and the wide-spread presence of lead in the city’s drinking water. In the film, Hey highlights the work of Crossing Water, a nonprofit organization that brings together social workers and other volunteers to bring water, services, and access to resources to the hardest hit residents of Flint. Hey weaves together multiple stories of Crossing Water volunteers, staff, and Flint residents, creating a portrait of what it is like to live within an ongoing systemic disaster. Crossing Water Executive Director Michael Hood called the film “a sobering story of the Flint water crisis.” Hey believes that all Americans should care about Flint because it’s a crisis that is indicative of the future for many US communities. According to CNN, over 5,300 municipalities around the country are in violation of lead rules. Hey says, “eventually systems will fail in any community, systems essential to human life like water and power. We can’t ignore that we are all vulnerable to such collapse, wherever we live in America.”

ABOUT THE MOVIE

What do nightmares, rattlesnakes, and the pyscho-sexual have in common? Come find out! These subjects and more will be featured in the annual University of Toledo Aspiring Filmmakers Showcase. Presented by the UT Film & Video Society (a student-run organization) and by the UT Department of Theatre & Film, this year’s Showcase will screen on March 15, 2014 in the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre at 7:30 p.m. (Scroll down to link to films)

An eight-member panel of judges made selections into the Showcase. The panel included Film faculty, outstanding former students of the film program, Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Communication and The Arts, Debra A. Davis and Holly Monsos, and distinguished professionals within the community, Brett Leonard (feature film director and producer) and Dustin Hostetler (graphic artist and illustrator). Leonard will also be in attendance at this week’s screening. The majority of submissions were from Film majors, but the competition was open to any student who made work in the Film program’s production courses.

Tickets to the Showcase cost $5 for the general public and $3 for students and senior citizens (60+). The Center for Performing Arts is located on UT’s Main Campus at Towerview West and West Rocket Drive.

“This year’s selections were the most competitive yet in my opinion! I think it shows how our program and our students continue to grow and get even better each year. We use a juried entry process so that our students have ‘real world’ experience with both acceptance and rejection of their work by audiences outside the classroom. We had some very good work this year that didn’t get into the Showcase. A few of my favorite projects didn’t get in, and I was one of the judges. It just goes to show how subjective festival entry can be, and that’s vital for our students to learn and understand. Although rejection is difficult, it is necessary for success. To be rejected shows that you’re trying to get your work shown, and as a creative person, that’s really what you have control over; how and how often you try. The rest is up to the audiences that you reach. Ultimately, the more attempts at recognition, the more likely recognition will happen. It’s a number’s game in my opinion. At the same time, a competitive entry process should be a great eye-opener for the students whose work was accepted; it should awaken them to not taking their work for granted. It’s one thing to not know the person you competed against, but when you know your work was selected over your friend’s or colleague’s work (people and work you really value and respect), that’s something much different; it’s much more profound and meaningful to have your work recognized.”

– Holly Hey, Associate Professor and Head of Film

“The showcase is a great experience for students not only to see each other’s work, but to see what other students are creating. Collaboration is the spirit of filmmaking and it is of value to students to realize that often they may be each other’s best resources. In addition it is always nice to see your work on the ‘big screen.’ Nothing compares to having a large audience view and respond to your work. Often in classes your only critique is that of your classmates and your professor, but with the showcase a much larger community can be reached.”

– Samantha Muirhead, President of the UT Film Video Society student organization

Aspiring Filmmakers Showcase Works To Be Screened

Melissa Byrd
Instinctual Drives
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbpkvwH54U
5:03

Crista Constantine
The Figure And The Mind
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2z7xyuNwR8
3:00

Anna Coulter
Don
Fall 2013, Optical Printing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUsU132ZFIg
5:58

Tyler Curry
Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You
Fall 2013, Film I
https://vimeo.com/85389326
5:02

Ian Henry
System
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6R3XWdpa0E
5:01
Machines
Fall 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAe9cP48Qjo
3:00

Andrew Jex
About Anna
Fall 2013, Optical Printing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1BmyI3lQD8
3:46
Rocket Marching Band Promo
Fall 2013, Advanced Post Production
https://vimeo.com/85601439
0:45

Chris Kaiser
Rattler On The Doorstep
Fall 2013, Film I
https://vimeo.com/85197776
6:46

Lydia Kane
First Encounter
Spring 2013, Video II
http://vimeo.com/65327189
3:09
The Spirit Of The Game
Summer 2012 (Abroad), Documentary Production
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsiycoAvtjE
4:42

Charles King
Epoch
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvMUXv5_OY
4:25

Stephen Mariasy
Process
Spring 2013, Video I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjWV96D2GeI
3:02
I Am Become Cat
Fall 2013, Film I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNuKJX4K0PI
5:00

Lydia Messer
Soteria
Spring 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3VY-uWom_c
3:31

Samantha Muirhead
Aspiring Filmmaker’s Showcase Lead In
Fall 2013, Advanced Post Production
https://vimeo.com/85046930
0:30

Carolyn Sharkey
Icarus
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VsBuX2XtRc&feature=youtu.be
3:20

Cory Vail
Elementals
Spring 2013, Video I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2RYn7K3SY
2:52
Disconnect The Dots
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ABLIFa8hCw
5:54

Heather Wilson
Ruminate
Fall 2013, Film I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYl1YvSMiE
5:24

Noah York
Fohat Speaks
Fall 2012, Video I
https://vimeo.com/84998402
3:08
Fallen
Spring 2013, Video II
https://vimeo.com/85291781
7:34

Leonard Zaleski
Clearwater COG Video Project
Fall 2013, Internship Credit
https://vimeo.com/85638404
9:37

UT student Jerod Calhoun talks about his experience at a church soup kitchen in Lydia Kane’s documentary

(Re-posted from the UT Division of Student Affairs, Office of Student Involvement blog)

It’s a proud day in Rocket Nation! One of our own has gone above and beyond to bring awareness of the service completed by our 2012 Leadership Through Service Living Learning Community during their alternative spring break experience. The LLC took 35 Rockets to New York City. Lydia Kane was one of the students who skipped beach time to spend the week serving others. Lydia made a video documentary, called “2012 UT Alternative Spring Break,” of the group’s experience and wanted the world to know about the great things our Rockets and LLC’s do. Lydia submitted her documentary to the Awareness Festival in Santa Monica, CA. She recently received the wonderful news that it has been accepted and will be shown to the world this month!

The Awareness Festival is an annual event for professional and student filmmakers to display their work to fellow film lovers. The festival includes feature films, shorts, documentaries, and music videos that bring awareness. The mission of the Awareness Film Festival is to bring awareness to today’s Ecological, Health/Well Being, Spirit and Political/Lands Without Borders topics. This festival is a fundraiser for the charity Heal One World and any net proceeds will go to fund programs for this charity.

Lydia reflected on the experience, “I have worked for the homeless and hungry throughout my life. My family and I would make meals for them once or twice a month growing up. While I knew that the problem of hunger and homelessness existed, it didn’t actually hit me until I traveled to New York City with the Leadership Through Service LLC. I was able to see hundreds of people that lined up for food and watched their eyes light up to have a warm meal and to have someone to have a conversation with.

I was also opened up to another major factor into this issue. I realized how much work and dedication is associated in running a soup kitchen, a shelter and even volunteering at these locations. It is very hard work and a majority of the people who run, work and volunteer in these places do it for free and have the greatest hearts. It was very gratifying to have the opportunity to document the hard work being done by the Leadership Through Service students. I was able to make a product that showed the hard work and sacrifice of taking time out of your life to help others in need.”

We are so proud of the amazing things our Rockets do. Great job Lydia!

July 25-28, 2013
Santa Monica, CA

Check out The Awareness Festival’s website HERE.

Watch Lydia’s 10 minute documentary HERE.