UCF Alum Flourishes on New York Art Scene
February 13, 2014 In a culture that tends to fixate on fame and fortune, it is easy to overlook the real success achieved by everyday people living their dream. UCF alum Elana Eda Rubinfeld is one of those people. After graduating from UCF’s School of Visual Arts & Design, Elana moved to New...
Alumna receives Writing Grant from National Endowment for the Arts
February 05, 2014 UCF alumna Kelle Groom recently was one of just 38 writers to receive a $25,000 Creative Writing Fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Groom received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Poetry in 2008 and has been making waves in the literary world ever since. The...
UCF Alum's Screenplay To Premiere at Sundance
January 08, 2014 The One I Love, a film written by Justin Lader (Film B.F.A. ’06), will premiere at the 30th annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The quirky comedy stars Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss as a troubled couple, while Ted Danson plays the therapist urging them to take a...
Meet UCF Grad Who is Broadway's Spider-Man
November 22, 2013 Who says Knights can’t fly? Justin Matthew Sargent, who graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2008 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theatre, is soaring over New York City audiences in the title role of Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” Sargent got his start...
Theatre Graduate Sings Hit Tunes in Latest Peformance
November 05, 2013 Theatre Graduate Natalie Cordone performed along with Shawn Kilgore in their most recent show “It Takes Two” on October 26. The night of popular song took the audience on a relationship journey with tunes from Broadway, television and film. The featured songs included “Our Love is Here to Stay,” “Chapel...
UCF Grads Launch Animation Studio
October 23, 2013 In 2010, alumni Joe Rosa, Heather Knott, and Chris Brown launched a new animation studio in Central Florida. Ninjaneer Studios is a full-service studio specializing in 3-D animation and projection mapping. The group founded Ninjaneer shortly after graduating with B.A. degrees in Digital Media: Visual Language. All three specialized in...
Film Grad Among "25 People Shaping the Future of Design"
October 23, 2013 Complex Magazine has named UCF alum Nick Briz to its online list of “25 People Shaping the Future of Design.” Nick Briz (B.F.A. Film, 2009) is a new-media artist, educator, and organizer. He is also a co-founder of GLI.TC/H, an international conference, festival, and gathering for glitch artists, coders, theorists,...
Movie by UCF Grad Featured in MIT Technology Review
October 07, 2013 MIT Technology Review recently reviewed The Perfect 46, a feature film written and directed by UCF alum Brett Bonowicz. Read the review online. Bonowicz screened the film at the Consumer Genetics Conference in Boston on September 25. The story centers around a genome-analysis company that has developed an algorithm to...
Film Grad Featured in Acclaimed Literary Journal
September 13, 2013 “Flamingo City,” a short story by UCF alum Giovanna Varela was recently published in Folio, a nationally recognized literary journal. Folio, founded in 1984 and based at American University in Washington, D.C., includes poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Folio is also known for interviews with prominent writers and has published...
Photography Alum Shooting for The New York Times
August 16, 2013 The New York Times recently published photographs by Aldrin Capulong, a 2010 graduate of UCF’s Bachelor of Science in Photography. His photos accompany an article on the mysterious deaths of marine life in the Indian River estuary. Capulong’s images appear in the August 8 print edition and the online article...
Digital Media Alum Selected for Art Directors Guild Apprenticeship
July 09, 2013 Recent graduate Kate Weddle (B.A., 2010) was accepted into the Art Directors Guild’s new Production Apprentice Program. Kate is one of only four inductees in the program’s inaugural class. She was selected from a pool of more than 90 applicants. Weddle, a writer and designer, specialized in Character Animation while...
International Society Honors UCF Mentor
June 17, 2013 The Society for Technical Communication honored local resident and UCF graduate Dan Voss at its annual conference. Voss, a senior proposal specialist with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, received the prestigious President’s Award at the opening ceremony of the 60th annual international conference of the STC in Atlanta. The...
Musical Theatre Alum Wins First in National Singing Competition
January 11, 2013 Kelli Rose Sleigh (B.F.A. Musical Theatre, 2009) recently competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Central Florida Chapter Musical Theater Competition. Sleigh competed in the Advanced Musical Theater division, which required contestants to prepare six songs of varying styles and eras. Sleigh placed first in her division and...
Alum's Experimental Film Screens in Brooklyn
January 08, 2013 UCF alum Metrah Pashaee’s new experimental video Talking Me was selected from 350 international submissions to screen at the Microscope Gallery’s now what program in Brooklyn. Talking Me is a cinematic Dadaist collage comprised of appropriations from online videos. By subtly manipulating preexisting pieces and choreographing these images to a...
UCF Theatre Alumni Present New York Showcase
November 06, 2012 Alumni from the UCF Theatre Department are presenting a theatrical showcase on Wednesday, November 7 and Friday, November 9 at Shetler Studios in New York City. The event, which has been two years in the making, will feature fourteen theatre and film professionals who boast a wide range of style,...
Alumni Interview: Michelle Ferrier
October 25, 2012 Dr. Michelle Ferrier is a digital content architect and Associate Professor of Communications at Elon University. She is also the founder and managing editor of LocallyGrownNews.com, and Vice President of Journalism That Matters, a nonprofit organization focused on the new news ecology and media entrepreneurship. With varied experience as a community...
Theatre Alum Sidonie Smith Among "I'm A Star" Finalists
September 13, 2012 Theatre UCF Alum Sidonie Smith (M.F.A. Musical Theatre) is one of the 14 finalists in composer-lyricist Scott Alan and Youtube sensation Michael Buckley’s “I’m A Star Contest”. The contest winner will record vocals for a brand-new song by Alan for his upcoming live album. The winner will also have the...
Alumni Interview: Rusty Carpenter
January 18, 2012 Dr. Russell Carpenter came to Eastern Kentucky University in fall 2009 as the first director of the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity where he is also Assistant Professor of English. While a Texts & Technology student at UCF, he studied writing center spaces through the lens of cultural and political...
Alumni Franqui and Scheaffer honored at Black & Gold Gala
November 23, 2011 On Friday, October 28, 2011, the UCF Alumni Association held its annual Black & Gold Gala during Homecoming week at the UCF Arena. The College of Arts and Humanities was pleased to present the following alumni awards: The 2011 Rising Star Award went to Francis Franqui (pictured at left), who...
Theatre UCF Alumnus Michael Marinaccio Appointed Producer of Orlando Fringe Festival
October 28, 2011 Michael Marinaccio, who received his B.F.A.–Acting in 1998 from the University of Central Florida, has been hired as the producer for the Orlando Fringe Festival. Michael has contributed greatly to the Central Florida theatre community since his days at the university, working on and off stage with local theatres including...