Sacred Heart Greenwich freshman Georgia Ferguson won first place in the second annual Andrew Freirich Filmmaking Legacy Essay Competition February 8 for her essay on education. Parent of Sacred Heart fifth-grader Libby Rattner and executive television producer and director Mr. Andrew Freirich awarded Georgia a GoPro HERO5 camera and a $500 donation to the Sacred Heart school in Uganda. He awarded the second place winner freshman Kate Murray with Beats by Dr. Dre Solo3 Wireless Headphones for her essay on air pollution in India.
“In this day and age social media and videography are so important. A picture can say a thousand words but the use of film can spread a message and tell a story,” Georgia said.
Mr. Freirich is a producer, director, and member of the Fit Global and Fit Global Management team which produces health, fitness, travel, and cooking programming in English and Spanish. At the award presentation, Mr. Freirich spoke to students and faculty about why he established the competition.
“When filming a documentary, students can be limited to their specific subject or topic but this essay competition allows them to think on a larger scale and be more open and creative,” Mr. Freirich said.
In November, Mr. Freirich was a keynote speaker at Sacred Heart’s “Inside the Broadcast Journalism Studio” event. Additionally, Mr. Freirich judged the documentary category of the seventh annual Film Festival last spring. He also serves as a mentor to broadcast journalism students at Sacred Heart year round.
Mr. Freirich established the Filmmaking Legacy Essay Competition last year and gave first place winner junior Madison Miraglia the grand prize of a GoPro HERO+ LCD camera.
“This competition was able to combine both the writing and broadcast skills we have learned at Sacred Heart and encourage us to go out and make a difference in the world,” Kate said.
The prompt urged broadcast students to write a 350 to 500 word essay about an issue that they would like to solve through filmmaking. The flyer’s prompt read, “If you could produce any documentary to change the world, what would it be? Where would you film it? Using what you have learned in broadcast class, how would you tell your story?” The rubric for the competition evaluated three elements: writing, overall idea, and execution of broadcast skills. These criteria were worth ten points each. The student with the highest score out of 30 possible points won the competition.
In addition to awarding a GoPro camera to the winner, each year Mr. Freirich sends a $500 donation to a charity of the winner’s choice. The options include the Carver Center, Caritas, New Covenant Center, Red Cloud Indian School, the Sacred Heart school in Uganda, Saturdays at Sacred Heart (SASH), and Summer Academy.
Studio Director and Broadcast Journalism teacher Ms. Ellyn Stewart praises the competition for encouraging students to combine their passions for community service with their broadcast journalism experiences.
“I was thrilled to see so many students share their vision of how to change the world through filmmaking,” Ms. Stewart said. “This competition gives our students a chance to think critically and creatively about how their broadcast journalism skills can be used to promote social justice. We are very grateful to Mr. Freirich for providing this opportunity to our students.”
-Juliette Guice, Managing Editor and Video Content Editor