Lights, camera, action! Digital Video student producer wins big at local film festival

May 5, 2017

Georgian Digital Video student Mary Ann Watts (pictured) earned first place as producer in the video advertisement category at the South Georgian Bay Film Festival April 28. She worked with International Business Management alumnus and restaurateur Brandon Pitawanakwat to promote his enterprise – and Barrie’s first Indigenous restaurant – the Crowned Eagle.

This isn’t Mary Ann’s first foray into film production – she directed three award-winning music videos at the South Georgian Bay Film Festival (formerly Wasaga Beach Film Festival) between 2014 and 2016.

Mary Ann enrolled in Digital Video to expand her skills in post-production editing and sound.

“I was a little nervous to return to college as a mature student, but Georgian staff, faculty and classmates made me feel very welcome,” she says.

The promotional video required 20 hours of planning, research, meetings and location scouting, along with script development. The video was taped over eight hours in the Barrie Campus Indigenous Resource Centre and Georgian Dining Room along with crew members and Digital Video classmates Preston Carruthers (editing) and Marc Bangera (director of photography).

In addition to studying full-time, Mary Ann is also the owner of a professional photography business and has snapped weddings, corporate events and images for numerous magazines and newspapers.

When Mary Ann graduates later this spring, she plans to add corporate and documentary production to her list of services, and already has potential clients lining up.

View the Crowned Eagle promotional video.

The Crowned Eagle restaurant is set to open in the near future. Visit their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter for news and updates.