The CotoBuzz Journal, Community Journalism

Mission Viejo, CA – Former Saddleback College film student Marc Abdou has received two Emmy awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in a two-year time span. The first one was for a 34-show series on Anthropology and was awarded at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards. The latest one was for the 14-show series on Chemistry and was awarded this year at the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards.

The videos for the first Emmy are part of a college-level course at Coastline Community College on anthropology entitled, The Evolving Human. The course elements are comprised of a text, “The Evolving Human”, 34 half-hour video lessons, a student guide, and web exercises. Each video lesson runs 27:46 and integrates lesson content with a case study story. The intention of the video is to demonstrate application of anthropology in the world as it applies to the environment and quality of life.

The videos for the second Emmy are part of a college-level course at Coastline Community College on chemistry entitled, Understanding Chemistry in Our World. The course elements are comprised of a text, “Understanding Chemistry in Our World” by Gardner, Howell, Ostrowski, and Wilcox, 14 half-hour video lessons, a student guide, and web exercises. Each video lesson runs 27:46 and integrates lesson content with a case study story. The intention of the video is to demonstrate application of chemistry in the world as it applies to the environment and quality of life.

Abdou attended Saddleback College from 2006 to 2008, a decision he describes as the best he ever made. He took all the film and television courses available. His favorite classes were Film 1 and 2 with Charlie Myers and Editing, Motion Graphics and Television Broadcast with Hiro Konishi .

“We are very proud of Marc and it’s another example of students finding professional success through our program,” says Charlie Myers . Following graduation from Saddleback, Myers referred him to Coastline College for a production assistant position Abdou then worked his way up from Production Assistant to Assistant Editor, and eventually to a full-time Editor. He worked in this position through 2009. During the same time period, he transferred to California State University at Long Beach where he is currently finishing his Business Marketing degree. He just accepted a position as the Marketing Manager for Promedia Academy , the Apple-authorized Gold Level Training Center in Irvine , California .

Both the President of Saddleback College, Tod Burnett, and the Dean of Fine Arts and Media Technology, Bart McHenry, extend their congratulations to Abdou in earning his second Emmy. According to Dean McHenry, “I am so pleased to see this honor given to one of our alumni. I am sure this award will inspire our current students to follow in his footsteps. I am also thrilled with the outstanding program and the equipment we have available for our students to thrive in the art form of their generation.”

For more than 20 years, the Cinema – Television - Ratio (CTR) Department has been known for giving students hands-on experience. This means that students are involved in the design, shooting and editing of their film. The concept of bringing the “real world” into the classroom has always been a priority. Shooting on the latest technology including Red Digital Cinema and Final Cut Pro 6 HD, Saddleback offers students the full set filmmaking tools such as dollys, steadicams, and industry standard lighting, camera, and audio packages. Student productions each year are featured in the Newport Beach Film Festival and students are consistently sent to the top university film schools or are placed in desirable internships and jobs. Saddleback’s Cinema – Television – Ratio Department offers courses designed to help students succeed in the field, including outstanding 1 to 2 day workshops for students who want to specialize in a specific area of filmmaking. CTR continues to teach the approach of concept to final edit in terms of visual storytelling, aesthetics, composition, directing, producing, cinematography, lighting, audio and editing. Students will quickly learn why CTR was featured by Movie Maker Magazine and they will discover the elite film school at Saddleback College .

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community. Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals. For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visitwww.saddleback.edu/arts.

The Emmy Awards Connection to Saddleback College