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CINE Newsletter - July 2007 IN THIS ISSUE: Donald Thoms - New CINE President
During his term as board president, Thoms will work to bolster CINE’s outreach to smaller independent and student filmmakers by offering seminars and workshops to provide valuable networking and educational opportunities. Granting access to emerging talent has long been a personal mission for Thoms, the creator of the PBS series, Independent Lens, which featured the works of independent filmmakers, and Indi Scene, a Web site which promotes independent productions. "As a well-respected member of the film community and a longtime contributor to our organization, Donald is an excellent choice to lead CINE in its golden anniversary year," said outgoing board president Mat Tombers. "His vast experience in the television industry and experience with independent filmmakers will provide enormous value to CINE as it embarks up its most ambitious campaign yet." In his current role as vice president of production for DHME,
Thoms is responsible for the strategic planning, management
and execution of program production for Discovery Health Channel
and Discovery Health On-Call, DHME’s stand-alone video-on-demand
(VOD) offering. A three-time Emmy Award winner, and a
recipient of multiple CINE GOLDEN EAGLES as a director and
producer, Thoms has spearheaded the extremely successful National
Body Challenge and Birth Day Live! annual events for DHME while
also recruiting many independent filmmakers to the network. Prior
to joining DHME, Thoms was vice president of program management
at PBS, where he was responsible for overseeing the packaging
and delivery of programming services. Filmmakers Making a Difference
And what prompted the turnaround? According to the Los Angeles Times, the president saw a documentary that had been prepared on the area, and was very enthusiastic about what he had seen. After viewing the film and having dinner with film co-producer Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of pioneer documentarian and oceanographic explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau, Bush initiated the change. The film, Voyage to Kure was awarded a CINE Golden Eagle in the Fall 2006 competition. It was entered by Gary Lopez of Inflection Media in Monterey, California. Lopez, who co-produced the film along with Cousteau and Nancy Cook, had this to say to CINE: “Most of us who make films hope to influence people in one way or another with our work. We set out to educate the public about this remarkable, isolated island chain and help improve its protection. Having the President of the United States step in was never part of even our wildest dreams. This has got to be an inspiration for all filmmakers.” Filmmakers do make a difference. That is one reason CINE strives to recognize the work of new and established filmmakers. Keep up the good work! Bruce Bucklin Retires from CINE
I want to thank everyone who has entered the competition and I hope your relationship with CINE has been positive. I especially want to thank all the Jury Chairs whose talents and efforts have made it possible for CINE to recognize both emerging and established filmmakers. I know you will enjoy working with my replacement, Betsy Walters, and I hope you will continue to support CINE and its mission. I want to refer you to the above Newsletter article on CINE winner Voyage to Kure. This is not the only Golden Eagle winning film to have an impact, and I am proud to have supported such important efforts. All my best, Betsy Walters New CINE Director of Competitions
Betsy first became involved with CINE as an intern while in her junior year of college. She has spent the past few years assisting the Executive Director and Director of Competitions in the planning and execution of the bi-annual Golden Eagle competitions and the annual Awards event. Last fall, she was promoted to Competition Administrator, and since then she has prepared to assume the responsibilities of managing the competitions. CINE’s mission of serving film, video and new media professionals of all types, whether emerging — like herself — or established is an ideal that Betsy is passionate about. Betsy says “I look forward to working with our Board, our new Executive Director and, most importantly, CINE’s constituency of filmmakers, young and old.” The winners of the 2007 CINE Special Jury Awards have been announced. While the CINE Golden Eagle Award honors excellence in film and video production in a non-competitive format, the CINE Special Jury Award recognizes the best film/video of the year in the various categories. Juries composed of CINE board members selected the winners. Click on the link to see a list of these winners as well as short clips from many of them. CINE Archives As a result of a great effort on the part of CINE staffer Betsy Walters, it is now possible to review and search for information on every Golden Eagle winning film back to 1985. The search function lets you look for titles or for individuals who received credit on a film. As time permits, we will continue to add all the data we have from previous years. Our collection of CINE yearbooks goes back to 1964. Another 20 years worth of information! View the CINE Archives. CINE Sponsors CINE thanks its distinguised sponsors for their
generous support.
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Donald Thoms, vice president of production for Discovery Health
Media Enterprises (DHME), was named president of the board
of CINE, an organization that serves as the preeminent career-advancing
industry peer group for aspiring and established film, video
and new media professionals, and which is widely known for
its CINE Golden Eagle Awards. 2007 represents an especially
noteworthy and momentous year for CINE, as it marks the group’s
50th anniversary.
A vast chain of remote Hawaiian islands, teeming with endangered
sea life, has become the nation’s newest national monument
— and the largest patch of protected ocean on earth. On
June 15, 2006, President Bush bestowed monument status on
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. These remote islands
span 1,200 nautical miles, and are the largest area of protected
ocean on the earth. This event was a surprise for many,
as the Bush administration had previously proposed to eliminate
the protections that were previously in place.
As many of you know, I am leaving CINE after eight great
years as Director of Competitions. During those years,
I have met and corresponded with many wonderful film professionals
and film lovers, both as entrants and as volunteer judges. I
also had the privilege of viewing hundreds of great films
that challenged, touched, and informed me.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Walters is a native of New Hampshire.
While a student at George Washington University in Washington,
D.C., Betsy gained valuable experience in video and television
production and media studies. She graduated with honors in
May of 2004 from GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs
with a degree in Electronic Media. 
