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And the winner is: The 2017 Eclipse Awards

 

The 2017 Eclipse Award winners

It was a night for first-time award winners and a few surprises at the 2017 Eclipse Awards which took place Thursday, May 18, at the CityFlats Hotel in Grand Rapids.

 

The annual awards are designed to celebrate West Michigan filmmakers and the films they create. A call for entries was made at the end of March with judges from around the globe narrowing the entries down to a record number of nominees, which was more than 90. Past Eclipse winners were selected to place their votes for the best contenders in each category with those winners being announced last night.

 

For many, being nominated was a huge accomplishment and, in fact, all the nominees were honored at a special event at the JW Marriot earlier in the week.

 

“For me it is a great honor,” said first-time winner Andy Behm, who tied with Kyle Misak for Best Direction (Feature or Short.) Behm’s film is Hold On, which is about a couple and the trying times they face over a short period of time.

 

“I just graduated from college last week so it is a great way to start a career and for my film hopefully this is the first of many. It is a great honor just to be nominated and then to win is just awesome.”

 

First-time winner Geoffrey Young Haney, whose film Shadows won for Best Narrative Short, echoed the same about being nominated.

 

“This is the first thing I have ever submitted into anything at all,” Haney said, adding that he feels winning will help him to continue to build connections with those in the West Michigan film industry.

 

Deb Havens knows much about building connections as she was one of the leaders behind the development of the West Michigan Film and Video Alliance, one of the sponsors of the Eclipse Awards. Havens was honored for her leadership with the 2017 Hyperion Award.

 

“It is an award that really comes after a number of years of leadership,” Havens said. “But you are not a leader if no one is following or part of what you are leading toward as part of the goal and of the effort put into achieving that goal. And as I have mentioned, we have had over 50 people serve on the board and hundreds who have been members and we couldn’t have done anything without those folks.

 

“As you see tonight with all the people in the room, we made a difference and that is so huge.”

 

Receiving recognition for a film, any recognition, does help a project, said filmmaker Todd Lewis who won for Best Sound Design for the film The Rotation. Lewis said that it was “wonderful to be apart of this community,” but to be recognized in a room full of incredible artists from Grand Rapids and throughout Michigan only added to that honor.

 

Congratulations! And the Eclipse Winners at the 6th Annual Eclipse Awards are:

Best Editing in a Documentary
Rich Jackson for Stuck in Traffic, Modern-Day Slavery in Michigan

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Laura Walczak for Wake

Best Cinema Trailer
Migration – David Huizingh, producer

Best Director in a Documentary
Rich Jackson for Stuck in Traffic, Modern-Day Slavery in Michigan

Best Editor in a a Feature or Short
Cameron Lewis for Mordecai

Best Local & Regional Segments & Promotional Pieces
Gabe – David MacKenzie, Jilaine Snoeyink, Producers

Best Music Video, Original Performance
Private Slum – Zachary Clark, Andy Westra, Producers

The 2017 Hyperion Award
Dr. Deb Havens

Best Sound Design
Todd Lewis for The Rotation

On-Line programs, Segments or Promotional Pieces
Grand Rapids Glossary – Brian Kelly, Producer

Best Director in a Feature or Short
Andrew Behm for Hold On
Kyle Misak for Crazy Carl

Best Original Score
Gregory De lulio for Crazy Carl

Best Cinematography
Ben Wilke for Baxter Community Center

Best Narrative Short
Shadows – Geoffrey Young Haney, Joseph Scott Anthony, Dustin Wilfert, Producers

Best Writing in Documentary & Promotional Piece
Jason Ley for Modern Ahabs

Best Documentary Short
Renardo – Nathan Roels, Producer

Best Local TV & Cable
Modern Ahabs – Ben Wilke, Jason Ley, Producers

Best Feature Documentary
New Heights: Restoring A City – Eric Schrotenboer, Taz Painter, Producers

Best Animation
Erik Sebert for Space Scavenger

Best Screenplay
Harper Philbin and John Dufresne for Lucky Jay 2

Best Actor in a Lead Role
Morlan Higgins for Lucky Jay 2

Best Narrative Feature
Needlestick – Steven Karageanes, Producer

 

Presenters for this year’s event were John Philbin, Jessie Hollett, Sophie Bolen, Josh Reed, Michael McCallum, Mallory Patterson, Randy Strobl, Noah DeSmit, Amy Sherman, David Baker, Glen Okonoski, Anthony Griffin, Girbe Eefsting, Barb Roos, Jen Shaneberger, Rich Brauer, Stephen Tanner, Derk Baartman, Judy Bergsma, Gretchen Vinnedge, Stuart Poltrock, Sherryl Despres, and Todd Lewis.

 

Nominees for the 2016 Eclipse Awards announced

Marie Ullrich and Todd Lewis announce the nominees for the 2016 Eclipse Awards.
Marie Ullrich and Todd Lewis announce the nominees for the 2016 Eclipse Awards.

The nominees for the 2016 Eclipse Awards were announced today by Todd Lewis and Marie Ullrich on WKTV.

 

With a record number of entries, judges from around the globe narrowed the field down to the nominees listed below. An annual event, the Eclipse Awards are designed to celebrate West Michigan filmmakers and the films they create.

 

Winners will be announced live on April 28 on WKTV, Comcast channel 24, starting at 7:30 p.m. and is hosted by local comedian Ben Wilke. The Eclipse Awards show also will be streamed live at theeclipseaward.com. WKTV News will be providing complete coverage of the entire event.

 

For all nominees and their guests, there will be the Eclipse Lounge on April 25 at 7 p.m. at the second floor patio of the Rockwell Republic, 45 S. Division Ave. Tom Norton, station manager for WKTV, which helps to organize the event, said the the Eclipse Lounge is an important aspect to the event in that it gives nominees an opportunity to network and for everyone to be recognized for their accomplishments.

 

“We believe that being nominated is an important achievement and so we honor all the nominees,” Norton said.

 

Filmmakers can enter in several main Categories such as Cinema Trailer, Documentary, and Narrative Short. There are also craft Categories focused on the experiste in creating a film such as Acting, Directing and Original Score.

 

Categories are listed in alphabetical order with nominees listed in random order.

 

Documentary nominees are My Personal Pink Time, Josh Reed, producer; Strong Words: The Art of Toi Derricotte, David Schock, producer; and UP a River, Kristin Ojaniemi, producer.

 

Local & Regional Segments & Promotional Pieces (under 20 minutes) nominees are Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park: A Grand Rapids Treasure, Experience Grand Rapids, producer; GoSite Sponsor Video, Mallory Patterson and Randy Strobl, producers; HappenDance, Andrew Tebeau, producer; Meet Maren, Mallory Patterson and Randy Strobl, producers; There’s a Little Gilda in All of Us, Mallory Patterson and Randy Strobl, producers; and Why We Work at Wedgwood, Navin Kharmai, producer.

 

Local TV & Cable (30 minute time slot) nominees are Cooking with Angus: Mozzarella, Noah DeSmit, producer; Feel Like You Belong – Takunda Maxima Episode, Alan Headbloom, producer; and Jake’s Safari, Randy Bassin, producer.

 

Narrative Short nominees are Interference, James Stephens, Kelly Loughlin, producers; Portrait, Andrew Behm, producer; shehimher, DJ Viennese, producer; The Discovery of Alan Hindley, Andy Fortenbacher, producer; The Million Dollar Nickel, Kyle Misak, Jake Maxwell, producers; and This is Munyagwa, Erick Lauchie, producer.

 

On-line Programs, Segments or Promotional Pieces nominees are Live Arts, Andy Terzes, producer; Lucky Jay, Brian Gotberg and Harper Philbin, producers; Recognizing the Signs of Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus in the Clinic, Kendall College of Art and Design, producer; and The Story of the Nutcracker Village, Jacob Schmiedicke, producer.

 

Craft categories are listed in alphabetical order with nominees listed randomly.

 

Acting nominees are Ray Brazaski for Cathedral; Michael McCallum for Lucky Jay, Sherryl Despres for Rodeo Girl, Sophie Bolen for Rodeo Girl, Heather Baker-Jackson for shehimher and Liz Nolan for Two For the Show.

 

Animation nominees are Sanjo Antony for Jake’s Safari, Larry Lauria for Pete’s Odyssey, and Brett Deacon and Evan Hollingsworth for Project Liberation.

 

Cinematography and Videography nominees are Reid Petro for Alaskan Adventure, Logan Hurtado and Dylan Sanders for Death at the Opera, Steve Steketee for Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park: A Grand Rapids Treasure, Reid Petro for It’s Your Move, Matthew Weaver for Journeyman, Andy Terzes for Live Arts, John Hansen for shehimher, Reid Petro for The Million Dollar Nickel and Travis Babbitt for Topanga.

 

Direction nominees are Andy Terzes for Live Arts, Harper Philbin for Lucky Jay, DJ Viernes for shehimher, Kyle Misak and Jake Maxwell for The Million Dollar Nickel,  and Michael McCallum for Two for the Show.

 

Editing nominees are Alex Bolen for L I G H T, Tim Lieber for Lucky Jar, Mallory Patterson and Randy Strobl for Mosaic Mobile 2015 Promo, Kyle Misak for The Million Dollar Nickel, and Michael McCallum and Andrew Tebeau for Two for the Show.

 

Original Scoring nominees are David Purnell for INK 180 and Theo Ndawille II for shehimher.

 

Writing in Produced Content nominees are George Snider III for Jake’s Safari, Harper Philbin, John Dufresne and Angelo Eidse for Lucky Jay, DJ Viernes for shehimher, Kyle Misak and Jesse Charles for The Million Dollar Nickel and Michael McCallum for Two for the Show.