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Beeson finalist for CINE Golden Eagle Award

joel beesonSome of the most influential voices in Hollywood, documentary filmmaking and the news industry are among the CINE Award’s distinguished alumni. This month, Associate Professor Joel Beeson received confirmation that he is a finalist for the prestigious award.

Beeson’s work, Fractured Tour: An Immersive Tour of Selma’s Divides, is a finalist for the CINE Golden Eagle Award the Virtual Reality/Documentary Short category.

CINE, which stands for Council on International Non-Theatrical Events, is a non-profit organization that honors and champions the creators of exceptional media content. Former winners include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Fred Rogers, Diane Sawyer, Kevin Costner, Barbra Streisand and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

“Fractured Tour” is a self-guided, immersive “tour” of the economic, racial and ideological divides in Selma, Alabama.

The immersive virtual reality project is a collaboration between Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication and the WVU Reed College of Media. Morgan State student Emily Pelland was the assistant producer for the piece.

“I’m so pleased that our work in new technology is being recognized — not only by the academy — but among top filmmakers and practitioners in the industry.” said Beeson.

In addition to being a finalist for the CINE award, “Fractured Tour” won the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Festival of Media Arts’ 2016 Chairman’s Award, which is decided by the former chairs of the Festival and is awarded annually to the best overall student and faculty entry. “Fractured Tour” was singled out of more than 1,500 submissions to win the award, which competed in the Faculty Interactive Multimedia category. In addition to the Chairman’s Award, “Fractured Tour” won the BEA Best of Festival King Foundation Award—only 18 winners received this prestigious honor.