Cerritos College News Release

Photo of John Cha checking video camera NORWALK, Calif. – April 22, 2008 – Cerritos College film student John Cha was honored with the highly coveted Media Arts Merit Award on April 17 at the annual statewide Media Arts Competition. Cha's short film "Neverending" was selected from a field of 52 entries by a faculty screening committee and an industry panel of judges. He will be receiving the Final Cut Studio 2 suite from Apple Computers as his prize.

The annual competition is conducted by the Multimedia & Entertainment Initiative (MEI) of the Economic and Workforce Development Program of the California Community Colleges. The entries for the competition come from community colleges all across California.

“I never thought I would win something like this,” says Cha. “I was extremely shocked to be even considered for the competition. It was an honor to win the Merit Award.”

“Neverending” is a psycho-drama about redemption. A man contemplates his shortcomings with his ex-girlfriend. He goes through this journey, where his mind plays tricks on him, thinking about the past.

Born in Los Angeles, Cha grew up in Cerritos most of his life. The returning sophomore was always interested in film since he was a child. “My mom would drop me and my brother at a movie theater and we would spend the whole day there,” recalls Cha. “I was always amazed at the different worlds I was taken into.”

Cha shot “Neverending” in the course of one weekend – a very stressful weekend according to him. Fueled by Red Bull and a mere two hours of sleep, Cha learned the hard way the process of filmmaking.

Cha hopes to become a cinematographer, as he always felt he took better pictures than telling a story. This award is testament to his intuition – his pictures sure are worth a thousand words.

Cha’s instructor Steven Hirohama, served as the chair of the film/video competition. “I wasn’t involved in selecting or voting for any of the films, but I knew from having screened all of the submitted entries that John’s film would do well,” said Hirohama. “He took a rather complex, well-written story and executed it extremely well. John re-edited his film at least three times having consulted with me at each of those stages.”

Hirohama also encouraged Cha and gave him advice and support throughout the process. “Professor Hirohama even encouraged me to enter into competitions,” says Cha. “It was truly rewarding to have a professor who took extra time to push me forward.”

Cerritos College film production program has been in existence since 2005. Since its inception, Hirohama was integral to develop the film production program. He brings many years of professional experience as a producer, director and a production company owner. Visit Cerritos College film program web site to keep posted on lectures and workshops and also student podcasts, http://cerritosfilm.org. For more information about the film production program, please contact Steven Hirohama at (562) 860-2451 ext. 2637.

Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 200 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently nears 20,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at www.cerritos.edu.

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Cerritos College

Releases 2008