Great Big Story and Genesis strengthen student fellowship program to support next-gen filmmakers
Media Release

Great Big Story and Genesis strengthen student fellowship program to support next-gen filmmakers

The second edition of the Genesis Student Film Fellowship was launched earlier this year as part the sponsorship collaboration between luxury automotive brand Genesis, CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) and Great Big Story. The year-long fellowship, which was awarded to 4 talented student filmmakers was concluded with special screening exhibitions in New York and Seoul this month where the films were presented for the first time. These films were inspired by Great Big Story’s Origins channel of micro-documentary films which is committed to exploring the unexpected history of things from design, to food, to pop culture.

The fellowships were awarded to two U.S. students and two South Korean students; each was the recipient of a $15,000 production grant, which was used toward the making of an origins-inspired short documentary film.

William Martin, a 2016 graduate of NYU’s Tisch Photography and Imaging Program and current student of NYU’s News & Documentary Graduate Program and Meiying Wu, a senior at the University of California Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, represented the two U.S.-based fellows.

Hyerin Lee and Arum Nam from Korea’s National University of the Arts represented the program’s two international fellows (to learn more about the students and their projects, visit Great Big Story’s fellowship page).

From July through October, students received mentoring from Great Big Story producers Asher May-Corsini and Andrew Lampard, with program oversight by Senior Producer Drew Beebe. Their projects reflected an array of people, cultures and interests, from a family of puppet makers in China to a traditional fishing community working alongside dolphins in Brazil. Additionally, fellows produced behind the scenes material for social media, including a series of “field notes,” which chronicled their productions from onsite.

”This fellowship has encouraged a group of talented young filmmakers to go after bigger, more challenging projects that they may not have tackled otherwise,” said Courtney Coupe, Head of Great Big Story.

“It feels rewarding to offer them an opportunity to hone their filmmaking skills under the guidance of our editorial staff. They’ve worked incredibly hard (while balancing school) from the very first cut and should be proud to make their official premieres.”

To celebrate the months of hard work students spent on their films, a series of exclusive screenings were held in New York and Seoul where the projects made their official world premieres. Attendees from the local film community gathered on Friday, December 6, 2019 at Ramscale Studio in New York’s Greenwich Village for the first of two screenings. Four days later, on Dec 10 a second screening was held at The River by Hyundai Yachts in Seoul. Programs included showings for each of the film fellows’ projects, in addition to a director’s panel where students discussed their experiences in this year’s fellowship. 

Following the events in New York and Seoul, the fellows’ films were released digitally on Great Big Story. Check out their Great Big Stories here: www.greatbigstory.com/series/genesis-fellows.

As brands that value creativity and culture, the long-standing partnership between CNN International Commercial and Genesis is committed to the art of storytelling and the story tellers who inspire us every day.

CNN Media Contact

Bipasha Bhattacharya

Tel: +852 3128 3568

Email : bipasha.bhattacharya@turner.com 

About Great Big Story

Great Big Story is a global media company devoted to cinematic storytelling. Headquartered in New York, with a bureau in London, our studios create and distribute micro docs and short films, as well as series for digital, social, TV and theatrical release. Since our launch in late 2015, our producers have traveled to 100 countries to discover the untold, the overlooked and the flat-out amazing. Our stories engage and inspire tens of millions daily. For more information, visit www.greatbigstory.com.

About CNN International Commercial

CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) is responsible for the business operations of CNN’s properties outside of the United States. All commercial activities for brands such as CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Arabic, CNN Style, CNN Business and Great Big Story are aligned within the division. This encompasses the advertising sales, sponsorship partnerships, commercial content development, content sales, brand licensing, distribution and out-of-home operations, business development and marketing for the world’s leading international news provider. CNNIC is a recognised industry leader in international advertising sales and its use of award-winning commercial content, produced through its Create unit and driven by its advanced data usage and digital capabilities, has resulted in strong and enduring partnerships with many of the world’s most recognised brands. Its Content Sales and Licensing unit has relationships with more than 1,000 affiliates ranging from licensing the CNN brand through to content supply contracts as well as offering consultancy services. CNNIC has offices across the world, with key hubs in London, Hong Kong and Miami. For more information visit http://commercial.cnn.com

About Genesis

As a design-focused brand, Genesis has introduced fascinating models that embody ‘athletic elegance’, including the G70 sport sedan, the G80 and G80 Sport midsize luxury sedans and the flagship G90 luxury sedan. Based in South Korea, Genesis has launched its brand in the U.S., Canada, Russia, the Middle East and Australia. Genesis is one of the highest-ranked brands in the automotive industry by respected, third-party experts including North American Car of the Year, Consumer Reports, J.D. Power and Auto Pacific. For more information on Genesis and its new definition of luxury, please visit  https://www.genesis.com.