Rochester was well represented at the 87th Academy Awards.
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, an HBO film based on the Canandaigua-based Veterans Crisis Hotline, won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. Director Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Producer Dana Perry were honored, as were the many people involved with that 24-hour hotline based at the Canandaigua VA. The hotline is operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The crisis phone line started in 2007 and has received more than 1.2 million calls. Filming began in 2012.
You can listen to a recent interview WXXI did with an official at the crisis line here.
Also honored at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, Brighton H.S. grad Tom Cross. He won an Oscar for Best Film Editing for his work on Whiplash. He also graduated from SUNY Purchase and began his career as a commercial editor in New York City.
And a Geneva woman was among six Hollywood hopefuls instantly became insiders when they won spots on the film academy’s Team Oscar. 19 year old Kelly FitzGerald was among The Team Oscar winners — aspiring filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 23 — are chosen from 1,100 hopefuls after submitting 60-second videos on the best piece of advice they’d ever received.
The six spend a week in Hollywood as guests of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, culminating with multiple appearances on Sunday’s Academy Awards. Their most visible role: They'll be the young people handing Oscar statuettes to the celebrity presenters during the show. Actor Channing Tatum introduced the Team Oscar winners at the award show.
Fitzgerald is a communications major at Wake Forest University, and found out about the contest by following Tatum on Instagram and, while home for winter break, made a sweet short about spreading smiles. “I wanted a topic that was lighthearted for everyone,” she said.
You can see her video here
