Mario Congreve, a staff producer and director of photography for the Center for Mediated Instruction and Distance Learning at CSUDH, is an award-winning producer of documentaries that have appeared on PBS and other stations, and soon on Netflix. Due to his success and expertise, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences now taps him as an Emmy Award judge for the Lower Great Lakes Chapter, where he is a member.
Aligned with his expertise, Congreve reviews films in the cinematography and editing categories, which are submitted from a variety of locations in the United States, such as San Diego, Southern Nevada and Cleveland, the headquarters of the Lower Great Lakes Emmy chapter. The chapter’s Emmy Awards ceremony will takes place in June 2016.
Regional Emmy Award ceremonies take place in several locations each year, however, most people are only familiar with the Emmy Awards gala held on the west coast, since it is aired by national television networks. This year ABC will air the national Emmy Awards on Sept. 18 with host Jimmy Kimmel.
Academy members like Congreve must have had their work air nationally to qualify as voting members. In 1998, he produced “Crossing Borders: A Cuban Returns,” which aired on PBS and nabbed a Bronze Plaque at the 1999 Columbus International Film and Video Festival. His documentary “Victims of Another War: The Aftermath of Parental Alienation” was considered for an Academy Award in the short feature documentary category.
Congreve also judges films in student Emmy categories, which are typically submitted on behalf of their universities. He proudly noted that CSUDH’s DMA students (whose works are not among those he judges for the Emmy’s Lower Great Lakes Chapter) produce films equal or better to what he’s been reviewing.
“From what I’ve seen so far this year Cal State Dominguez Hills is doing better,” said Congreve. “The quality of the stuff that I’ve been judging this year has not been that great overall, and from what I’ve seen—because I teach in DMA—our students put together some real quality work.”
Cheryl McKnight, director of the Center for Service Learning, Internships and Civic and Community Engagement (SLICE) at California State University, Dominguez Hills, has been selected as the “2016 70th District Woman of Distinction” by Patrick O’Donnell, assembly member of California’s 70th District.
McKnight will receive the award at a reception in Long Beach on April 22.
Last year, McKnight was honored with the 2015 Richard E. Cone Award for Excellence and Leadership in Cultivating Community Partnerships in Higher Education. Her contributions also played a significant role in CSUDH’s 2015 President’s Higher Education Award for Community Service.
McKnight was nominated by SLICE staff members, in large part for her tireless work in the Native American community over the past 15 years, and for advocating for them to civic, education, and business leaders and groups.
“I was pretty surprised and honored to learn I will receive this recognition,” said McKnight, who serves as chair of American Indian Changing Spirits. “If this honor brings attention to our native American community, that’s wonderful. My staff works really hard and spends long hours reaching out to many of the groups and communities the university serves in a variety of ways.”
