Last month, students in the Entertainment Business Management program held the Spring 2012 Impact Awards, an evening in celebration of the work of VFS students. EBM student Marc Hebert recapped the event for us.

Guest post by Marc Hebert

Planning

When my Entertainment Business Management class started planning the Impact Awards back in March, we decided on a 1930′s gangster theme. We figured that money-hungry, yet classy, mafia-types would create the right dramatic appeal for the event, and allow for a night of excitement!

After deciding on the theme, our next priority was location. We knew that we needed a place that people love to go even when there isn’t a special event happening. We turned to the Caprice Nightclub – a swanky club in the heart of Old Vegas (or Granville Street as it’s known to most) that has just the right vibe and layout to make for a great awards show. We quickly worked out a deal with the owner for a Monday night in the distant future, and the location was locked.

As people in the event business know, once you’ve got your venue and theme picked out, everything else just starts to fall into place. We quickly scooped up some prominent industry professionals to present the awards, utilized our personal networks for the entertainment, and put our heads together to find some appealing decor and tasty food. Before we knew it everything was ready and the event was upon us!

The Big Night

Over 240 students, guests, and industry professionals arrived at the Caprice for the big show. The music and dance numbers went off without a hitch, our hosts enchanted the audience with their humour, the winners accepted their awards with moving speeches, and the Caprice nightclub made for the perfect atmosphere for everyone to mix, mingle, and enjoy the event!

The Winners

A big congratulation to all of the Impact Award winners. This event is all about recognizing the amazing work of VFS students, and we honoured some truly incredible work. We can’t wait to see what you all produce in your future careers!

Zero to Sixty: Ethan Young - Beta Fish (3D Animation & Visual Effects)

Technical Achievement: Jesse Rope - Wwise Implementation Project (Sound Design for Visual Media)

Mission Impossible: Caitlin Groves - Fishman: A Foam Appliance Character (Makeup Design for Film & Television)

Outstanding Performance: Mayumi Yoshida - There’s No End (Acting for Film & Television)

Storyteller: Mike Nickel - Space Cadet (Writing for Film & Television)

Outstanding Character Design: Nicki Noermark - Automaton (Writing for Film & Television)

Outstanding Setting Design: Woong Park - Oh My Grandma (3D Animation & Visual Effects)

Outstanding Emotional Impact: Crystal Jarvis - Visiting Loved Ones (Classical Animation)

Difference Maker: Skye Radies, Sheryl Vedamani, Marc Hebert, Zach Hill, Enrique Vasquez, Alper Demirci, Max Tennessen, Marlon Doll – Power Up: Music to Game By (Entertainment Business Management)

Public Enlightenment: Madelaine Rumball, Michael Stevenson, Sonia Bashash, Dalhi Guzman Inzunza, Gavin Maguire, Jerome Regef, Jeff Chen, Owen Chen, Kaustubh Mishra – Brainstreams: Learning, Living, Sharing (Digital Design)

More than the Sum of its Parts: Amrit Pal Singh - Mr. Bumbel’s Museum of Toys (Digital Design)

Friend of VFS: Barbara Dawson

People’s Choice Award (brought to you by Canon): Marc St-Onge, Ryan Cramer, Ben Kanbour – Gravitilt (Game Design)

Big Thanks

A huge thank you to the extremely helpful owners and staff of Caprice Nightclub who shared their vast event planning knowledge and helped our team execute a successful event. Another big thank you to Canon for sponsoring the event and making every element 10 times better than it would have been otherwise.

Finally, to everyone else who helped along the way – thank you for all of your support! We’ll see you at the Fall Impact Awards!

Visit the Impact Awards on Facebook for more photos from the evening.