A team of six graduate students in the College of Communication won a Boston-area competition for a public service announcement they produced for the nonprofit organization North Charles, Inc.
The competition was sponsored by 7DayPSA and required teams to make three different versions of a single PSA for a local not-for-profit organization, according to the 7DayPSA website.
Teams were required to write, film and edit their video productions during the week, giving the emerging filmmakers a chance to exhibit their work and provide cash-strapped organizations with broadcast quality PSAs.
The six COM students, working under the label Castle 4 Productions, filmed their award-winning PSA for North Charles, Inc., a Cambridge and Somerville behavioral healthcare service provider that specializes in treating addictions.
Gøril Furu, one of the six BU filmmakers, said working on the PSA was “very hectic.”
“We were assigned our non-profit organization Friday morning and met before class to discuss how to solve the assignment we were given,” she said in a Facebook message.
“Since North Charles Inc. provides mental health and addiction services we had to come up with a way to symbolically portray what North Charles does. Also, we only had one week to plan, shoot and edit the PSA – so by Friday afternoon we’d done as much planning as we possibly could, and Saturday was spent shooting in a BU studio.”
Castle for Productions’ 60-second video, titled “Fragility,” featured actor Peter Santana and a voice over by Peter Guady warning of the dangers of addiction.
“It might not seem like there’s any hope, but you’re not alone. There are people who can steady you again,” the voiceover said.
Castle 4 Productions received four awards for their PSA, including Best PSA, Best Editing, Best Actor Award and Best Voice Over, beating out eight other teams producing PSAs for three local charities.
“It feels great to have made something that can, and hopefully will, help people,” Furu said. “For me, personally, it means I will have a broadcast quality-piece to show future employers, and one more thing to put on my resume.”
In addition to North Charles, Inc., the teams produced films for Birthday Wishes, a nonprofit that hosts birthday parties for homeless children in Massachusetts, and Elders Living at Home, a program at Boston Medical Center that provides temporary and emergency housing to elders who are homeless.
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