Video on Saint John’s Maple Syrup Festival earns former Johnnies award

SSQTCH Creative received an Upper Midwest Emmy® Chapter/Foundation Student Crystal Pillar Award at the 2018 NATAS-Upper Midwest Student Production Awards on April 13 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE Hotel, Bloomington, Minnesota.

The group, whose name is pronounced “sasquatch,” began as an independent student startup at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in spring 2015. SSQTCH received the award in the College: Non-Fiction category for its video on the Saint John’s Maple Syrup Festival. The video was posted on May 5, 2017 (the awards are for calendar year 2017).

Student media groups from CSB and SJU have earned three of the last four College: Non-Fiction awards.

SSQTCH consists of Ian Fritz ’17 (producer and director), Conor Murphy ’17 (director and editor) and Patrick Reagan ’17 (director and editor).

“We had an absolute blast doing the video,” Fritz said.

Fritz added that the video was done for two 2017 classes – a maple syruping class taught by Steve Saupe, professor of biology at CSB and SJU, and a video class for Br. Simon-Hòa Phan, OSB, associate professor of art at CSB and SJU.

Three other student media groups from CSB and SJU were nominated for awards:

• Extending the Link, the student documentary group, was also a nominee in the College Non-Fiction category for its 2017 film, “Luen Hai: Decoding the Connection,” which made its premier April 20, 2017. ETL’s documentary followed the trail of electronic waste from the streets of Minnesota to the city of Hong Kong. Team members included producer/directors Malia Carson ’17 and Erin Beacom ‘17, current directors Grace Lindquist (a senior) and Brennan Lafeber (senior), videographers/editors George Dornbach (senior), Elizabeth Flaherty ‘17, Marin Jaszewski (senior) and Jeff Johnson ‘17
• The StreamTeam, one of four branches of Johnnie Bennie Media, was nominated in the College Sports: Live Event of its coverage of the Dec. 13, 2017, SJU basketball game against Hamline University. The SteamTeam included executive producer Michael Fyre (senior); director Erin Queme (senior); assistant director Reibel Ramirez (senior); and videographers Gabrielle Harvey (senior), Salvador Garcia (sophomore) and Alexander Huerta (first-year).
• Johnnie Bennie Campus News, another branch of Johnnie Bennie Media, was nominated in the College News: General Assignment, Light News category for its report on the Up ‘Til Dawn Campaign. The story was posted Dec. 13, 2017. Team members included reporter Josie Thelen (junior) and executive producer Emily Webster (senior).