RIT/NTID students behind Coca-Cola commercial released in Cinemark theaters
If you have watched or plan to watch a film at a Cinemark theater, you may see deaf actors and ASL in a commercial that was produced by students from RIT/NTID that won the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films contest this year.
The commercial/film is titled “Say Cheese.” You can watch the short film at the YouTube link in the status or transcript.
It is about a hearing student who learns some ASL to ask a deaf student out on a date. The hearing student mixes up the signs for “movie” and “cheese.”
According to a press release from RIT, the film was co-written by Gabriel Ponte-Fleary, a deaf film and animation MFA student, and Anna McClanahan, a hearing film and animation student. The two submitted their script for a 60-second film and were chosen as the four finalists out of 41 universities across the country.
The duo received an $18,000 production budget and access to high-end production technology. They managed a cast and crew of almost 100 people during two overnight film shoots at a local library and a film theater.
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The film’s actors are Victoria Pon (deaf) and Weston Young (hearing).
The film was judged by a panel that included staff from Coca-Cola, Cinemark Theatres, and AMC Theatres. The film won the top prize and as a part of the honor, it began screening in Cinemark theaters on July 1.
It is the first time that RIT and its School of Film and Animation have won the Coca-Cola film contest.