The Allison Fisher Video Challenge is a contest that encourages Maryland teenagers to develop video communication skills based on specific topics.  The contest’s possible topics were public library awareness, breast cancer awareness, and bullying awareness. ERHS senior Harsha Cuttari won for two of his video productions, including the grand prize.

     Kathleen McGlew, Television and Video Productions teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, told her classes about this opportunity and competition.  When Ms. McGlew told her classes, it immediately sparked an interest in Harsha Cuttari, a senior at ERHS.  Cuttari is interested in video production and directing as a hobby.  Cuttari entered the contest because he felt that he “Might as well, [because] I wasn’t expecting anything.” 

Cuttari entered two videos to the Allison Fisher Video Challenge that focused on bullying and public library awareness.  Through these videos, the message he was conveying was to “stand up for bullying” and to “show all the useful things around the library.”  His bullying video took “three days to shoot and three days to edit,” while his library video took “three days to shoot and about forty-five hours to edit.” Cuttari’s classmates and friends also helped him by acting in his productions.  Cuttari believes that awareness about bullying is important because a lot of kids are getting picked on, they are being abused physically, verbally, and being cyber-bullied.    

The Allison Fisher Video Challenge, sponsored by the Allison Fisher Foundation, chose Harsha Cuttari’s bullying awareness video for first place in the senior division. He also won the Grand Prize for his library awareness video.  Cuttari will receive a $250 “Visa gift card to use anywhere” and an internship with an award-winning video productions company for 80 hours that will make his library video “broadcast quality.” “I’m just excited [to work with this company] anytime I want to.  All I have to do is call them up,” says Cuttari.  When opening his congratulations email, Cuttari’s response to the letter was “I was shocked! I didn’t expect it and I was pretty excited!” Cuttari is looking forward to gaining “more knowledge about this whole business” from the video production company.

You can see the videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VOptFZRnj4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYVHTlx4fQ&context=C2c7a3ADOEgsToPDskLvwnU_swDSgszcSz-pqM9Q