National Geographic Filmmakers on the Judging Panel for Student Films in 2011 Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival

From Sacannah The Creative Coast: National Geographic Filmmakers on the Judging Panel for Student Films in 2011 Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival
Savannah, Ga., Aug 19 2011— The panel of judges for the Dr. Robert O. Levitt Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2011 Gray’s Reef Ocean film Festival is hard at work and the scores are starting to come in. This year’s judges’ panel includes filmmaker Lou Douros whose film, “In the Wake of Giants,” will be shown Friday night Sept. 23 as well as several veterans of the National Geographic Film and Television unit.

The nine student films are competing for the Dr. Robert O. Levitt Award for Emerging Filmmakers. Other judges are Keenan Smart, retired National Geographic film and television producer; Kathy Pasternak, of Pasternak Media, LLC and National Geographic producer; Gayla Jamison, Lightfoot Films; Andy Mitchell, National Geographic; Mickey Youmans, filmmaker and television producer; and Garrett McCarey, documentary film and television producer. Several of the judges have had films in the festival in previous years.

Nine short environmental documentaries produced by Savannah College of Art and Design students have been accepted for screening at the eight annual Gray’s Reef Ocean film Festival September 22-24 in Savannah. The free festival screens award-winning ocean documentaries to promote stewardship of the world ocean resources.

The student films will be screened at noon Saturday September 24 at Trustees Theater.

Levitt, a Savannah internist, loved SUBA diving. He was a pioneer in dive medicine and taught SCUBA for many years and wrote the first diving instruction text books used by the YMCA’s diving instructors.

Levitt was inspired by undersea explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau and by Lloyd Bridges’ early television show, “Sea Hunt’’ to carry on his own diving adventures, favoring the West Indies and Mexico. He spent time diving with the Cousteau family.

While practicing medicine in Chicago, Levitt became involved with the Shed Aquarium. He was a founder of “Our World Underwater,” a consumer oriented dive show with an ocean film component. As president of the Coastal Georgia Archaeological Society, he brought the International Society for Historical Archaeology’s Conference for Historical and Underwater Archaeology to Savannah. At that meeting, Savannah’s residents were the first to see Bob Ballard’s original underwater footage of the ship Titanic.

Savannah resident Kathryn Levitt carries on Levitt’s interest in and concern for the ocean world today with her continued support of the Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival. Her support allows the Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival to offer first, second and third place prizes designed to help the student filmmakers further their underwater filmmaking careers.

A complete schedule and up to the minute 2011 Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival information will be posted on our website: http://graysreef.noaa.gov as well as on our Facebook page facebook.com/OceanFilmFestivalSavannahGraysReef. Links to film clips will be posted on Facebook as they become available.