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Golden Doorknob Awards and Screening Find out who wins the $3,000 first prize! (Second prize is $2,000, third prize is $1,000, and the special Parkie 100 Knob Award winner receives $500). What Are the Golden Doorknob Awards? Ithaca College professor emeritus of cinema and photography Gustav "Skip" Landen started the competition in 1970 and continued it until his retirement in 1991. Back in those days the films were silent, black and white, and all Park School film students had the assignment: make a very short film that presents the most imaginative way to kill someone with a doorknob. Check Out Some of the Films from Years Past (.mov) Many of the Park School's most successful alumni produced a doorknob film. For example, what do Bill Carraro '81 (producer, The Golden Compass) and Dan Heffner '78 (executive producer, the Saw franchise) have in common? They both made a doorknob film and remember it with pride. Carraro remembers the doorknob films fondly -- so fondly that he provided the prize money to revive this unique genre. "It was fun to compete with our peers, and as we were all beginners, we could laugh at our equally amateur masterpieces," he said. Landen created the competition to "challenge the students to make a simple film with a good idea and a good script," so they learned to develop story lines and the art of storytelling. Judges for the revived competition are: Carraro; Heffner; Peter Johanns, associate professor and manager of ICTV, Department of Television–Radio; and Cathy Crane, assistant professor, Department of Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts. |
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In the world of film, there are the Golden Globes, the Golden Palm, the Golden Bear ... and now, after an 18-year sabbatical, the return of the Golden Doorknob Awards -- resurrected by request of Park School alumni.