CCA Scholarships

“… to PROMOTE THE ART AND PRACTICE
OF BROADCAST FILM CRITICISM.”

(Stated purpose of the Critics Choice Association in the CCA by-Laws)

The Critics Choice Association (formerly the Broadcast Film Critics Association) Scholarship was founded and funded in 2004 for that purpose: to provide an opportunity for college students interested in becoming film critics to receive financial help and the possible guidance of a CCA member in writing and recording reviews intended to be aired on their college or university station.

CCA members who are interested in participating in this Scholarship program should begin by selecting a College or University — generally their alma mater, but frequently an institution near them. The primary challenge is to find a sponsor (a professor or college station producer) to be the scholarship point-man at the university, and to join him or her in selecting a student who shows promise and enthusiasm for broadcast film criticism.

The details of each individual scholarship are flexible:

• Some of our members are working with radio, some with TV.
• Some are working with colleges whose stations desperately need funding (in which case the station shares the grant with the student) and some are working with stations who are fully funded by the school (and therefore the entire scholarship is awarded to the student).
• Some CCA members are mentoring their student from another city, by e-mail or phone, and some will be working in close proximity with the student.
• Some will be working with only one student, some with several students.

Each CCA member will make these individual arrangements with the student and college station of their choice.

If you are interested in participating in this grant program, your task will be to select a college and find a sponsor who is associated with your chosen college TV or Radio station. When those details have been ironed out and the student has been selected, you will receive a formal letter of agreement, which should be signed by you (the CCA member), the student selected for the grant, and the individual college professor or producer who will oversee the production and broadcasting of the student’s reviews. Then the CCA will send the college a check for $1500.

Here is the information you will need:

1. Name of the college or university 
2. Student recipient of the grant
3. Proposed division of the $1500 scholarship money
4. Name of college TV or radio station
5. Name of producer/director who will be in charge of broadcasting the student’s reviews
6. To whom the check should be issued
7. Address where check should be sent

If you are interested in applying for a Critics Choice Association Scholarship, please contact:
John De Simio: [email protected]