Congratulations to our 2021-22 Cohort of Mitchell Scholars!
Brendan Dewley is a senior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from Owosso, Michigan. He is pursuing a degree in Film, Television, and Media and a minor in Creative Writing. Brendan is studying comedy and television: he enjoys telling award-winning stories through humor by writing and producing sketches, performing improvisational comedy, and writing half-hour comedy scripts.
In the last year, Brendan has co-created, written, acted in, directed, and produced an hour-long sketch comedy pilot, Craig, which broadcast live to hundreds of viewers and won Pilot/Webisode Semi-Finalist in the Lit Laughs Comedy Festival in the UK. Brendan also wrote, directed, and acted in the half-hour sketch show I Hope This Comedy Show Finds You Well.
From performing improv, taking production and writing classes, and writing for the satirical college newspaper The Every Three Weekly or the absurdist The Gargoyle magazine, Brendan reaches audiences of thousands between writing and performing comedy.
Nick Ferraina is a senior FTVM major. Originally from Connecticut, NIck moved to southwestern Michigan halfway through high school. Nick has a strong passion for filmmaking and hopes to become a director of photography professionally. He currently works in the FTVM Equipment Room and for BTN Student U where he performs live broadcasts of various University of Michigan sporting events. Nick is so grateful to be a Mitchell Scholar, and he is very excited to see what opportunities it will present to him.
Ashley Morrow is a senior, double majoring in Psychology and FTVM (with a Sub-Major in Screenwriting). Ashley is a self-taught film-editor and content creator, has done film work with the University’s National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID), and is a part of this semester’s top screenwriting course - FTVM 427.
Her personal motive for creation is as follows:
“I want to write for the underrepresented youth, so when they grow up, there’s no limit to who they believe they can be. I want to write for people of all backgrounds and give them fun, yet genuine, coming-of-age films and stories. And I want to create moving things for people to feel."
Ashley is immensely grateful for her family, friends, teachers, and especially her mom and dad, for all of their support.
Johannes Pardi is an FTVM major who owns and operates Pardi Productions LLC, a small video production company doing business in Michigan and abroad since 2017. In his free time, he likes to explore new mediums of creativity and share them with others. With a primary focus on photography, cinematography, and animation, Johannes enjoys using the skills he has acquired to act as a vessel to help stories grow and manifest into reality. While studying at University of Michigan, his principal aim is to network with other students and faculty to help strengthen the video production community in Michigan. He strives to work on larger collaborative productions in the future.
Sawyer Rewa is a junior majoring in Film, Television, and Media. His short film Twisted Wire aired at the Lightworks Film Festival in 2021, winning a Director’s Choice award. He is not sure what he wants to do with film yet, but he is interested in screenwriting and animation. In his free time, he likes to listen to old show tunes and come up with new ideas for projects.
Jacob Shin is a senior FTVM major with a focus on film production. His work ranges from making Kdrama parodies to experimental shorts. Through FTVM, he would like to create narratives that recognize the little niches in life. Jacob spends time searching through the ends of the internet and in the little moments in real life to find inspiration, as ideas can come from anywhere. His goal is to make sure that these hidden stories are told to a wider audience. He spends his time listening to Rap, Jazz, and R&B, and enjoys watching action movies and dramas.
