MAP year culminates with SMASH’N

An exuberant audience cheered on juniors Stephen Ruff and Michael Hoffman as the two boys accepted the Industry Award at the Saratoga Media Arts Showcase Night (SMASH’N) at the McAfee Center on Friday evening, June 1.

The Industry Award was the final, overall award given to the best piece of media—either film, multimedia journalism or animation—of the night by a panel of industry judges who are experienced professionals in the media arts field. 

The duo’s documentary, “My New Red Shoes,” had previously won them the first prize of $10,000 at SI DocFest, a competition of student-created documentaries about social issues in the Bay Area. 

“The filming itself took 20 hours and the editing took 30 to 50,” Ruff said. “We had enough footage for a two and a half hour long documentary!”

Throughout the night, groups of students won awards in different categories. These categories included Animation, Multimedia Journalism and the Overall Awards.

“The work by the MAP students seems to improve every year,” head of MAP program Kerry Mohnike said. “SMASH'N really does showcase the work of nearly all of the 10-12th graders. I think students and parents were duly impressed, as were the industry professionals who served as judges.”

Sophomore Joseph van den Berg, whose group of five students won an award for a journalistic report on the Los Gatos-Saratoga rivalry, was delighted by the success of the event.

“I thought that the show was a great way to get together with your peers and take a break from finals to recall all the outstanding work that the students had completed,” van den Berg said. “It was very well done.”