WINTER PARK, FL — Full Sail University (www.fullsail.edu) has announced its 2015 Hall of Fame class, which is comprised of six graduates recognized for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment, media, and the arts. The induction of the new class of honorees will take place during Full Sail’s 7th Annual Hall of Fame Week, scheduled for February 2016.
The 7th Annual Hall of Fame schedule will include a week-long series of campus-wide events featuring VIP speaking engagements, guest lectures, and live musical performances. Several events will be open to the public and made available via streaming. The week will culminate with an induction ceremony to celebrate and recognize the latest class of inductees.
The inductees to be honored as part of Full Sail University’s 7th Annual Hall of Fame Week are:
Keith Guerrette
Current Title: Visual Effects Artist
Industry Credits: Keith Guerrette is an award-winning Visual Effects Artist best known for breaking new ground in narrative-driven video games. As a leader across the entertainment, VR, and educational industries, his influence is well recognized in the visually stunning and critically acclaimed Uncharted series and The Last of Us franchise. For these projects, Keith and the VFX team at Sony Computer Entertainment’s Naughty Dog Studios received numerous industry accolades including BAFTA and DICE awards for developing new cinematic and immersive graphic technologies from the ground up, as well as playing a key role in the ‘Game of The Year’ studio honors for each title. In 2012, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was inducted in the Smithsonian American Art Museum for its role in the development of the real-time interactive art medium.
Over the years, Keith has been a keynote speaker and presented at leading industry conferences, sharing and inspiring educational advancement for visual effects growth in the interactive entertainment field.
In 2014, Keith was profiled on the Annual Forbes “30 Under 30” list, highlighting some of the most talented young professionals in the industry today.
2004 Graduate (Computer Animation) & 2005 Graduate (Entertainment Business)
Ashish Manchanda
Current Title: Recording Engineer / Producer, Educationist, Entrepreneur and Founder of Flying Carpet Productions in Mumbai, India.
Industry Credits: Ashish Manchanda has achieved a rare distinction of success as a studio professional, live concert engineer, re-recording mixer / sound designer, and music producer. He has worked on over 100 film projects ranging from India’s popular Bollywood films to mainstream offerings including: Dev D, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Khosla Ka Ghosla, and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Ashish has been a close collaborator with independent artists Ranjit Barot, Raghu Dixit, worked on live concert productions and studio work with Grammy / Oscar-winning artist AR Rahman, and has worked closely with music composers Amit Trivedi, Vishal-Shekhar, Anu Malik, and Ismail Darbar. In addition, Ashish has worked with legendary Engineer / Producer Bruce Swedien and was featured in Mr. Swedien's biography "In the Studio with Michael Jackson." At New York’s Effanel Music, Ashish worked with artists including: Garth Brooks, Wynton Marsalis – Jazz at the Lincoln Center, James Taylor & Boz Scaggs among others.
Ashish is a three-time winner of the IRAA (Indian Recording Arts Academy) award for Best Sound Engineer / For Outstanding Work on the movie DevD, Sona Mohapatra's debut album, and as a live concert FOH Engineer in 2012-2013.
He founded Flying Carpet Productions offering 360-degree solutions in the entertainment business through studio facilities, an indie record label, talent management, video production & designing on-ground entities.
Ashish & his wife Ujjla run an award-winning institute called 'The Media Tribe' training young students in Mumbai in sound engineering and music production. In addition, Ashish frequently participates in industry conferences as a panelist, offering insights in creative, technical and business aspects of the media arts.
In recent years, Ashish has been a close collaborator with MTV India for Coke Studio and MTV Unplugged, featuring a variety of live music acts for the global music channel.
1997 Graduate (Recording Arts)
Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato
Current Title: FOH Engineer
Industry Credits: With a career in professional concert sound that spans more than 25 years, Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato has been FOH Engineer for a diverse roster of musical acts.
After starting her touring career mixing the band Spin Doctors in the early 90s, Michelle has been on numerous world tours as FOH Engineer for some of the most recognizable names in music including: Styx, Gwen Stefani, Goo Goo Dolls, Melissa Etheridge, Indigo Girls, Mr. Big, Natasha Bedingfield, Joan Osborne, Big Time Rush, Ke$ha, Jewel, Collective Soul, Fuel, Tokio Hotel, Thievery Corporation, Luscious Jackson, Christina Aguilera, General Public, Fastball, Adam Lambert, and more.
Michelle has been an active participant in industry conferences participating as a panelist discussing “FOH and Monitor Mixers, Does it Take Two?" at the 2005 Pro Production Conference, AES 2001 as a mentor for the student program, and at AES 2012 on the “Women of Live Sound” panel. Michelle will appear as a panelist at the upcoming AES 2015 workshop - "The X-Factor in Audio."
In 2013, Michelle Co-Founded SoundGirls.Org to create a supportive community for women working in professional audio, while also inspiring and empowering the next generation.
She has written numerous articles on topics ranging from career development to live sound techniques and has contributed to professional journals such as Live Sound International, Load In International, and various industry websites.
1989 Graduate (Recording Arts)
Frank Scheuring
Current Title: Mixer and Sound Editor
Industry Credits: Frank Scheuring has worked as a Mixer and Sound Editor for more than14 years in the audio post-production industry.
Highlights from Frank’s career include the award-winning Discovery Channel mini-series Planet Earth, as well as notable documentaries and series including: StarTalk, Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan, National Geographic: Explorer, In Performance at the White House, DC Cupcakes, and Dog Whisperer.
Frank's network clients include National Geographic, Smithsonian, Discovery, PBS, TLC, G4TV, and the Travel Channel, along with numerous political candidates, government agencies, production companies and corporations.
2001 Graduate (Recording Arts)
Jeff Unay
Current Title: Director, Cinematographer, Producer, and Award-winning Artist
Industry Credits: Soon after graduation from the Computer Animation program, Jeff landed an artist position with Raven Software working on the Quake franchise. He later transitioned into visual effects for film where he worked as a character modeler at Tippett Studio and then as a lead modeler at Weta Digital in New Zealand.
At Weta, Jeff worked on two Academy Award-winning Visual Effects films: King Kong (2005) and Avatar (2009). Jeff’s groundbreaking work creating the faces for the digital leading characters for Avatar led him to win a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Live Action Character in a Motion Picture.
In 2010, Jeff began working full-time as a director and cinematographer in Seattle, WA. He wrote, co-shot and co-edited Valve Corporation’s first feature film, Free to Play (2014), which went on to receive a record-setting 5.5 million views in its opening weekend.
Jeff is currently directing his first independent documentary feature film, Greywater, which will be released in early 2017. The film has already received multiple accolades for an in-progress film including the Tribeca Film Institute / ESPN Prize and the 2015 Points North Best Pitch Award at the Camden International Film Festival.
2002 Graduate (Computer Animation)
Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young
Current Title: Recording and Mix Engineer, Co-Founder of SKIO Music
Industry Credits: Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young turned a passion for audio into the career he had always dreamed of, working for some of the music industry’s biggest names as a Recording and Mix Engineer. He grabbed the reigns as a Recording Engineer in 2007 working with Fabolous on the chart topping From Nothin’ to Something’ and has been working with major label artists since. Some of his clients include Beyoncé, Jay Z, Monica, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Nelly, and Jamie Foxx.
In 2010 Jordan became Beyonce’s personal engineer working on her fourth studio album and mixing the I Am...World Tour DVD that was certified Double Platinum.
During 2013 he completed work on two critically acclaimed projects, Jay Z’s Magna Carta: Holy Grail and Beyoncé’s chart topping album Beyoncé.
Now, adding a chapter to his career, Jordan is taking a leap forward into the online technology space, with a new venture he's co-founded called SKIO Music, pioneering new licensing opportunities for artists and labels.
2005 Graduate (Recording Arts)