Coca-Cola Refreshing Films
Coca-Cola
Refreshing Films
RIT's history in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program includes the grand prize in 2022 and finalist finish in 2024
The winning 2022 short film was shown nationwide on more than 10,000 screens in Cinemark and AMC movie theaters.
A short film created by two RIT film and animation students, titled Say Cheese, was awarded the grand prize in the 2022 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program. That was followed by a pair of RIT film and animation MFA being named among the four finalists in the 2024 program for their film, How's the View?
Say Cheese
2022 winner
The film was co-written by director Anna McClanahan (film and animation BFA, production option) and producer Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (film and animation MFA).
Say Cheese is partly based on McClanahan’s experiences at RIT, including her performances in joint hearing, deaf, and hard-of-hearing productions for RIT/NTID’s Department of Performing Arts. The commercial portrays a meet-cute story about Chris—a male, hearing college student—attempting to ask Jessie, his female, deaf classmate to the movies. Chris, an American Sign Language novice, clumsily signs a visually similar sequence of words, instead asking her if she wants to go to a “cheese.” This wins Jessie over and the two head to the theater for their first date.
Seeing the film in theaters was really amazing because everyone who got to work on it gets to see their hard work on the big screen. It's very surreal.
Anna McClanahan
Film and Animation BFA
How's the View?
2024 finalist
Film and animation MFA students Lou Duchin (writer and director) and Maria Palmeri (producer) worked together to create the short branded-spot film.
The film is a unique blend of live-action and 2D animation, a first for the CCRF program. It follows Charlie, a movie theater employee who loves watching movies from the projector booth. One day when watching one of his favorite movies, Charlie sees that the characters are in trouble and he decides to go into the movie to rescue them. A team of four animators (all MFA students) helped bring the vision to life: Reagan Christie, Vinh Nguyen, Katie Schneider, and Amandeep Singh.
I feel like live-action and animation are two mediums that get separated a lot, but I think they both are great ways to express art and stories.
Lou Duchin
Film and Animation MFA
"Seeing the film in theaters was really amazing because everyone who got to work on it gets to see their hard work on the big screen. It's very surreal," said McClanahan. "I even heard the audience laughing in the theater while watching it, so it's good to know we were successful."
To create the film, McClanahan and Ponte-Fleary worked with students, faculty, and staff in RIT’s School of Film and Animation and NTID. This cross-cultural collaboration resulted in deaf and hard-of-hearing representation that is authentic and genuine, both in front of the lens and behind the camera.