MFA Student Serves Country and Wins Emmy
While Sgt. John Mann’s military service is coming to a close, his creative career is just getting started. John, a MFA student at the School of Motion Pictures and Television at Academy of Art University, received an Emmy award this past June. The award was granted from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Nation Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Washington, D.C.
John is a member of the Pentagon Channels, a four-person team that created “Souls of Valor”, commemorating Medal of Honor recipients. “Souls of Valor” took home the win in the News Special category at the Emmys this year..
“In August of 2010 the leadership assigned me as the lead producer to a Medal of Honor project,” John said. “It would cover three individuals who received the Medal of Honor in the fall of 2010. It was a wonderful experience. The project involved me traveling around the country, meeting and interviewing family members of service members who died in combat or survived the most horrific situations we can imagine. It was a magnificent look into the human spirit: to see a person rise to his best in the midst of man at his worst.”
John credits Academy of Art University instructors as contributors to his achievement. “ Julie Oxendale not only taught me the critical structure of storytelling, but also how to use words effectively and communicate ideas and emotion through words or (especially) without them,” John said. “Ian Corson is a close second, for the same reasons. He really pushes hard and helped me find new strengths inside myself. I have a new confidence in my writing thanks to him.”
John continues to serve in the US Army at the Defense Media Activity as a television reporter and producer. To current Academy of Art Students, John recommends to “take what you learn and use it outside the school WHILE you’re still in school. The Academy does a lot to help artists make that transition, don’t take it lightly.”
As John prepares for his next creative move he is contemplating getting involved in private ventures. “ There are a lot of avenues for someone with my resume and a MFA from Academy of Art University I can pursue,” he states. “The key will be to find something I’m happy doing and electrify my desires to keep pushing my work higher and faster.”
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