DENVER – (June 9, 2008) Tony Shawcross, founder and executive director of Deproduction, a local nonprofit specializing in community media production and training, announced his is one of sixteen innovative digital projects from around the world to receive a total of $5.5 million dollars from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. His company, Deproduction, has been awarded $380,000 from the Knight News Challenge, which was created in 2007 to fund digital information innovations that transform community life.
Shawcross’ project was chosen from over 3,000 applicants. The projects are designed to “inform, empower and engage citizens” in a manner that will encourage them to understand and energetically participate in their communities. Building on the success of Shawcross’ user-driven community TV station, Denver Open Media, Knights recent award will support the replication of DOM’s model in community media organizations across the nation. The open-source technology behind DOM enables public access TV stations and community technology cen¬ters to embrace emerging technologies that increase community while reducing costs and collaborating with other stations as a true nation-wide network. Together, public access TV and commu¬nity technology centers can engage dis¬advantaged communities in new media platforms. “There are thousands of public access stations and community technology centers country-wide that provide media education and equipment” says Shawcross. “But, they don’t share a tool-set enabling them to become part of a collective, user-driven, online media network. Our goal is to make public access TV a viable option for local and national information and entertainment here in Denver, and across the country.”
For additional information about Shawcross and Deproduction, e-mail Shawcross at tony [at] deproduction [dot] org or visit the organization’s website at www.deproduction.org. For more information about the Knight Challenge, visit www.kflinks.com/knc-factsheet, and for a complete list and description of the Knight Challenge winners, visit www.kflinks.com/knc-bios.
About Deproduction:
Deproduction is a Denver nonprofit production group that exists to put the power of the media into the hands of the community by providing production services and media education to individuals and community-focused organizations. Video production, post-production, studio production, and media education are among the services that Deproduction provides. Deproduction also manages the city of Denver’s public access television station, Denver Open Media (www.denveropenmedia.org). For more information, visit Deproduction’s website at www.deproduction.org.
About Tony Shawcross:
Shawcross is the founder and executive director of Deproduction. After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in marketing and business administration from the University of Colorado, he worked briefly in marketing and advertising for the IT industry before leaving to focus on socially relevant film and video production. He has since worked for Little Voice Productions, the Colorado State House of Representatives, the Pan African Arts Society, and Free Speech TV, among others. Shawcross has presented over 100 media education courses with the Rocky Mountain Independent Media Center, Denver Community Television, the Alliance for Community Media, and various local schools and universities. He is also an experienced video producer with hundreds of films and videos produced for local and national television, film festivals, and community screenings.