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Strayer University and The Blackhouse Foundation Name Donald Dankwa Brooks Winner of Scriptwriter Competition to Bring Real Perspectives on Criminal Justice to the Classroom
Former Baltimore Police Department trainer wins ScriptED Contest, $10k grand prize plus $15k bonus gift during 2020 Sundance Film Festival WASHINGTON & LOS
About this update from Strategic Education, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nFormer Baltimore Police Department trainer wins ScriptED Contest, $10k grand prize plus $15k bonus gift during 2020 Sundance Film Festival\n\n WASHINGTON & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nDuring the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Strayer University, in partnership with The Blackhouse Foundation — a leading voice working to elevate and increase the number of diverse voices in filmmaking — announced the winner of ScriptED, a nationwide competition to discover a talented, up-and-coming scriptwriter who can help bring real perspectives to Strayer’s Criminal Justice program. While at Sundance, Strayer and The Blackhouse Foundation will host a panel on the impact of authentic storytelling through film on the future of education.\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200124005496/en/Photo credit: The Blackhouse Foundation\n\nDonald Dankwa Brooks was awarded first place for his original script that demonstrated a keen awareness of the complex perspectives surrounding criminal justice. He was one of five finalists — selected from the more than 100 submissions that came from competitors across the country — awarded a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to pitch their scripts to a panel of esteemed judges. The judges included representatives from Strayer University, The Blackhouse Foundation, the criminal justice system, and the film and television industry.\n\n\nTo recognize the unexpectedly high caliber of the final scripts, each of the four finalists were given a $10,000 gift from Strayer. In addition to the $10,000 grand prize for winning the contest, Brooks also received an additional $15,000 gift from Strayer. Brooks also won the opportunity to be a writer in residence with Strayer Studios — a production team dedicated to infusing course curriculum with cinematic content to better engage students and help them grasp subject matter in more meaningful ways.\n\n\n“We are proud to announce Donald as the winner of the ScriptED competition. His script captured the complexities and community experiences surrounding criminal justice in a powerful way,” said Karl McDonnell, CEO of Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI), the parent company of Strayer University. “Strayer Studios is dedicated to engaging students by infusing course curriculum with cinematic conte...