Three Scottsdale Community College filmmakers took home top honors at this year’s Rocky Mountain Student Emmy Awards, earning well-deserved recognition for their original work, storytelling skills, and creative ambition.
Please join us in congratulating Stephanie Perkinson and Roman Treppa for their powerful piece, Mental Health PSA, and Jake Walker for his standout commercial, Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce.
Both projects were created as part of SCC’s hands-on film curriculum, and both earned Student Emmys in highly competitive categories.
Watch the award-winning videos here:
Mental Health PSA
Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce
“These awards are a reflection of the incredible work ethic and creative spirit our students bring into the classroom,” said Roberto Gudino, Head of Production at SCC’s Scottsdale School of Film+Theatre. “We’re beyond proud of Stephanie, Roman, and Jake for pushing their ideas to the next level.”
Each project began as a class assignment, but with strong vision, refined execution, and a commitment to industry standards, these students turned coursework into award-winning content.
“Our goal for this piece was to help spread awareness about 988, an invaluable, free mental health service that a lot of people don’t know about,” said Perkinson. “We wanted to create a piece that helps de-stigmatize mental health problems and encourages people to use resources available to them. The more normalized it is to ask for help during mental health struggles, the more people who may be willing to do so. We wanted the piece to carry the message that it’s okay to struggle and okay to ask for help during such times. This is part of the human experience. We are so grateful that the PSA was so well-received and able to reach a larger audience due to the recognition from the Rocky Mountain Emmys.”
“It's a two-way street finding the balance between open communication and awareness of the other's mental states,” said Treppa. “We wanted to represent that in this project and show how 988 can help with that.
“I filmed, cooked, and then edited the rough cut of the commercial in one night,” explained Jake Walker. “Over the following weeks, I refined the commercial in post-production under the guidance and wisdom of [my instructor, Sam Gomez]. It has been a great honor to receive this award and have my work recognized in such a way. I’m very grateful for the experiences I had in my time at the SCC School of Film and Theater. I look forward to the future opportunities that are now possible because of the training that I received from the incredible faculty we have here."
Gudino credits SCC’s applied learning model for helping students move from the classroom to real-world success. “It’s a success built on the collaborative spirit of our great faculty, staff, and administration, who are all committed to our students' futures. We’re not just teaching filmmaking, we’re preparing students to thrive in the industry!”
We can’t wait to see what these students create next. Congratulations to Stephanie, Roman, and Jake on your Student Emmy wins!
To learn more about filmmaking at SCC and how to get involved, visit the Scottsdale School of Film+Theatre website.
The people in the photo, from left to right, are: Matthew Vacca, Breana Novero, Jake Walker, Professor Roberto Gudiño, Professor Danielle Stallings, Stephanie Perkinson, Roman Treppa, and Savvana Wolverton.