Sherry Johnson, a TV/Film major in the Department of Communications, was accepted into the prestigious Independent Feature Project/West mentor program for the spring 2002 session. Sherry, a senior graduating in January, was selected from a nationwide pool of college student applicants to participate in Project Involve, an outreach mentor program administered by IFP/West and supported by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Independent Feature Project is an organization dedicated to the support and production of independent films. The IFP presents the "Spirit Awards" every year in March, the night before the "Oscars" are awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A majority of the renowned independent filmmakers belongs to the IFP/West, which is in Los Angeles, or IFP/East in New York.

This year, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won both the "Spirit Award" and the "Oscar" for best foreign film. The IFP/West mentor program, Project Involve, pairs a minority student with a successful filmmaker -- writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer, actor, depending on the particular focus that the student has stipulated -- in a workshop setting for eight weeks. During this period, the student and a designated mentor work very closely developing the project or discipline that the student is pursuing. The program was established to give underrepresented groups in the motion picture industry -- women and minorities in particular -- a career opportunity they might otherwise not have. The IFP/West receives a flood of applicants every year for the highly regarded program, which is divided into two eight-week sessions. Only forty students are accepted each year -- twenty in the fall, and twenty in the spring. Admission into the Project Involve program is not only an honor for Sherry, it is also a source of great pride for the Department of Communications.