Date: Apr 29, 2013

Hofstra Television Students Raise Money For Film Majors

Hofstra Film Student Remembered Through Annual Telethon

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY –Hofstra’s School of Communication will air the 12th Annual “Friends of Max Kolb Telethon” on Sunday, May 5, 2013 starting at 9 p.m. The show will air on Hofstra TV channel 35 and will also be streamed live over the Internet at www.htvilive.com. The telethon, which is produced and directed exclusively by senior television students, has raised more than $42,700 for scholarships for Hofstra film students.

“The telethon is such a great way to bring television and film students together,” said Co-Producer Erica Schwaninger ‘13. “It’s a celebration of Max’s life and Hofstra film, and I am so lucky to be a part of it."

Scholarship recipients may use the award to help offset production costs of their junior or senior films, which can reach upwards of $5,000. Funds raised since the scholarship’s inception have helped support more than fifty student filmmakers as they prepared to launch rewarding careers in the media industry.

The telethon and the Max Kolb Endowed Memorial Scholarship were created to honor Hofstra film student Max Kolb, who died in 2001. The first telethon was a collaboration between Max’s student colleagues and Associate Professor Dr. Peter Gershon, who still serves as faculty advisor to the telecast. It originally aired with a number of minor acts and has grown to include live mainstream musical acts.

This year’s telethon features performances by up and coming artists, including Blue Lenex, Nick Tangorra, Trish Torrales, and Jesse Andrews. Hot items for auction include a guitar signed by singer Darius Rucker, a signed Islanders hockey stick, tickets to Broadway shows, and field-level New York Yankees tickets.

For individuals and businesses wishing to contribute items for auction, please contact Dr. Peter Gershon, Associate Professor and Faculty Advisor, at 516-463-5425 or Peter.Gershon@hofstra.edu. For more information on the telethon or to pledge your support, please visit www.maxkolbtelethon.com.

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Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 11,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, applied science, communication, education, health sciences and human services, honors studies, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

Located just outside of New York City, the media capital of the world, the School of Communication at Hofstra University provides students with a superior education and real-world experience that prepare them to meet the challenges of the 21st century job market. The School of Communication offers undergraduate and graduate coursework in multimedia journalism, media studies and public relations; radio, television and film production; and speech communication, rhetoric and performance studies, taught by an award-winning faculty. The school is also home to WRHU 88.7 FM Radio Hofstra University, the flagship station of the New York Islanders, and state-of-the-art resources such as NewsHub, an innovative multimedia classroom and newsroom, and Studio A, the largest non-commercial film and television soundstage on Long Island, as well as cutting-edge control rooms, editing facilities and a new screening room. Students come from across the United States and abroad, and an active network of accomplished alumni are shaping the future of the communications industry.