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Smart Strategies for Cost Optimization- Newsletter
What's New in V15- brochure
Announcing Sonnet Suites V15- press release
Introducing Blink by Sonnet Suites- press release
Tradeshow Booth Displays
Communication/Journalism Alumni Dinner

During the spring semester 2008, Catherine was involved with the planning process of St. John Fisher C/J department alumni event. She worked with three other peers to plan, promote and execute a dinner and lecture series. Some responsibilities that Catherine took on included: meeting with professors, working in conjunction with the Alumni Relations Department, and caterers; creating and carrying out the theme of the event (Premiere Event); making decisions regarding decorations, seating arrangements, music, food, beverages, and invitations. The event had over one hundred guests in attendance, and was a dazzling success.
Pictured below are some photographs of the event.
Writing Samples

The following press releases were created for the George Eastman House during Catherine's internship.
Nov. 18, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dryden Theatre rings in the New Year with classic Hollywood double feature
Easy Living and Remember the Night feature feel-good romance and laugh-out-loud comedy
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House will end the year laughing with a double feature of classic romantic comedies on New Year's Eve — Easy Living starting at 7 p.m., and Remember the Night beginning at 8:45 p.m. Both movies are from Hollywood's Golden Age, written by legendary filmmaker Preston Sturges and directed by Mitchell Leisen.
This double feature on Wednesday, Dec. 31, begins the News Year's Eve fun with the 1937 screwball gem Easy Living, where Jean Arthur plays a working-class girl who gets a face full of fur when a fed-up, wealthy financier (Edward Arnold) throws his wife's new, expensive sable coat out the window. Soon, the leading lady finds romance in the arms of the rich man's son (Ray Milland).
Directly following the first film, Remember the Night (1940) takes the screen, starring Barbara Stanwyck as a chronic shoplifter and Fred MacMurray as a prosecutor, who takes her home for the holidays to keep her out of jail. Her encounter with the lawyer's wholesome family, culminating on a memorable New Year's Eve, begins to change her perspective on a life of crime.
Admission is $7 general admission and $5 students and members. (Please note, no Take-10 tickets or passes accepted.) Advance tickets are available at dryden.eastmanhouse.org, the Eastman House admissions desk, Dryden Theatre box office, or (585) 271-3361 ext. 218.
For more information visit dryden.eastmanhouse.org or call (585) 271-4090.
Nov. 18, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sir Thomas More stands up to King Henry VIII at Dryden Theatre in
A Man for all Seasons
Academy Award®-winning historical drama screens Saturday, Dec. 13, followed by
panel discussion
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House continues its Human Spirit film series in December with the screening of the celebrated 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. The film tells the story of Sir Thomas More's willingness to sacrifice his life to stay loyal to his moral and religious beliefs. A panel discussion will follow the film.
A Man for All Seasons, directed by Fred Zinneman, won six Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. The story features spiritually unyielding More and the consequences faced for his principled objections to the divorce of his adulterous king, King Henry VIII, and first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Paul Scofield recreated his stage role as Sir Thomas More in this adaptation of Robert Bolt's play, with Robert Shaw portraying Henry VIII. The powerful supporting cast includes Orson Welles, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Susannah York, and John Hurt.
"A Man for all Seasons is a picture that inspires admiration, courage, and thought," said New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther. "Zinnemann has done a fine job of putting upon the screen the solid substance of Robert Bolt's play about Sir Thomas More, and in doing so he presents us with an awesome view of a sturdy conscience and a steadfast heart."
The panelists taking part in the post-film discussion are Jack Garner, Democrat and Chronicle film columnist; Shirley Mullen, PhD, president of Houghton College; and Joel Seligman, J.D., president of the University of Rochester.
Admission to A Man for all Seasons is $7 general admission and $5 members and students. Complete listings and information for the Human Spirit film series can be found at dryden.eastmanhouse.org. You may also call (585) 271-3361 for more information. The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House is located at 900 East Ave., Rochester.
The Human Spirit series, launched in September and continuing through June 2009, features films that explore the potential to add meaning in one's life through contributions to the lives of others.
Nov. 11, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dryden Theatre celebrates 30th anniversary of Animal House with screening of classic comedy Saturday, Nov. 29
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Grab a toga and prepare to laugh with the 30th anniversary celebration screening of the classic comedy National Lampoon's Animal House at 8 p.m. Saturday Nov. 29, in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House.
College life and film comedy have never looked the same since the release of this movie milestone. Bluto (John Belushi) leads his Delta House fraternity brothers in an all-out war on rival Omega House, Dean Wormer, and good taste in general. Animal House is not only one of the most influential movies ever made, but one of the funniest.
This parody of college life in the 1960s has spawned many imitations but none that could match the fresh-faced talent and bad-taste humor of this box-office hit. Animal House also stars Karen Allen, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Tim Matheson, and Verna Bloom, plus Kevin Bacon in his first credited role.
The 1978 film was directed by John Landis, a George Eastman Honorary Scholar. When the film was released, Roger Ebert (also a George Eastman Honorary Scholar) called Animal House "the funniest comedy since Mel Brooks made The Producers."
"What's not to love about this movie?" said Brian McKay from e-filmcritic.com. "It's got frat parties, beer, good music...and John Belushi dressed as a pirate."
Admission to Animal House is $7 general admission and $5 members and students. For more information visit dryden.eastmanhouse.org or call (585) 271-3361. The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House is located at 900 East Ave., Rochester.
Nov. 6, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Worldwide water crisis explored at Dryden with FLOW
Award-winning documentary screens Saturday, Nov. 22, followed by panel discussion featuring Sierra Club and Salva Dut
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House continues its Human Spirit film series in November with the critically acclaimed documentary FLOW: For Love of Water, screening at 8 p.m. Saturday Nov. 22, followed by a panel discussion. The film documents the worldwide fight for access to free water and the affects a dwindling supply has on health, prosperity, and security.
Filmmaker Irena Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply. She spent five years interviewing experts, activists, and corporate representatives. FLOW (US 2008, 83 min.) introduces viewers to, among others, an African shantytown where citizens secretly reconnect their water pipes; a "water guru" who promotes community-based initiatives in India; and a Canadian author who exposes the disturbing realities behind the global bottled-water business.
The New York Times said the film is, "an informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests," and the New York Daily News, noted, "Touching on everything from the cost citizens of poor countries pay for water to corporate hoodwinking in the bottled-water business, FLOW makes you thirsty for more information."
The panelists taking part in the post-film discussion on Nov. 22 are Salva Dut, a native of Sudan, Africa, living in Rochester, who has dedicated his life to drilling wells and providing safe drinking water in his native land; M. Ann Howard, associate professor of Science, Technology & Society, Rochester Institute of Technology; and Wayne Howard, chairman of the Sierra Club Great Lakes Committee.
"Water is the sleeping giant issue of the 21st century and we all need to wake up about it," said Robert Redford, as noted on the film's homepage. "FLOW opens our eyes about the greatest threat of our time — the global water crisis. It is a compelling and passionate film. It's engaging narrative will grip the viewer." FLOW made its Rochester debut in May during the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival.
Admission to FLOW is $7 general admission and $5 members and students. Complete listings and information for the Human Spirit film series can be found at dryden.eastmanhouse.org. You may also call (585) 271-3361 for more information. The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House is located at 900 East Ave., Rochester.
The Human Spirit series, launched in September and continuing through May 2009, features films that explore the potential to add meaning in one's life through contributions to the lives of others.
Nov. 3, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oscar® nominee Don Hertzfeldt animates the Dryden Nov. 15 'An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt' features shorts and Rochester premiere of I Am So Proud of You
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Acclaimed animator Don Hertzfeldt returns to the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House at 8 p.m. Saturday Nov 15, to present a series of new films including the Rochester premiere of his latest work, I am So Proud of You. He will answer audience questions following the program.
A selection of Hertzfeldt's classic animated shorts will be featured, concluding with his newest work, and longest piece to date, I Am So Proud of You. To premiere this eagerly antcipated film, Hertzfeldt is taking it on a 16-city tour across the United States, including the Dryden, where he welcomed a sold-out crowd in 2005. His current tour, which has sold out in all cities thus far, promises "an embarrassing live onstage interview."
I Am So Proud of You is the second chapter to Everything will be OK — winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Award in Short Filmmaking and named by many critics as one of the best films of 2007 — the devastating tale of a sad stick figure of an everyman named Bill whose perception is crumbling due to a mental disorder that may also be killing him. I Am So Proud of You, which just earned honors at the Hamptons International Film Festival, shows how dark family secrets cast shadows over our hero Bill's recovery.
Hertzfeldt creates his films with traditional pen and paper animation, without the aid of computers. Instead he works mainly with 16mm or 35mm film cameras and occasionally employs older special effect techniques such as multiple exposures, in-camera mattes, and experimental photography. I Am So Proud of You was shot entirely on an antique 35mm animation stand, one of the last remaining cameras of its kind in the country, with all special-effects work done by hand. The 22-minute film was nearly two years in the making.
Hertzfeldt, 32, was nominated for the 2001 Academy Award® for Animated Short Film for his fifth major film, Rejected. In 2003, he co-founded The Animation Show with Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge. This personally curated touring festival brought animated short films to more American theaters than any distributor in history. Hertzfeldt's films — which are on deposit in the motion picture archives at George Eastman House — have been seen in more than a thousand film festivals and theatrical venues around the world and have received more than 100 awards.
"Over the last ten years, a loyal cult following has developed for Hertzfeldt's surreal, existentially philosophical, and uproariously funny work," said Jim Healy, assistant curator of motion pictures at George Eastman House.
Advance tickets for the Nov. 15 Hertzfeldt event are on sale now at $10 general admission and $8 members and students. Tickets can be purchased at dryden.eastmanhouse.org; evenings at the Dryden box office; during the day Tuesday through Sunday at the Eastman House admissions desk; or by calling (585) 271-3361 ext. 295. (Please note: No Take-10 tickets are passes will be accepted.)
Oct. 21, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dryden Theatre conducts Locomotion Pictures: The Great Train Movies in November and December
Titles include The Great Train Robbery, Silver Streak, Murder on the Orient Express, Dumbo, and Polar Express
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House is conducting a film series titled Locomotion Pictures: The Great Train Movies throughout November and December, in conjunction with the George Eastman House's "TRAINS!" photography exhibitions. The series takes off Nov. 5 with a screening of The Photographer, His Wife and Her Lover — which illustrates the scandalous marriage of famed railroad photographer O. Winston Link, who headlines the "TRAINS!" photography exhibitions — and concludes with a showing of the animated movie The Polar Express on Dec. 23.
The film series Locomotion Pictures features stories set almost entirely on trains, or in the world of railroads and rail yards. Some of the films feature heroes who are train-obsessed, while others focus on traveling protagonists caught up in a vehicle barreling beyond their control.
"Every movie is, in a sense, a 'mystery train.' We don't know where it will take us or how it will make us feel, and hopefully, there are other surprises before we reach the end of the journey," said Jim Healy, George Eastman House's assistant curator of exhibitions, Motion Picture Department. "Maybe it's for these reasons that scenes on trains have become such a hallmark of the suspense and action picture and a dream sequence cliché."
The first significant piece of traditional cinema to create an impact featuring a train, with its direct-fixed camera shot of a train arriving at a station, was in the 1896 Lumière brothers' Arrivée d'un train à Perrache (screening Dec. 2).
The Locomotion Pictures series also features Hitchcockian thrillers The Sleeping Car Murder (showing Nov. 6), Silver Streak (Dec. 10), and La Bête Humaine (Dec. 16); European omnibus production Tickets (Nov. 13); fact-based drama The Train (Nov. 12); whodunit Murder on the Orient Express (Nov. 20); avant-garde study RR (Nov. 19); silent classic comedies The General and The Great Train Robbery (Dec. 2); and animated classics Dumbo (Nov. 23) and The Polar Express (Dec. 23).
"If traveling by train, like going to the movies, isn't as much a part of our daily lives as it once was," Healy said, "then these Locomotion Pictures screening in the Dryden can be seen as an invitation to dream or return to the past. All aboard the mystery trains of cinema...destination unknown."
The films of Locomotion Pictures:
8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 (Rochester Premiere)
THE PHOTOGRAPHER, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER (Paul Yule, UK/US 2005, 78 min.)
8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6
THE SLEEPING CAR MURDER (Costa-Gavras, France 1964, 95 min., French/subtitles)
8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12
THE TRAIN (John Frankenheimer, US 1964, 133 min.)
8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13
TICKETS (Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, Italy/UK 2005, 115 min.)
8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19 (Rochester Premiere)
RR (James Benning, US 2007, 111 min., 16mm) (Members admitted free to this screening.)
8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (Sidney Lumet, US 1974, 127 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23
DUMBO (Ben Sharpsteen, US 1941, 64 min.)
8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (Joseph Sargent, US 1974, 104 min.)
8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2
THE GENERAL (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, US 1927, 74 min.) preceded by THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (Edwin S. Porter, US 1903, 12 min.) and ARRIVÉE D'UN TRAIN À PERRACHE (Lumière, France 1896, 1 min.). Live piano by Philip C. Carli.
8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3
RUNAWAY TRAIN (Andrei Konchalovsky, US 1985, 111 min.)
8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (Jir’ Menzel, Czechoslovakia 1966, 93 min., Czech/subtitles, 16mm) preceded by TERMINUS (John Schlesinger, UK 1961, 33 min.)
8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10
SILVER STREAK (Arthur Hiller, US 1976, 113 min.)
8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16
LA BÊTE HUMAINE (Jean Renoir, France 1938, 96 min., 16mm)
Wednesday, Dec. 17 (Double Feature/two films for one price)
7 p.m. THE TALL TARGET (Anthony Mann, US 1951, 78 min.)
8:30 p.m. TERROR ON A TRAIN (TIME BOMB, Ted Tetzlaff, UK 1953, 72 min.)
8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23
THE POLAR EXPRESS (Robert Zemeckis, US 2004, 99 min.)
Admission to each film is $7 general admission and $5 students and members. For more information and complete film descriptions visit dryden.eastmanhouse.org.
Published in: Artdaily.org
Oct. 20, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dryden Theatre makes dreams come true with
'Disney Animated Classics' film series
Films from the Disney Archives are Snow White, Bambi, Dumbo, Cinderella, Pinocchio,
Alice in Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, and 101 Dalmatians
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House brings back childhood memories with the "Disney Animated Classics" film series throughout November and December, screening eight 35mm films from the Disney Archives. The magic begins on Sunday, Nov. 9 with the screening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and will continue through the final movie having audience members seeing spots with One Hundred and One Dalmatians Dec. 28.
Experience on the big screen a flying baby elephant with ears for wings, a wooden boy with a nose that grows when he lies, and two dogs who fall in love over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. "Our first encounters with motion pictures meant introductions to characters that would forever be part of our cultural consciousness," said Jim Healy, George Eastman House's assistant curator of exhibitions, Motion Picture Department. "A trip to the cinema to watch one of these Disney animated classics on one of their frequent re-releases was a rite of passage for young children, and one that brought great pleasure."
Walt Disney and his team of animators captured the essence of fairy tales in 1937 with Disney's first full-length animated production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and continued with the success of story telling through vivid hand drawn and painted characters even after Disney's death in 1966.
"While the last generation or two have discovered these cinematic gems on a videocassette or DVD," Healy said, "we're bringing them back to their first home, the movie theaters so that new viewers can see them properly and others can revisit the films that shaped their childhoods."
The Disney films screen Sundays in November and December, beginning Nov. 9, in the Dryden with 2 p.m. matinees and early evening screenings. The titles include Pinocchio (showing Nov. 16); Dumbo (Nov.23); Bambi (Nov. 30); Cinderella (Dec. 7); Alice in Wonderland (Dec. 14); Lady and the Tramp (Dec. 21) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Dec. 28).
According to Healy, "The movies seen in the dark, with an audience, and projected on the big screen shows viewers the joy of movie-going. These films, with their delicate artistry and countless grace notes, are genuine American masterworks. They deserve a museum setting and an appreciative audience."
The films of the "Disney Animated Classics" series:
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (David Hand, US 1937, 83 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16
PINOCCHIO (Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske, US 1940, 88 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23
DUMBO (Ben Sharpsteen, US 1941, 64 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30
BAMBI (David Hand, US 1942, 69 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7
CINDERELLA (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, US 1950, 74 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, US 1951, 75 min.)
2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21
LADY AND THE TRAMP (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, US 1955, 75 min.)
2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, & Hamilton Luske, US 1961, 79 min.)
Admission to each film is $7 general admission and $5 students and members. For more information and complete film descriptions visit dryden.eastmanhouse.org. Popcorn and concessions will be for sale on site.
Professional Style Network
Catherine is one of the founding members of Professional Style Network, a website dedicated to helping young professional women get helpful fashion tips on what to wear to work, internships, and interviews. She has edited and contributed to the design and content of the page.