David Lynch Graduate Wins Student Academy Award

The David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts at Maharishi University of Management, is pleased to announce that 2015 graduate Johnny Coffeen has been awarded the coveted Student Academy Award for his thesis film, The Swan Girl, about an artist mysteriously held captive in a studio, sculpting complex figures in an effort to atone for the mistakes of his past. This award will qualify him to be considered for an Academy Award nomination early next year.

David Lynch tweeted soon after learning the news: "Congratulations to Johnny Coffeen! David Lynch MFA in Film Alumni on winning a 2016 Student Academy Award!"

"I want to thank David Lynch for being himself, and inspiring me to be myself. If nothing else happens in my career, I will die a happy man knowing my hero loved my film," said Coffeen.

This first time win for the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts at MUM is a remarkable achievement for a program that is so new and only in its third year of existence. Coffeen is a member of the second graduating class of this unique school that uses the Transcendental Meditation technique to encourage students to tap into their creative potential.

The Academy has voted 17 students as winners of the 43rd Student Academy Awards® competition. The Academy received 1,749 films, a record number. The 2016 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award winners including: Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Cary Fukunaga and Robert Zemeckis.

About David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts:

The David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts program is the first and only Consciousness-Based film education available anywhere. Students learn about deep story and the entire process of filmmaking-from a real-world perspective-while developing their creative potential. The source of creativity within is directly accessed and experienced through daily individual and group practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. For more information on the school please visit their website here: https://www.mum.edu/david-lynch-mfa-in-film/.

To post a comment, you must register and login.