1st Place, Personality Profile
2021-22, Division MS, News Writing
By Ethan Minster
Crane
Cranbrook Kingswood Boys MS
Using his 21 years of film experience, Dean Peratsakis, also known as Mr. P, is sharing his first-hand knowledge with the seventh graders who enroll in his Dramatic Video Production class.
“It is a quite different class, but also an incredibly fun one,” Jacob Minster, a former Cranbrook Middle School for Boys 7th grader who enrolled in the class, said. Because of Peratsakis’ direct experience with the film industry, Minster remembered that “you learn a lot about how films are made, you learn the basics and more about producing ads, shows, or movies, and every other job needed to make them.”
Peratsakis recalls that his passion started with his own studies in middle school when he joined a newspaper club. In college, he wanted to write creatively, but not in journalism, so he got interested in the film industry and went to film school in Chicago. There he worked his way up to be an assistant director. He saw said that because he saw other assistant directors “right in the action” he knew he had to be there, too. “It looked fun,” he said.
During his class, Peratsakis shares his experiences as an advertisement-assistant-director. One questions many of his students ask, is “how many ads he has done?” Peratsakis said he has made too many advertisements to the point where he cannot count them all, but he has also produced films, shows, and he has even helped with the Voice.
Looking back, he believes the most fun he had on set was when he did an ad for ESPN with Mohammed Ali, or other sports players.
He tells his students that the hardest films to make are automobile ads “because of their safety, even though we block off the roads. These are hard because you mostly have a driver that is on rocky terrain, and/or going at high speeds. Automobile ads can also be tough when you are in a big city, because you also must worry about pedestrians,” he said.
One of the biggest films that Peratsakis has worked on was an ad for Fiat. “The collaboration was from the Godzilla movie,” he said. “because the main characters drove a Fiat in the movie, [we] had to close many neighborhoods and blocks to get the shots.” Even though some of the shots in his films are difficult, he says that he loves it because it is exciting, and he gets to travel, and “do something different every day. You never know what to expect on set.”
He also likes how he can meet new people in every differ-ent film. while having the opportunity get a lot of stuff done in one day. “I am not the type of person to sit in the office and do the same thing every day,” he said. “One day you are shooting an ad about hot dogs, (I have done ads about Ball Park Franks,) and then in a couple more days you are shooting an ad about a Corvette. Every day is a unique environment, and if that excites somebody, then this is the right career path for you.”
Jacob remembered Peratsakis bringing that same energy to the classroom. “The class was very hands-on. You get to just hang out and watch ads, while still learning a lot, and it is just a fun experience overall,” he said. “You get to produce and make your own movie at the end of the year, which is fun.
Suzanne Minster, Jacob’s mother, remembered feeling excited when she learned that her son was interested in joining Dramatic Video Producton, and that it was taught by someone with film experience. She said she was interested in the class also.
When Suzanne was told that Mr. P helped make an advertisement with Mohammed Ali, she thought that Mr. P must be truly knowledgeable in his job if he can be doing an ad with someone as famous as him, and she wants to see that advertisement.
NW-15. Personality Profile
The personality profile captures the life, interests, accomplishments of well-known or interesting people, based on interviews from multiple sources. The subject(s) should have experiences, thoughts and accomplishments worth reporting. Anecdotes add to the personality profile.
Judging Criteria
- Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity; reason for sketch is made clear early in story
- Emphasizes fresh angle; individualizes person
- Colorful, lively presentation; effective form/style
- Descriptive writing demonstrates the concept of “show, don’t tell”
- Reflects adequate research, sound interviewing techniques from a variety of sources
- Avoids encyclopedic listing of subject’s accomplishments
- Effective use of quotes
- Interesting; appeals to the emotions
- Proper diction/grammar