Brooklyn film student delivers awards at the Oscars

February 25, 2013 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Brooklyn student ChaRon Brabham was one of six aspiring filmmakers who delivered Oscar statuettes to the presenters at Sunday’s Oscars — upending the tradition of using Hollywood bombshells for the job.

This tradition of the buxom babe that comes out and brings the trophy to the presenter to give to the winner seemed to be very antiquated and kind of sexist, too,” producer Neil Meron told AP. “Why can’t we have people who actually care about film and are the future of film be the trophy presenters?”

Barbham, a student at SUNY Potsdam, was awarded her moment in the bright lights for her video entry in the national “Oscar Experience Talent Search,” sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU.  Her 30-second black and white film answering the question, “How will you contribute to the future of movies?”

A junior theatre major, Barbham is also a student ambassador for the College’s admissions office.

“As an aspiring film director, I have plans to both educate and broaden horizons for the future of children, showing them that life isn’t always so easy, but that greatness will always be attainable if you work towards your dreams,” she said in her statement. “For me, film is a continuous change, but always goes back to those big ideas. I want to take those ideas and make them blossom like flowers, into a new era of film.”

Braham — who received a makeover and formal gown for the event — was introduced live on stage by host Seth MacFarlane. She was also treated to film industry experiences including a visit to The Academy Library to see its memorabilia collections; a Samsung Galaxy Note to document the experience (posted soon at http://bit.ly/OscarExp13); and other perks.

Other winners were:
• Jennifer Brofer from the University of Texas at Austin (TX) – Hometown: Austin, Texas
• Abe Diaz from DePaul University (IL) – Hometown: Duluth, Minn.
• Hearin Ko from Emerson College (MA) – Hometown: Shanghai, China
• Tatenda Mbudzi from UCLA (CA) – Hometown: Harare, Zimbabwe
• AJ Young from Columbia College Chicago (IL) – Hometown: Mesa, Ariz.

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