Arts & Entertainment The Putnam Examiner

Local Cinematographer, Consultant Win Putnam Hometown Media Awards

June 25, 2021 Examiner Media Putnam County

Videographer Chris Casaburi of Executive PhotoVideo and Lisa Kaslyn of Prosper Communications, both Lake Carmel residents, were named Community Event Activism/Rallies Independent Producer category winners of the 2021 Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media Foundation.

The awards program was established to honor and promote community media and radio and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels. Proceeds go to the ACM Foundation, which is exclusively used for facilitating, preserving and promoting education in community media.

Designed to educate and encourage Putnam residents and visitors to support local eateries during the pandemic, the winning submission featured a series of powerful interview vignettes with Putnam County restaurateurs, as well as visuals demonstrating the safety and sanitization protocols that Putnam restaurants have implemented to ensure the health, safety and comfort of patrons during the pandemic.

Kaslyn said that with support of business sponsors, including Tompkins Mahopac Bank, Titan Concrete, Downey Energy, Schech’s Pool Spa Patio and Christopher X. Maher, Esq., the Putnam County Business Council funded development of a public service campaign to support the hospitality industry, which was hard hit by COVID-19.

“Working with a talented cinematographer, like Chris Casaburi, truly raised the bar on quality and enabled us to visually portray a true and persuasive story acknowledging our hospitality heroes,” Kaslyn said.

Putnam County Restaurant Rally featured establishments from across the county, including Catherine’s Tuscan Grill; Clock Tower Grill; Cold Spring Depot; The Freight House Café; Limni; Mezzaluna; Florrie Kaye’s Tea Room; Dolly’s; Bucci Brothers Deli; Arturo’s; Savor Ristorante; Prato Trattoria; Valley Restaurant; Hudson Hil’s Cafe; Trattoria Sei; Le Bouchon; and Riverview Restaurant.

View the video at https://youtu.be/Tc7ynpD_bNA to meet some of Putnam’s extraordinary eatery bosses as they share their commitment to safety, good food and great atmosphere.

Each year, nearly 1,000 entries are submitted. These entries, or programs, are evaluated on several factors resulting in more than 100 award winners. A panel of judges from the industry evaluates the entries. Awards are presented to the most creative programs that address community needs, develop diverse community involvement, challenge conventional commercial television formats and move viewers to experience television in a different way.

Prosper Communications worked with local public access channels in Carmel (Comcast Channel 21) and Putnam Valley (Channel 18) to broadcast the public service announcement to Putnam residents.

“The Hometown Media Awards celebrate both the excellence of work and the diversity of media that appears on community channels being produced around the country,” said Mike Wassenaar, president & CEO of Alliance for Community Media. “The ACM Foundation is proud of their achievement and of how they represent their communities in their work.”