ST. GEORGE – Dixie State College’s Center for Media Innovation has announced that its documentary film on the life of Wayne Newton, entitled “Wayne Newton: A Native American Legend,” has been selected to be shown at the 2012 Boston International Film Festival. The film was selected to serve as the closing feature on Sunday, April 22, at the Lowes Theater/Boston Commons on the final day of the 10th-annual festival.
“Wayne Newton: A Native American Legend,” was produced and directed by DSC associate professor of communication Phil Tuckett, who heads the DSC Communication Department’s CMI program and is the director of DOCUTAH. In addition, over 25 DSC film students participated in the production of the film, which took 18 months to produce.
“Our students should be proud of the work they accomplished during this project and the value of education they receive at Dixie State,” Tuckett noted. “We are setting this up so students can use what they learn in academics in the real world. CMI is there to help students take the next step in gaining tangible experience.”
Tuckett, along with Newton and other representatives, will travel to Boston to represent both Dixie State and DOCUTAH at the festival. Tuckett said he was pleased that the documentary was selected as the closing feature prior to the festival’s awards ceremony. He went on to say that the Newton biopic has been entered into various festivals all over the country and Tuckett hopes this is the first of many nominations.
“This points to the quality of production we are producing at CMI,” Tuckett said. “This festival receives thousands of entrees, it really is an indication of the quality of work done by CMI and film students here at Dixie State College.”
The world premiere of the Newton film took place last September as part of the Second-Annual DOCUTAH Opening Gala at the Tuacahn Amphitheater. In addition to the film’s premiere, Newton and his Las Vegas show orchestra performed a special concert to cap the evening’s festivities.
“To Wayne Newton’s credit, he was very eager to give college students the opportunity to work on production of his film,” said Tuckett, who served as producer and director of the film. “We were thrilled for the experience and opportunity this project gave to our students. It is undoubtedly the biggest project of its kind to come out of our college campus.”
The documentary film is also a featured attraction at Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah estate in Las Vegas, which was transformed into a major tourist attraction that opened for public tours earlier this year.