Diva Communications

Diva Communications, Inc. is a programming and production company that specializes in video for broadcast, cable, Internet and marketing use.[1] Founded by Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik in 1985, Diva Communications has produced 16 documentaries on faith-based and social justice issues and has successfully ventured into short-form video for the web and mobile devices.[2]

History

Diva got its start in 1985, when Debra Gonsher, after stints at Bravo, CBS and Twentieth Century Fox, formed Diva Communications. The company initially made production deals with Orion Pictures and Fox Hills Video, producing a series of wide-ranging home video offerings including How to Read a Woman Like a Book, How to Become the Love of His Life, Bizarre Sports Incredible Feats, and Get Rich Quick By Beating the Odds.

In 1995, the company merged with David Vinik’s Davideo Productions, which owned the full complement of production and post-production equipment. Diva's first film production after the merger was ''Embracing Judaism: Reaching In, Reaching Out, Reaching Up''. It resulted in the book Embracing Judaism: Narratives of Personal Faith published by Jason Aronson.[3] Since then the company has created, written, filmed and edited 19 documentaries which have aired on major television outlets and screened in film festivals worldwide. These films address such subjects as disability, hunger in America, intimate partner violence and healthcare.

Diva Communications also produces video content for the Web and mobile apps. In 2010, the company began creating the short videos Morning Thoughts and Evening Meditations, for Odyssey Network’s Call on Faith mobile app. "Morning Thoughts" is the most frequently watched video on the Call on Faith's Prayer Channel.[4]

 Call on Faith is a library of short inspirational videos, available both online and on mobile devices.[5]

Along with author and radio host Rabbi Irwin Kula, co-president of CLAL, Diva produced a short video series called the Wisdom of the Holidays [6] and recently completed the sequel, Wisdom of the Prayers.[7]

Diva is currently in post-production on Beauty of Their Dreams. This one-hour documentary demonstrates how people of faith can positively impact the problem of educational gender disparity. Scheduled to start airing on ABC affiliated stations in April 2016, Beauty of Their Dreams aims to (1) disseminate information about the important advocacy efforts undertaken by people of faith to advance girls’ education; and (2) mobilize faith-based communities and organizations to adopt girls’ education as a priority focus of social justice outreach. They are in pre-production on Entertaining Angels, an examination of faiths’ commitment to immigration reform.

Diva also curates the Mincha Moment website, a series of original web videos devoted to gratitude. In 2013, a short video from Mincha featuring Rabbi Kula received an Emmy nomination.[8] Dr. Gonsher Vinik was subsequently invited to contribute an article named “Practicing Gratitude” to the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) website Bold Café. Diva Communications' most recent documentary Every Word Has Power: The Poetry of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel celebrates Heschel’s words with a concert performance of his poetry set to music by noted singer, composer and musician Basya Schechter. This one-hour documentary began airing on ABC-affiliated stations nationwide in May 2015 and has been nominated for an Emmy award in 2016.

Films

The Beauty of Their Dreams ABC (post production)
In the Garden of the Ghetto (post production)
Every Word Has Power'' ABC (Emmy Nomination, 2016)
All of the Above' ABC
Divine Prescription ABC 2014 NY Emmy
A Peace of Bread ABC RNA 2nd place
I Believe You ABC & NBC Emmy Nomination, RNA 3rd
''A Place for All ABC & NBC Emmy Nomination, De Rose Hinkhouse 1st place
Yearning to Belong ABC & NBC 2009 NY Emmy
Everyone Prays at Holy Etchmiadzin ABC & PBS Emmy Nomination
And the Gates Opened ABC & NBC 2008 NY Emmy
The Eternal Light ABC & NBC 2007 NY Emmy
Legacy of our Ancestors ABC & NBC
The Highest Commandment ABC & NBC
Faith First ABC & NBC Emmy Nomination
''A Sacred Noise ABC & NBC
…To God’s Ear ABC & NBC Emmy Nomination
Grateful, Am I, To You ABC & NBC 1st prize, Education Category, 7th Annual International Jewish Film Festival
Embracing Judaism ABC & NBC

Films produced by Diva Communications have aired on television networks such as PBS, NBC and ABC.[9] Divine Prescription: Stories of Faith, Health, and Community began airing on ABC-affiliated stations in January, 2013.[10]

Their latest documentary All of the Above: Single, Clergy, Mother,[11] began airing on ABC in March 2014.[12]

Awards

Diva's films have won four local Emmy awards and ten nominations.[13] In February, 2012, Diva's film I Believe You was nominated for two Emmys, one for Best Religious Programming and one for Best Editing.[14] In February 2013, their short web video, Grateful For The Partial, was nominated for a New York Emmy for Best Religion News/Feature.[15] In 2014, their documentary Divine Prescription won an Emmy award.[16] Most recently their film "Every Word Has Power" was nominated for a 2015 Emmy Award

Diva won the 2010 DeRose-Hinkhouse Award for Best in Broadcasting for the documentary, A Place for All: Faith and Community for Persons with Disabilities.[17] The film tells the stories of disabled individuals working to make their faith communities more inclusive of them.

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://blog.jtsa.edu/changemakers/2013/03/11/embracing-my-intern-diva/
  2. ↑ http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/news/diva-comm-award
  3. ↑ https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780765760975
  4. ↑ http://www.callonfaith.com/prayer/a-prayer-for-the-morning/
  5. ↑ http://www.maryknollsociety.org/index.php/articles/2-articles/914-gift-of-mission-channel-is-featured-on-the-odyssey-networks-call-on-faith-mobile-app
  6. ↑ http://www.clal.org/cms/node/2639
  7. ↑ http://www.clal.org/cms/node/3017
  8. ↑ http://www.clal.org/cms/node/2641
  9. ↑ "A Peace of Bread: Faith, Food and the Future debuts in November on ABC affiliated stations". Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  10. ↑ http://www.divacommunications.com/programs/divine-prescription-to-air-on-abc-starting-january-20th/
  11. ↑ http://www.thejewishweek.com/arts/film/single-mom-clergy-public-role-private-path
  12. ↑ http://jwa.org/blog/all-of-above-refusing-to-choose March 2014
  13. ↑ "2009 New York Emmy Awards". Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  14. ↑ "55th Annual Emmy Award Nominations" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  15. ↑ http://www.nynatas.org/attachments/wysiwyg/5423/2013%20NY%20Emmy%20Nominees%20Press%20Release%20Feb%208.pdf
  16. ↑ Divine Prescription
  17. ↑ http://www.uconnucedd.org/lend/news_events/2011/film.html
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