St. Photios National Shrine Receives National Awards
Saint Augustine, FL: His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, the Hierarchal Proistamenos of the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine in St. Augustine, Florida, is pleased to announce the reception of two national awards for the video presentation “Greek Landing Day,” available on the Shrine’s social media pages and YouTube channel. The video was produced by the Saint Photios Shrine in conjunction with Spectrum Films.
The first is the “2021 Communicator Award of Distinction” presented by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA) in the category of Film/Video—History/Biography in a field of nearly 5,000 contributions. The second is a “Silver Zedman” of the prestigious Zedman Awards
Competition, presented by the Society for Creative Professionals for online and commercial video content, in the category “Educational/Instructional.” Both awards are conferred by judges from among the leading professionals of the video and online industries.
As Nicholas Furris, Senior Producer of Spectrum Films notes, “The St. Photios Shrine deserves to be promoted and highlighted for her historical importance in America. It was indeed an honor for Spectrum Films to work with His Grace Bishop Demetrios on ‘Greek Landing Day’ so that all people, Greeks, philhellenes and history enthusiasts can appreciate the significance and importance of the 'Jewel on St. George Street' in St. Augustine.” Mr. Furris is also a member of the Saint Photios Foundation Board of Trustees.
Bishop Demetrios added, “It has been a concerted effort by many to bring the mission and message of our Saint Photios Shrine to a greater audience than those who are able to visit here in Florida. It is truly an honor to have our videos, with many thanks to Spectrum Films, honored by such recognition—not only in these awards, but in the thousands of our viewers. We thank all for their support, including many others involved in our productions.”
Saint Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine is an institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America located at 41 St. George Street in the colonial quarter of St. Augustine, Florida. Its permanent exhibit honors the memory of the first 500 Greeks who came to America in 1768 as indentured servants. In 1777, the refugees of the failed New Smyrna Colony, located 75 miles away, were received by Governor Patrick Tonyn and given sanctuary at the Avero House, now the site of Saint Photios National Shrine.
