VA creative team earns global award recognition… again

Across VA, creative team communication is critical to informing, educating and inspiring employees and Veterans.

For the Bay Pines Medical Media Services team, their passion and precision for telling the stories of Veterans and employees has earned them recognition once again for their creative and impactful video products that exceed the standards for storytelling.

As part of the 44^th Annual Telly Awards, Air Force Veterans Tom Cole and Mark DePass received three awards, placing them in the same competition with global organizations like Disney Parks, FEMA, National Geographic and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

This brings the Medical Media Service’s Telly Awards total to nine since 2011. There were more than 13,000 entries this year. Pictured above, Cole (left) and Depass display three of their nine Telly Awards.

“It brings me great pride to have our work be internationally recognized for impact, quality and professionalism, and to be able to represent VA in a very positive light,” said Cole. “Being part of a creative team that produces meaningful and professional products to support our Veterans and staff is absolutely the best part of this job.”

“We share the responsibility to get the job done right the first time.”

DePass also takes pride in the knowledge that the level of recognition they’ve earned serves as confirmation from peers in the industry that their work exceeds standards.

“We have a variety of projects which allow us to be creative,” added DePass. “For me, the ability to think outside the box, and the trust we have from leadership to really create, is inspiring and motivating.”

Collectively, the duo received three Telly Awards for products they created last year. The pair shares a silver for a promotional video in support of Black History Month and a bronze for their promotional video that highlighted the National Vietnam War Veterans Day. DePass also earned a bronze Telly for his feature on National Creative Arts Festival Veteran Brian Small.

Cole and DePass are quick to acknowledge two other members of the team—Army Veteran Christiana Anstaett and Navy Veteran Tim Westmorland. They lead visual efforts for graphics, photography, layout and design requests for every service across the healthcare system.

“We have a great team of professionals who are committed to one another and value the responsibility we share to get the job done right the first time,” said DePass, who served with the Air Force 1^st Combat Camera Squadrons as an aerial videographer.