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THROUGH THE EYES OF ‘MILLENNIALS’
Tallahassee, Fla. – Tuesday, December 4, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Florida A&M University (FAMU) School of Journalism & Graphic Communication will sponsor its 2007 Fall Student Documentary Night in the School of Journalism & Graphic Communication Lecture Hall. A reception is scheduled immediately following the program in the SJGC Gallery.
Ten students (five teams of two) in the broadcast degree program at FAMU’s SJGC will have a chance to show the world what they think as they unveil their work. The five, 15-minute documentaries were selected from more than a dozen class projects all competing for an opportunity to expose their craft at the end-of-semester Student Documentary Night.
“Now, in our second year, the documentary night is a showcase to the community of some very compelling stories and unique talents by our student producers,” said Kenneth Jones, an associate professor in the SJGC broadcast sequence and instructor of the specialized reporting class that spawns the documentaries. “Maybe we don’t fully understand the current generation of college-aged students that demographers refer to as millennials. However, if the subjects covered in the student documentaries written and produced by students in the FAMU broadcast degree program are any indicator, this is a generation of young people who are ready to tackle the broad range of critical issues facing our communities and our world.”
This semester, the topics selected by the filmmakers are broad in range and scope but all speak to some aspect of the human condition. Whether the subject is homelessness, ovarian cancer or the uninsured, these students have devoted the semester to carefully and thoughtfully researching the topic and capturing truth through the lens of a video camera.
The winning documentaries are as follows:
“Lost Ones”
Tagline: Lost in the shuffle of life
Producers: Danielle Bass and Stephan Weekes
“It Giveth and It Taketh: Ovarian Cancer”
Tagline: Ovarian cancer, the rise of a silent disease
Producers: Janay Theodore and Danon Bell
“Reassurance for the Uninsured”
Tagline: No money, no insurance
Producers: Erneshia Edwards and Tanisha Pinkney
“Escaping a Different World: Black Males and Special Ed
Tagline: Victims of special education
Producers: Jessica Larche’ and Lorraine McBride
“A Helping Hand”
Tagline: A boy in a man’s role
Producers: Shakaya Andres and Mahalia Bowman
“We are pleased to share these documentaries with other students and the University community at large,” said James Hawkins, dean of the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. “They (the documentaries) reflect the hard work of our students and provide insight into important topics and issues.”
There are more than 115 students in the broadcast degree program today and many of them are award-winning journalists. One of this semester’s documentary filmmakers, Jessica Larche’, is a prestigious Hearst award winner. Stefan Weekes won the first place Associated Press Award, North Florida and South Georgia, for the best three-part series in 2007.
“The student documentaries are very compelling and highly produced,” said Jones. “They continue to reap state and national awards every year.”
Student associates in the PRodigy Public Relations Firm, a student-run, campus-based, all-volunteer company housed in the SJGC, designed, planned and implemented the marketing and publicity for the 2007 Fall Student Documentary Night.
“Professor Kenneth Jones approached me in early September with a request for PRodigy to handle the publicity for the Student Documentary Night,” explained Gina Kinchlow, a visiting professor in the public relations sequence and faculty advisor for the PRodigy PR Firm. “I knew that with proper guidance, support and resources, our PR majors could do this and do it well.”
According to Kinchlow there are approximately seven students, all public relations majors, who worked on the Student Documentary Night Account. They wrote feature stories, contacted media, organized the program and reception, and posted fliers.
For more information about the Student Documentary Night, contact Professor Kenneth Jones at (850) 599-3379. For information about the PRodigy Public Relations Firm, call Professor Gina L. Kinchlow at (850) 412-5389.
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