National religious broadcasting standings

National religious broadcasting standings

Lauren Dibble, Staff Writer

North Greenville University’s Mass Communication Department brought a group of 44 students to Nashville, Tenn. for the annual National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention the week of Feb. 25.

Of those 44 students, 34 came along as volunteers to help in areas, such as registration and facilities. The other 10 students competed on teams of film and audio production in order to win cash prizes. The three teams NGU brought were put together and led by broadcast media professor, Shur Gopal.

The audio team’s two members, junior Elizabeth Nelsen and sophomore Bethany Lipscomb, won the first-place prize of $1,000 for the radio story they created in the 24 hour challenge they competed in.

Nelsen explained that, “Working on this project was the one of the most challenging things I’ve had to do in college. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Bethany… It took us almost five hours to come up with our story.”

Nelsen and Lipscomb almost trashed their winning story and started over due to complications, but upon showing the script to their voice actors, they decided they wanted to take the risk. “We honestly never thought we would get first our first time ever competing. When they called us, it was like a dream. We couldn’t believe it,” Nelsen said.

Another first-place winner for NGU was senior Mason Freitas, for a news package he put together. Freitas, along with senior Clayton Caldwell, sophomore Jeremiah Drummond and freshman Logan Childs, competed in the 24 hour film challenge by creating a short three-minute video.

The requirements needed for the short film had to include a balloon prop, a theme of hope and a line of dialogue: “Only a real risk can test the reality of a belief.” The team’s video, titled “Captive,” met all of the standards and told a story about a young woman who overcame her experience of being kidnapped.

Although their video didn’t win, Caldwell stated, “NRB has definitely been a life changing experience for me and I really enjoyed working with Mason, Jeremiah, and Logan… I’m disappointed we didn’t place, but I’m so proud of the film we made.” With this being his last year in college, he said he will miss competing at NRB.

The same video requirements were used by the other film team of four students: Freshman Trey Stewart, sophomore Grace Lothridge, freshman Hudson Carter, and freshman Chris Jalbert. Their video, “Wonderfully Made,” discussed the self-doubt that is formed by social media and how people don’t have to believe the lie that they’re not good enough.

Stewart wrote the script for the film and said, “Being able to explore downtown Nashville looking for good film locations with our team was unforgettable. We are super proud of the film we ended up making and believe it has a great message that is relevant to almost anyone.”

The team had the opportunity to do more than just filming. Lothridge explained the experience they had with networking with attendees while at NRB. “I didn’t expect to get so many neat opportunities or meet so many genuine and helpful people… Who doesn’t want to take a trip with friends for school and also get the chance to meet so many people that can help advance your career?” she said.

Other awards won by NGU students includes second place for a promo video by Caldwell and Freitas, second place for a sports news story by Caldwell and third place for a music video by Nelsen.

Nelsen hopes they will have the opportunity to return to compete in Aneheim, Ca. where the NRB convention will be held in 2019.