A short video on the De Colores service program has nabbed a national award for Loyola Marymount’s ROAR Network and recognition for the students who put it together.
Jim Schaefer, a student in the School of Film and Television and producer at the ROAR Network, started work on the project after he was approached by the student media adviser about collaborating with other groups at LMU.
Advisor Tom Nelson and Marty Roers of Campus Ministry thought the De Colores program would make for a great documentary. De Colores is a group of students who make several trips a year to Tijuana, Mexico, to build homes and participate in other community projects.
“It was a new challenge for me, as this was my first documentary directing experience,” said Schaefer, who had participated in two De Colores trips before. “I’ll admit to being a bit nervous at the prospect of heading up ROAR’s first departmental collaboration project, but as the subject was familiar, I knew the documentary would be doable.”
Schaefer worked with Jose Martinez, the editor in chief of The Loyolan newspaper, to script the documentary. Freshman John Iadarola helped shoot footage.
The final product placed second in the Association of Higher Education Campus Television Administrators’ Student Production Awards.