two musicians, a comedian and a videographer. We wanted our students to know that it is possible to pursue a dream and find success in it.” Judge Stuart Edge said, “As a filmmaker, I’m always exposed to so many types of film and a lot of times it’s super high end quality. What impressed me was seeing so many different styles and realizing the people that made these are all here; it made it more personal.” Jason Earl, academic director of the Willes Center, said bringing the guest judges here was a miracle. “When we first put the proposal together in July for the new social media format of the Great Ideas Conference, it was taken all the way to the Church Board of Education. Each speaker was reviewed by the board members, including their biog-
raphy and work (i.e., videos, songs, social media presence). The real miracle here is that you need a team to pull something like this together and everyone focused on providing the best experience possible for our students. The icing on the cake was having David Archuleta here to meet the students.” Wilson said, “Seeing the quality of short business films the students created was the most powerful experience from the competition. It amazed me just how far many of them went to create the story they wanted the audience to see.” According to Wilson, the entrepreneurship program is already preparing for the next competition. “We have already had a debriefing on how we can make next year’s video competition better,” said Wilson. “However,
Clockwise: Guest judge David Archuleta sings during a fireside at the Canon Activities Center; James Astle and Austin Meldrum win first place in the service category of the Great Ideas Video Competition; Audience members await the final videos at the PCC Imax Theater. Photos by Milani Ho.
the competition is just a leader into next semester’s Empower Your Dreams competition, which will be around crowd funding (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and the likes). Short business films will be at the heart of what we will be doing, so I am excited to see what these students can bring.”
J oshu a Mason
December 4 , 2014
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