Tell us a bit about your organization and what your specialty is in the film and video space.

Ball State Sports Link is a student sports production program at Ball State, creating content around Ball State student-athletes and teams. It is the #1 ranked sports media program in the country by Broadcast Education Association current rankings. I am the Director of Sports Production for the program and serve as one of three faculty members overseeing students. I also freelance as a live event technical director around the Indianapolis sports TV scene.

What is your organization’s ethos and how does it set you apart from industry competitors?

Our ethos is to empower students at Ball State to tell inspiring stories of Cardinal student-athletes while building their own skills throughout their collegiate careers.

How can people join or learn more about what you do?

Follow us on all social media (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, X) or visit https://ballstatesportslink.com and https://transatlanticstorytelling.com

Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?

Transatlantic Storytelling 2024 is the second edition of an international immersion for students in Ball State Sports Link. This film was an international immersion experience for members of the program who traveled to Cardiff, Wales for 10 days to partner with Cardiff Metropolitan University to create a feature-length documentary that included the stories of several athletes in Welsh sports. I oversaw production as a coordinating producer, with students serving in all production roles.

What are you most proud of about this piece? What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?

The biggest challenge will always be navigating a feature length production, while traveling abroad with a group of 16 students.

Do you have any advice to other filmmakers based on your career or your team’s approach to work?

If you have the skills, don’t hold back in your creative approach and dream boundlessly.

Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?

This project is the result of 16 students from Ball State Sports Link finding and producing emotional stories around Welsh sports. It is powerful seeing students on an international trip fully embrace their craft and skills to create something outside of a normal classroom environment.

Tell us about the most memorable response you got from this work.

The most memorable responses will always be the subjects of each story reaching out and thanking us for telling their stories.

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

… empowering by igniting the human spirit.