"This video was created to be played at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance's Scholarship Showcase event—an annual performance by students for an audience of donors, produced by the SMTD Office of Advancement. It was one of four videos featuring SMTD students speaking about how their scholarships have affected their lives.
The process for creating this video started with reaching out to the student with a list of questions about his time at SMTD and how he feels about his scholarship. Our writer then crafted those answers into a script. We scheduled the student for a filming session during which he read the script from a teleprompter, and then we also scheduled times to gather additional footage of his private lessons, rehearsals, classes, meetings, etc. From there, we put the video together while also identifying appropriate music for the video's tone.
The impact during the Scholarship Showcase event was huge. It's very moving watching students so eloquently express their appreciation for their scholarship while also seeing beautiful footage of their SMTD experience.
After the event, advancement staff use Scholarship Story videos as examples of the life-changing impact donations have on students. Admissions staff can also use these videos to demonstrate the availability of scholarships to prospective students. Lastly, the students’ departments can use the videos as a recruiting tool to show the student experience."
From the Judges
This video contained beautifully filmed angles and was full of emotion when conveying the impact of scholarships through an inspiring story. The judges particularly liked the inclusion of specific donor names to enhance the personal stewardship of two donors while not diluting its relevance to a wider audience. This is a well presented example of a classic stewardship impact story.
