Five Northeast Community College media arts students participated in a live event in Omaha that exposed them to the best of real-world experiences.

For the third consecutive year, broadcasting and digital cinema and media students were asked to provide video production services for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Association’s (OEAA) annual awards show. The Sunday, February 18 program at the Omaha Design Center in downtown Omaha is recognized as the city’s best of the best in visual, performing and musical arts.

“This show is like the Oscars of art and entertainment in Omaha, it’s an incredible honor to be part of such a program,” said Brian Anderson, Northeast broadcasting instructor. “Students utilized our TriCaster video production switcher to feed four cameras, videos and graphics to large projection screens that are seen by all who are attending. Our students operated the switcher and the cameras. In addition, we streamed the program live on YouTube to help the OEAA reach an even bigger audience. The experience gained by the students here is huge!”

Northeast is one of many media entities that are contracted for the show. There is a separate sound vender, lighting vendor, video projection vendor and video production businesses that produce all of the videos. In addition to working the show, the Northeast students had the opportunity to watch other media professionals as they assisted with the event.

Anderson also said the students earn their keep.

“The crew leaves Norfolk before the sun comes up, sets the equipment up and produces the show, then comes back to Norfolk after midnight that night. It’s a long day for them, but I hear no complaints. I think they all truly enjoy this experience and recognize that this type of hard work will be expected of them when they enter the workforce.”

The students are not the only ones glowing about their experience. Rita Clark of RKC Productions is contracted as the producer and crew director for the show.

“Working with the studenlts of Northeast Community College gives our non-profits the ability to have top-quality production, while giving the students the experience of working with groups outside their normal day-to-day operations. The organizations I work with are truly appreciative of the professionalism and enthusiasm displayed by the students and we hope they are able to use these experiences to create more diverse resumes for their future endeavors.”

The partnership between the OEAA and the Northeast media arts program began in late 2015 when Jasper Goforth, an audio recording technology graduate who now works for Audio Visions in Omaha, approached Instructor Timothy Miller about the idea of helping the students gain live experience through the awards show.

Five Northeast broadcasting and digital cinema and media students provided video production services for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Association’s annual awards show recently. Pictured (l-r) are Dustin Van Zee, Sioux Falls SD; Adam Lundeen,Axtell; Kaylee Dankert, Pierce; Scott Hampton, Norfolk; and Henry Hagge, Norfolk. (Courtesy Northeast Community College)