Students from Missouri State University’s Department of Communication, Media, Journalism and Film have won a 2024 Student Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS)—Mid-America for an episode of their documentary, “Discovering Dickerson Park Zoo.”
Episode 3, “Medicine of Dickerson Park Zoo” not only won the Student Emmy for Best College Non-Fiction Long Form, it also won second place from the Missouri Broadcast Education Association in the Video Documentary category.
Another episode, “Education of Dickerson Park Zoo,” was nominated for a Student Emmy for Best College Non-Fiction Short Form.
The entire documentary is a nine-episode web series filmed and edited by students taught by Jon Mabee, associate professor of film and television.
Mabee co-directed the documentary, along with Autumn Girgin, a recent graduate of the MFA in Dramatic Writing program. Mabee was also one of the producers.
“The National Academy of Arts and Sciences-Mid America Emmy competition is one of the most prestigious of the awards festivals that we compete in, since they are judged by professionals in the industry,” said CMJF department head Dr. Deborah Larson. “With two wins and one nomination this year, our students showed how we can compete at this level.”
“This also speaks volumes about our faculty who mentor them and the production and journalism programs we offer to our students,” Larson added.
“Real world” project based on client need
The zoo documentary project came about when Mabee, who has worked with the Dickerson Park Zoo on other projects, agreed to help the zoo create content to celebrate its 100th birthday.
This was an opportunity for students to be involved in “real-world applications” that reflect content taught in CMJF courses, Mabee said.
During the project, Mabee supervised roughly two dozen students, some of whom were enrolled in his Client-Based Video Production (MED 385) and Editing for Film & TV (MED 466) courses.
Total production time was about 20 weeks, Mabee estimated, with about three weeks devoted to actual filming. The project began in March 2023 and concluded in December.
Gaining hands-on experience
Junior digital media/television production major Gabriel Jacob signed on to the project at Mabee’s urging.
“Jon Mabee is my advisor and someone I respect and trust very much,” Jacob said. “So when he told me about this opportunity he was making possible, I was quickly on board. I loved the idea of getting real world experience working with clients and being behind the camera.”
Jacob worked as one of the videographers for the winning episode. He filmed the animals, the zoo workers and B-roll footage.
Junior digital film and television production major Faith Drewianka had just switched her major and felt she could not miss the chance to dive into her new career choice.
“I thought this was the perfect opportunity for learning and experience,” she said. “I also have always really loved the zoo, so I knew it would be fun.”
Drewianka worked as both a camera operator and as a boom operator.
Senior digital television and film production major Jillian Frogge was another videographer for the winning episode. She learned about the project from Larson.
“Dr. Larson introduced me to the idea of participating in the summer class to film at the zoo during my advisement meeting,” she explained. “I love animals and film, so I thought it would be a great way to combine the two while getting real world experience.”
Frogge filmed during the summer, then enrolled in the editing class in the fall, where she was able to edit one of the other episodes.
Senior digital film and television production majors Jacob Lenhardt and Trevor Huck co-edited the winning episode. While Lenhardt’s primary job was to review the raw footage, organize it and turn it into a story, Huck spent his time navigating both pre- and post-production duties.
“Claiming to be an editor, I thought that this opportunity was a perfect way for me to hone my skills both narratively and technically,” Lenhard said.
“The opportunity was an easy yes on my part, as I want to eventually work in the professional field of film or television production,” Huck said.
Giving back to the community
Mabee saw the project as a way not only to support the zoo but also to give back to the Springfield community.
“My 8-year-old daughter also wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up, and my family has always been huge fans of our local zoo here in Springfield,” Mabee said.
“And while I can’t write a huge check to them every year to help support their continued missions of community engagement and conservation, I can create the opportunity for them and our students to mutually benefit from a production like this,” he added.
Drewianka also sees her career choice as a way to give back.
“As cool as it would be to win more awards, my ultimate goal is to make things that will have an impact on people,” she said.
Turning incredible memories into teachable moments
Production scheduling was flexible, according to Mabee, with some crews coming to work early, some mid-day and some during the evening shifts.
“Some students would come in at 7 a.m. to record ‘breakfast for the animals,’ and as they left at 10 a.m., another group would come in to film specific events and then another evening crew would come in to cover the Friends of the Zoo (FOZ) events,” Mabee explained.
The students’ zoo liaison would then assign different teams to film activities such as tranquilizer dart training, snake surgery and FOZ events, Frogge said.
Learning both technical and storytelling skills
Jacob recalled a particular incident that taught him as much about the sensitivity behind the story being told as it did the technical skills needed to tell it.
“There was a particular instance where another shooter and I were tasked with filming a procedure on a deer that [had] a couple of known issues,” Jacob recalled. “It was a learning experience on how to film such a moment and get as much as I can without interrupting.”
Although he was scheduled to film a follow-up procedure, Jacob was prevented from doing so because the deer developed complications and died.
“The decision was made to not record this moment for the sake of the zookeepers,” Jacob said. “I learned that not every moment should be recorded, even [if] it would make for good content, due to the well-being of the zookeepers.”
Frogge also learned more than just technical skills during her experience. Working with animals reinforced for her the need for patience and good timing in filmmaking.
“When working with animals, it is imperative to be on the ready,” she said. “You can’t really script what they are going to do, so it is important to be rolling and ready.”
Frogge said feeding the zoo’s bears was especially enjoyable.
“Feeding the bears was a great experience,” she said. “All of us on the zoo film crew got to take turns spoon feeding the bear. I don’t think that many people can say that they got to do so, and what made it even more special was our mascot [is] the Bears.”
The students also had to learn adaptability in less-than-ideal weather.
“There were a few days of shooting where [the rain] came down in sheets of water and you couldn’t see 10 yards in front of you for minutes at a time,” Mabee said. “That slowed us down but didn’t stop us from eventually getting everything we needed.”
The siamang song
Both Jacob and Frogge said hearing the song of the siamang gibbons was one of the more memorable moments of the documentary experience,
“While I was walking around the zoo filming B-roll, the siamangs started singing the song they made together as partners,” Jacob said. “It’s…rare…to get to hear this event, let alone record it, and I was able to capture it in full. I felt honored to get that opportunity.”
“It was surreal getting to hear them sing their song,” Frogge agreed. “They are my favorite animal, so recording that and hearing it live really brought two things I enjoy together.”
Thoughts on winning an Emmy
Mabee believes “Medicine of Dickerson Park Zoo” was singled out for its excellent editing and storytelling quality. Lenhardt’s experience as editor reinforces those observations.
“After showing the rough cut, I remember disliking the edit so much that I started over completely and reconstructed each segment,” Lenhard recalled. “Never in my life had I done something like that, narratively or editing wise, but I wouldn’t have done it if I knew it couldn’t be any better.”
Despite knowing they had done good work, the students were still skeptical when they received an email from Mabee telling them they had won an Emmy.
“I honestly thought it was a scam email,” Frogge said to describe her reaction to Mabee’s news. “I had to read it a few times to fully grasp the news. After I came to terms with it, I was ecstatic. The first thing I did was call my mom and dad.”
Jacob said he wasn’t aware of how significant it was for the team to win an Emmy until Mabee took the time to explain what it meant.
“At first, I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t know that it was a big deal, but after talking with Jon and him telling me that it actually is, I do feel quite honored and grateful,” he said.
Sweetening an already good deal
Sending that email was one of the best moments of the entire experience for Mabee.
“When I got to send an email to everyone telling them that we had won a student Emmy, was nominated for another and won second place at the Missouri Broadcast Education Association…it was all due to them and their work!” he said. “I just set things in motion—the students are the ones who came through and did the great work.”
“I was incredibly proud of our students and their accomplishments,” Mabee continued. “It’s not easy to put a TV show together, let alone between two different courses—and they did a phenomenal job in both shooting and editing the project together.”
Frogge said seeing the entire project come together was the best part of the entire experience.
“It is so satisfying to watch it back as a cohesive piece, and winning the Emmy definitely sweetened the deal,” she said.
Skills and experience the “true awards”
Lenhardt was hard at work editing another project when Mabee’s email came through.
“It was an awkward time to receive the news. I knew that I had to keep editing, but I wanted to appreciate the achievement,” he said. “I took a step outside and called my mom, and after a long conversation I got back to the station to continue my work. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Let’s do it again.'”
Huck reached out to Lenhardt soon after learning about the award.
“We both worked incredibly hard together in order to achieve the product we were proud of,” Huck said. “The skills and experiences are the true awards.”
Continuing the joy of storytelling
Mabee is already focused on the next project for his production students.
“This May we will be working with [Missouri State University’s] Paws to the Polls and the Greene County Elections office to create video content about voting and the voting process in Springfield and other cities found within Greene County,” he said.
And for the students, as far as awards go, “one-and-done” does not seem to factor into any of their futures.
“I plan on graduating next May with hopefully some more awards and projects to my name,” Jacob said. He hopes to start a media production company in his hometown of Joplin, Missouri.
Frogge said she plans to use the award as “extra motivation.”
“In my eyes, this is ideally the first award of many, so I look forward with what’s to come,” she said.
“I wouldn’t mind winning an Oscar or two,” Drewinka agreed.
Huck and Lenhardt are proud that they told a good story. Both want to continue doing so.
“Having an Emmy to my name feels great and all, but I can’t help but focus on my next steps,” Huck said. “There is little time for celebration when you want to produce more!”
“Going forward I only hope to create more stories, whether that is through editing or writing,” Lenhardt said.
“Through this I learned one very important thing about myself: I have a deep and genuine love for storytelling.”
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Photo credits: MED 385 students and Jon Mabee.