The “Sustainable Lawrence” video competition is a competition between teams of students to create videos that will be used by the development office as tools to promote Lawrence as an institution whose environmental impact is being lessened. These videos will aim to promote the theme of this school year — sustainability of the campus community.
The videos will be used in the public phase of Lawrence’s “More Light!” campaign — the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the college’s history. They will also be used by the Green Roots Initiative to draw attention to their work and encourage participation from the campus community.
The competition is sponsored through a partnership of the Office of Development and the Green Roots Initiative. Launched in the fall of 2008, Green Roots is a two-year environmental initiative that will establish the framework for more specific institutional policies and procedures in order to “green” the Lawrence campus as well as to cultivate habits that lead to the increase in care of the Earth and sustainability of the Lawrence community.
The competition is composed of two rounds. In the first round, teams of students will come up with a 10-minute overview of their inspiration and present it to a committee comprised of faculty and staff during the second week of February 2009. Three teams will be selected and loaned a professional-grade video camera, a Mac laptop outfitted with video editing software and $750 to cover expenses.
The second round will feature teams creating a three-minute video based on environmentalism and sustainability at Lawrence. It is important that these topics are looked at and interpreted more broadly than in the traditional sense.
Moreover, they should show Lawrence’s position at the forefront of environmental issues and sustainability. Teams are encouraged to seek advice, testimonials and interviews from faculty, staff and fellow students. However, all photography and video must be original work by a team member. It is also required that each video contain an original soundtrack composed by a student.
The three teams will have their videos premiered at a screening event during Fall Term 2009. The winning team will receive a $3,000 cash prize as well as have their video featured on the Documentary Channel. The runner-up will receive $1,500 and the third place team will receive $500.
Students who wish to join the competition can submit team information to Erin Chudacoff, assistant director of donor relations, at erin.h.chudacoff@lawrence.edu. Entries should be submitted no later than Jan. 30, 2009. Erin can also be reached at (920) 832-7057 for additional information, questions or video guidelines.
Video competition invites filmmakers to “think green
