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I got interested in tech at a very young age. What started as doing the house audio mix for church on Sunday mornings or making short videos with friends grew into the basis for a career in Nashville's entertainment industry. I started working at SeisMic Sound, a post production studio in Nashville, as a summer intern in 2015 and this early introduction to mixing included instruction from some of Nashville's best. It inspired me to continue my education in a formal setting and to look for schools that could provide both a strong Christian foundation as well as high quality training in my areas of interest. Of course, this made Taylor University with its award-winning Film & Media Production program an easy choice. My first TV credit for Music Re-Mix/Audio Sweetening was on ABC’s CMA (Country Music Awards) Fest in 2019. In 2020 I received a student award from the regional Emmy organization for my team’s film "Wild Winds: Spirit of the Bison." The short documentary screened at many film festivals including the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Because of these great experiences, I was able to figure out how much I really love non-fiction production. In May of 2022, I graduated with honors from Taylor University with a degree in Film and Media Production. My first job has been that of mix assistant at SeisMic Sound in Nashville. I also act as studio manager, organizing client visits and recording sessions, and running the studio's social media. While music and audio are my main passion, I am also an Avid Certified video editor and I’m still pursuing new learning opportunities. Since graduation, I’ve worked with well-known musicians and celebrities such as Billy Joel, Chrissy Metz from the TV series "This Is Us," For King & Country, Garth Brooks, Elle King, Carrie Underwood and more. I try to be a light and ambassador for Christ in the entertainment industry. A regular part of my routine is trying to have at least one gospel conversation per week, which my time at Taylor was able to prepare me for.
While at Taylor, there were hundreds of little experiences that all added up to make it a wonderful time in my life. However, a few specific things do stand out. Being a PA (personnel assistant) for both my Junior and Senior years was a great experience. The skills I got to learn and the mentorship I received through that role were amazing, but what I loved most was being able to impact the community where I lived–everything from leading a small group and tackling some difficult subjects to making our floor into a massive slip and slide, I loved every minute of it. One of the other defining accomplishments from my time at Taylor was taking the marathon class with Dr. Brandon Dykstra. I was in the very first group of students to ever take that class and it changed my life. I was able to see the integration of faith and other areas of life in a way that I had never considered before. I was pushed to grow in areas that I had never been challenged in before and learned to honor Christ with every step I took, be it walking to class or running eighteen miles. We got to be so close in that class and getting to see the love of Christ during our training was amazing. It gave me a whole new outlook on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 which says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
One truly unique thing about Taylor is that their emphasis on liberal arts has truly helped me to be a more well-rounded person. Since graduating I have been able to see its effects in multiple areas of my life–such as interactions with people of other faiths aided by my world religion studies with Dr. Kevin Diller, taking care of plants in my free time with tips from Beginner’s Botany with Professor Liz Hasenmyer, or being able to have a deeper appreciation of my daily devotionals after studying the New Testament with Dr. MaGee. My studies prepared me to enter the world and to be able to have an intelligent conversation with practically anyone. I have a deeper appreciation for the world around me and the people in it. By being versatile and knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects, I hope to represent Christ well every day.
One thing that drew me specifically to the Film and Media Production major at Taylor is that it allows for all areas of film to be explored. Students have the opportunity to take classes that cover virtually the entire entertainment industry. Scriptwriting, documentary filmmaking, post-production methods, advanced audio courses and more are all made available to Taylor students. I wanted to make sure that I have a versatile enough skill set to get hired on all sorts of jobs upon graduating and so far, that’s exactly how it’s worked out. I regularly work with Pro Tools, an audio software that I was taught to use at Taylor. We also work with video editors who utilize Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere, both of which Josh Taylor teaches classes, allowing students to earn official certification. Perhaps my favorite skillset though, is the one I acquired from the Multi-Camera Live Production class taught by John Bruner and the associated lab sessions overseen by Lincoln Reed. Learning to operate in high stress situations in live television prepared me for my job here in Nashville. That being said, my education has aided in pursuing my vocation through much more than just my major. I have been able to witness to coworkers in an industry that does not have many outspoken Christians, and I've been able to defend my beliefs from an intellectual and heartfelt standpoint. Beyond that, there have been multiple instances of my other foundational core classes coming in handy such as understanding literary allusions and references in a script we’re working with, or when content from my psychology and anthropology courses allow me to better understand co-workers from different backgrounds. When I compare my education to that of my contemporaries, I see the value in having such a wide range of knowledge in addition to formal training with some of the entertainment industry’s leading practices and technology. It allowed me to hit the ground running and secure a job doing what I love.
The entertainment industry is not always an easy place to succeed, but Taylor’s program does an amazing job of preparing students to do their best work upon graduating. Not everything will make sense as you are doing it, but it is for a reason. You will be better prepared for the real world if you trust your professors and follow the guidelines. They know what they are doing, and they absolutely have your best interests at heart. Something that I personally benefited from was trying anything and everything at least once. I came to Taylor expecting to stick with narrative or fiction film, but through the course of my studies, I was pleasantly surprised to find that documentary work was actually more appealing to me. By staying open to possibilities, I found something that differed from my expectations in the best possible way. Make it a practice to put yourself out there and jump out of your comfort zone. Who knows? It could grow from saying yes to filling the role of producer to going on tour in Ireland with Garth Brooks. If that’s how it worked for me, who’s to say it can’t work for you? Dream big!
