On March 3, Lydia Bennett ’26 and her JCU Studios team received the silver ADDY Award for their ten-minute short film, “The Last Assignment.” Bennett worked with Ray Weisberg ’22, Jenna Kieley ’25, Barrett Jett ’24, Justin Funkhouser ’25, Ayusha Samal ’27, Stephen Claybaker ’24 and Emily Medina ’27 to put together this award-winning film.
“I was so excited and a little surprised because I honestly thought it wasn’t a good short film, especially it being the first one,” Bennett told The Carroll News. “It did [feel] great to have the hard work we put into the project recognized.”
The horror-satire film is about a group of college students that are trapped at their campus library. As a result of being haunted by a ghost, they are forced to put an assignment that was actively in-progress on the backburner. The students must both find a drink that the ghost wants and finish their assignment before midnight.
“‘The Last Assignment’ was inspired by the idea of Halloween season,” Bennett said. “I wanted my first real short film to be somewhat scary since it was during that season but also funny. Hence it being a satire.”
“Lydia asked me to play the part of the teacher,” said Bob Noll, who acted in “The Last Assignment” and is a professor for the Tim Russert Department of Communication. “[She] gave me an idea of what I needed to say. I then made up my lines and based on what Lydia needed, I gave the performance she wanted.”
The students who contributed to Bennett’s short film fulfilled the crucial roles necessary for ensuring the best production for the video.
“My role in ‘The Last Assignment’ was a producer and editor role,” said Funkhouser. “I helped scout filming locations and helped edit the opening segment as well as aided in the writing of the story.”
“My role in ‘The Last Assignment’ was to assist with the production and post-production of the video,” said Kieley. “All the conceptualization came from Lydia and Ray, since this was truly their passion project. I set up equipment, composed shots and got out of my comfort zone by acting.”
Kieley continued, “Since JCU Studios is such a small group, we all had to contribute to the project in multiple ways, but it was very rewarding to gain experience both in front of and behind the camera. Lydia pulled most of the weight in editing the video, but I helped with a few technical aspects like color grading.”
Director of Blue Streak Media Dan Slentz, who is also the advisor of JCU Studios, gives students hands-on training in all aspects of media production, which ranges from on-air talent to editing techniques.
“As one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious advertising competitions, the American Advertising Awards celebrate outstanding creative work across the industry,” said Slentz. “We’re proud of Lydia’s work and recognition and the exceptional talent within JCU’s Tim Russert Department of Communication. This underscores the department and the university’s growing presence in the media and advertising industry.”
Jill Bernaciak, a professor for the Tim Russert Department of Communication and supervisor for JCU’s chapter of PRSSA, encouraged Bennett to submit her short film to the American Advertising Federation.
“As faculty, we always emphasize collaboration across our co-curricular organizations— PRSSA, JCU Studios, WJCU 88.7 FM and Speech and Debate— because these partnerships open doors for professional recognition and career advancement,” Bernaciak said. “Lydia and her team demonstrated outstanding storytelling and technical expertise and their success at the American Advertising Awards highlights the strength of the Tim Russert Department of Communication and the professional development opportunities available to our students.”
Bennett’s goal during her fourth year at JCU is to enter her next project into the college Emmy awards. Bennett and the rest of her production team have been working on a short series called “The Interns.” In addition, the team plans on doing more creative projects, which will include collaborating with students so they can showcase their work.
“I’m really grateful for the support from the JCU community and mentors we have, [including] Professor Jill Bernaciak, Professor Bob Noll, Professor Maurice Emelu, Professor Brent Brossmann and Professor Jasen Sokol,” Bennett said. “I’m just so excited and look forward to what’s next.”
“The Last Assignment” also won third place for the best video entertainment program within division three and two-year colleges at New Orleans’ College Media Association conference in Oct. 2024. To view the short film, click here.
