Lights, Camera, Action

In a new approach to student involvement in commercials, several select groups from the CSULB Film and Electronic Arts Department(FEA) were chosen in May 2008 to compete for a 30 second commercial spot advertising the Ford Focus and sponsored by the Southern California Ford Dealers.

The winning commercial came from production students Luke Richmond and Mantas Zvinas. Along with earning recognition, the two students were awarded a $2,500 cash prize for being selected as the winners out of nine teams from CSULB.

A few other local schools, including Chapman University and Cal State Northridge, were involved in the competition and "There was an open call to film schools through Ford," said Rob Riddle, co- director of one of the other CSULB teams.

Teams were given a deadline to submit their finished spot and Riddle's group spent about 10 days working on the production. "We spent a week in pre-production, choosing a location,setting up shots and then we filmed it in a day," said Riddle. "We shot it at a hangar down near the Long Beach airport and we used crane shots and dollies to give it a professional look."

Ford employed Dailey & Associates Advertising to judge the commercials and choose the winning group. The FEA has been had competitions before, but when it comes to being involved in a competition with a major company like Ford, "We were the first ones to do it," said Riddle.