Meet Meet Kanika Oung & Sara Payne
Media Production Students
Taking It to the Real World
You never know what might come from a chance meeting. Or from an instructor's recommendation. For two current AIU London Media Production students, the two combined into a job producing, shooting, writing and editing a documentary for R2 Records about DJ Karizma.
Live on R2 Records' website for a few months, the 10-minute documentary exploring Karizma, his music and his influences was just what the label was looking for. "I was very impressed with Kanika and Sara's commitment to the project from beginning to end," says Kyri Patsalides, President of R2 Records. "Once briefed, they did everything on their own initiative and turned in a piece that surpassed my expectations."
Listening to Kyri's praise and watching the video, you'd never guess it is Kanika Oung and Sara Payne's first real-world project. Neither would you guess they still have nearly a year to go before graduating. Like Kyri said, the documentary is nothing if not totally professional.
Knowing Kanika's interest in music and impressed by a short film she had shot for an earlier class, AIU London instructor Piers Storey recommended her to R2 Records when they contacted him looking for a student who might be interested in doing a documentary about Karizma. (Two years prior another AIU London Media Production student had edited a video for R2 and, pleased with how that turned out, they thought they would give another student a chance.) Unbeknownst to Instructor Storey, Kanika, originally from Portland, Oregon, had met Kyri through a mutual friend a few months beforehand. On Instructor Storey's recommendation, Kanika emailed Kyri and, during a meeting, she and fellow student Sara learned what the project entailed and told him what they thought they could do with it. Kyri liked what he heard and gave the women the go-ahead.
The two women were in charge of all aspects of the documentary from pre-production paperwork to coming up with interview questions, shooting in smoky clubs, editing and placing the music. "We had 10 minutes to convey who Karizma is, [share] a bit of his background, promote his new album and show how his music has made an impact," Kanika says. Sara says, "I wanted to produce a high-quality piece of work that would be visually and audibly entertaining."
The two women, who were able to use AIU London's Media Production department equipment for the project, say they drew upon much of what they have learned in class to make the video. "A lot of the skills needed for filming were the ones we learned in our foundation courses: how to operate a camera, white balancing, and other filmmaking basics," Sara says. "I was also introduced to Final Cut Pro, which we used for editing, in several different classes."
R2 Records isn't the only one pleased with how the video turned out. Both Kanika and Sara say they gained valuable experience that will help them do more real-world projects. "I think experience is the most important thing you can have in this industry," Sara says.
Sara is already doing work for another independent music label while Kanika is working on a demo with two friends and planning to start gigging herself. In the future, Sara plans to work as a producer and record executive while Kanika is keeping her options wide open. "I may end up in either film, music or both at some point," she says. The two will most likely also have the opportunity to work with R2 again. "We're already speaking about further collaborations," Kyri says.
Sara and Kanika aren't the only AIU London Media Production students putting their educations to work. Other students have worked as a sound engineer at Studio 609 in Philadelphia (a project funded by Dr. Dre, Usher and 50 Cent), produced a historical documentary to be aired on prime time TV in Angola, worked as a booking agent for TV Editors at Soho Editors in London, founded a magazine and filmed the 2006 Summer Olympic Games.
"The AIU Media Production Department at AIU London offers a tight programme, dedicated and talented teachers, excellent equipment and an extremely good staff/student ratio," Instructor Storey says. "It's great preparation for any number of careers."
Media Production is no longer offered at this campus.
Back to Student/Alumni Profiles