Photos courtesy of CTV
BY ANASTASIA PAVLINSKAYA
On March 5, 2013, CTV hit ground in Los Angeles for the 10th annual Student Television Network National convention at the Westin Bonaventure hotel.
For 6 days, Figueroa Street was our home where we shared the memories of a lifetime.
We arrived in a similar fashion to the Miley Cyrus song “Party in the USA”, hopping off the plane at LAX. With a clean slate ahead of us, what would come in the upcoming week was left to our imaginations.
Walking into the hotel was like walking into a palace. The lobby was lined with fountains and marble; it was our first taste of the infamous “glitz and glam” of Los Angeles. That glitz only continued to sparkle as we opened the curtains in our rooms, revealing a view, of the world-renowned, Hollywood sign.
DAY ONE
The next day kicked off with limitless possibilities ahead of us. We had planned a VIP tour of Warner Brothers Studios, a trot around the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and a live taping of the Craig Ferguson Show. With such a packed schedule, it was amazing that we were able to fit in more, but surprises came in the most unusual of packages.
Driving up to the Warner Brothers Studio, a century of cinema filled our souls as we began to recognize the surrounding area from movies that we had grown up on. Ranging from classic films like Casablanca to more modern ones like this years Best Picture winner, Argo, we felt as if we were a part of movie magic.
Even our tour guide, Gary, gave us a taste of the LA lifestyle, when he told us that not only is he a tour guide, but a magician, and of course, an actor as well. We got to see the sets of hit shows like Shameless and Pretty Little Liars. It seemed as if every patch of grass or sidewalk had been used to shoot some famous film or television series.
After Warner Brother’s studios, we were on our way to Hollywood Boulevard. But before that, we got to go up into the mountains to get a better view of the famous Hollywood sign. After taking many, many pictures in front of the Hollywood sign, it was time to go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where we saw the “stars” of the beloved actors and musicians that we grew up on.
The day wrapped up with a visit to CBS studios for a taping of the Craig Ferguson Show with guest star Christina Hendricks of the hit Emmy winning show, Mad Men. We had originally wanted to see a more familiar name like Ellen Degeneris or Conan O’ Brien, but Craig Ferguson turned out to be a pleasant surprise, leaving us in laughing so hard, we almost fell out of our seats.
Another pleasant surprise came up when the bus driver detoured to visit the infamous “murder house” from the first season of American Horror Story. As we nerded out over the home in which one of our favorite series was shot, we also felt a part of television magic.
The night wrapped up as we rushed to our “fancy dinner”, a traditional STN dinner in which we dressed up in our fanciest dresses and suits. As with any family dinner, we shared laughs, smiles, and listened as a group while our president, Mitchel Worley, gave a motivational speech to get us ready for the next day.
As fun as the dinner was, it was time for us to wind down and get ready for what was happening in the coming day, the Sweet 16 competition.
DAY TWO
The second day started one of our most grueling competitions, Sweet 16, in which we placed first last year.
We woke up at 6 am to get downstairs by 6:30 to hear the 16 words, one of which we would be basing our show on. After hearing the 16 words, we had 16 minutes to pick our word. After some debate, we decided on the word, devotion.
Once we chose our word, we had a meeting about which stories we’d be doing and what direction we’d be going in. Cameras, lavalieres, and tripods were split up among our groups and we went on our way.
My group went on to Village Tree Pre-School, which works with families who have a terminally ill parent or a terminally ill child. The school was founded by the wife of a man undergoing Leukemia treatments. While these treatments were occurring, the medical bills were so expensive that they were unable to pay for pre-school care. Afterward, the wife opened up this pre-school and has been using her giving spirit to help struggling families since.
After wrapping up shooting, our group went back to home base, where we had less than 16 hours to edit and put together our show. In our ballroom headquarters, we were in cramped and tight spaces. Emotions ran high, but at 9:30, we had exported and watched the show.
“1, 2, 3, CTV!”, we cheered as we dropped the USB which contained hours of work into a simple plastic bin, all that was left now was wait until the awards ceremony.
DAYS THREE AND FOUR
For the next two days, we broke up into groups and went to individual competitions.
From spot features to music videos, CTV’ers were putting maximum effort into these competitions. One of the most stressful aspects of this was the strict deadlines. One of our groups had to learn just how strict the hard way.
Unfortunately, our music video group was late by minutes, 2 minutes to be exact, which in turn disqualified us from the competition. It was a hurt felt by the entire group, but also a lesson learned.
At the end of the day, we would watch each batch of competition footage and would cheer and clap for the exemplary performance that our CTV family had given.
But, once the competitions were over, there was nothing else to do…. everything was now left up to the judges, our fates were in their hands.
DAY 5–JUDGEMENT DAY
Our hearts beating in anticipation as we, adorned in our black CTV button-downs and Ray-Ban style glasses, filled the seats of the ballroom.
The lights dimmed and the announcers ran onto the stage, it was time for our fates to be decided. The first couple of categories were called, all with unfortunate results. At this point, the spirits of our group were running low as our excitement transformed into disappointment.
Then, it was time for the coveted “Sweet 16” category, a competition in which we had taken the first place award for the previous year. Honorable mention was called….not us. Third place….not us. Second…still not us. It was all left up to that final make or break moment. We were either getting first or nothing at all.
First was called….and it was not us.
Tears filled our eyes in defeat. Watching my peers, especially my fellow seniors, being so upset, broke my heart multiple times over.
But, just as quickly as our spirits were diminished, they were rebuilt. Suddenly, first place was called for “60 second silent film”, and it was a Cooper City Student! Then, first place for “Sports Reporting” and honorable mention for “Short Story”.
Although it was rewarding to see the excitement of our peers placing in their individual competitions, there was still a cloud over us that we did not win as a group. But, there was one award left.
“We still have the Excellence Show”, we whispered to each other, in one last attempt at hope. But many of us said, “No, we don’t.” Finally, it was time for the Excellence Award, one that does not have places, just winner take all.
“And for Best Weekly News Show, Cooper City High School!”, the loudspeakers screamed. Suddenly, we all jumped up and the tears of sadness turned into tears of joy as we ran to receive our group prize.
When we got the chance to take our picture for winning the award, the energy running through each of our bodies just radiated. It was a pleasant surprise as the Excellence Show was a show entered prior to the competition, months before to be exact. After reaching our low after the Sweet 16 disappointment, we realized, we did even better than before.
After a mix of emotions, I realized, I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my last STN any other way. All that mattered now was that we were boarding that plane back to South Florida, with a better title than before. We are the “Best Weekly Student News Show” in America.
