Student Video Captures Hartman Foundation First Prize

Academy of Art University students Eli Africa, Luis Calero, Nico Hernandez, Sin Wang, Jason Yee and Vanessa Yuille recently won the top prize, a $7,500 award, in the Hartman Foundation Scholarship competition. An even mix of School of Motion Pictures and Television and School of Multimedia Communications students, the team captured real cowboy life in a short video entitled The Cowboy in All of Us to win.

Celebrating the 25th Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Hartman Foundation challenged students to create a video highlighting how Hollywood has portrayed real cowboys in films past and present. With so many films glamorizing and spoofing the cowboy lifestyle, the group gave careful consideration to the theme of their project.

They finally settled on the notion that if cowboys are a dying breed; then they will live on through the immortalization of true cowboys in Hollywood. Paying tribute to one of the greatest Hollywood Westerns, The Magnificent Seven, the group proudly dubbed themselves “The Magnificent Six.”

During their brainstorming, the team realized each person possessed distinct capabilities within their craft. Playing to their own unique “magnificence,” they divided up the work to produce the video. The project ended up being an illuminating lesson in artistic collaboration and inventive storytelling that Academy of Art University students often experience in courses.

“I think it’s really cool how this school is full of such different artists, and that we are recognized for our ingenuity and able to contribute to our fullest when working together,” said Jason, Multimedia Communications student.

From fashion to filmmaking, Academy of Art University students experience all forms of art and design, making them more desirable to the professional world. In his final semester at the Academy, Nico, an international student from the Phillipines, says that his time at the School of Motion Pictures and Television has prepared him for life.

“The filmmaking program is powerful in terms of learning storytelling and the specialized techniques you need to know in the industry. I would highly recommend it to other international students like me. I feel like I grew as a person here and learned things that I never imagined,” shared Nico.

Nico looks forward to his future in the film industry in the States or the Phillipines, while Jason and Vanessa are just getting started on the journey to the career of their dreams, but the entire Magnificent Six team has one thing in common, the ability and the passion to achieve professional success.