As I sit atop the table, I barely comprehend sentences from our editor-in-chief as she reads off the awards for this school year. This was the last thing that I wanted to listen to that morning, but that all quickly changed when I heard my name: Boston Mendenhall, Videographer of the Year. I looked up to see a room of people looking back at me, and I just wondered how in the world I was in this position.
Ever since I can remember, I have always been drawn to movies and videos that I would see on YouTube. These beautiful stories and frames that I had never seen before, or the actors/characters. I would watch these mini-docs on YouTube that would portray these athletes like they were the coolest people in the world. I remember the moment I knew this is what I wanted to do when I watched Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s “72 Hours in Paris.” The story of her making her debut in the open 400. The only thing that I could think about all night was, I could make that.
Going into my Junior I never picked up the camera because I didn’t have one, more or less a computer that could run editing software, and that is where Russ Goerend with APEX DCS and Publications comes into play. I had no videographer experience or, more importantly, equipment. I didn’t have a camera, computer, or software to make any of this possible. I remember walking into Russ’s Designing Communications Solutions for the first time, and it was like being a kid in a candy store. Everything that I could need for my creative journey had just appeared. It was the first time that I met Russ, and I think my second sentence after the introduction was, “Can I borrow some equipment?” and the rest, you could say, is history.
I am forever thankful for Russ and Sadie Maas for taking a chance with me. All I had to give was huge, unproven dreams of being a documentary filmmaker, and they both took a chance on me. Giving me the time and resources to chase and create what I saw in my mind’s eye. Sadie Maas, thank you for taking a risk with a dude you kind of knew to allow me to put a camera in your face and control a narrative. The hardest step to take is always the first, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support and opportunity. My first project, 48 Hours With Sadie Maas, was one of the hardest and best things that I could have ever done. With newfound confidence and some kind of a track record, I went headfirst into creating, all with the support and resources of Russ and APEX.
At the end of my junior year, I completed my second documentary on the eventual heartbreaking losses of wrestlers Carter Freeman and Koufax Christensen. It taught me how to craft a more complex story and was a harder project to manage. Every step that I took, I tried to do something that made me uncomfortable but pushed me, and that continued into my senior year. Again with the resources through Russ, I was able to launch my show Behind the Huddle–a show where I talked to coaches and directors at Waukee Northwest High School about their philosophies and tactics. This helped build my skills in front of the camera and, more importantly, helped build a network. Programs like APEX, your school district, the activities office, or your school news organizations can give you all the tools and access that you could want, but they can’t give you two things: drive and being a good person.
Nobody is going to take your hand and walk you through how to make a documentary or start a show. Nobody is going to explain to you what the best practices are when starting post-production. You have to have the drive to do things yourself, to go beyond where the normal person would stop. Finding access to a camera or determining documentary subjects are all important factors, but what I would say is most important is having a vision. There is a reason why not everyone is a creative director. Vision and creativity aren’t something that AI can create. It takes a different perspective to make it possible. Without vision or direction, you’re just running on a treadmill to nowhere.
None of these projects would be possible if people didn’t have trust in me, and trust is a hard thing to come by. This means that you have to prove yourself, and people talk. I was able to recruit every coach for my show because I had a good relationship with all the people on the show, and they told the other coaches who I was, giving me credit. I had my publications teacher, Mr.Blumberg, vouch for me to be able to do a project with Carter and Koufax. You are nothing without a network in the modern age, so be a good person whom many people would want to work with and be willing to come back.
So when I reflect on the great honor that I have of winning Iowa High School Press Association’s Videographer of the Year, it wouldn’t have been possible without Russ and the APEX program’s grace in lending resources that I still use today, the connections and trust that the athletes and coaches that I worked so graciously gave me, and most importantly, my vision and drive to make my dreams a reality. What this school district and its teachers have done so well is give students like me the resources and opportunity to be and create something truly brilliant.
My final project, Unfinished Business, will premiere on Tuesday, May 27th at 6:00 at the Waukee Northwest High School Auditorium. All the best and go chase that dream.
-Boston Mendenhall