May 14, 2013

Mission & Engagement: Advancement Films

Advancement Films tells the stories of the organization through creative video. Here the team talks about how they live the mission and vision of Loma Linda University Health through collaboration and their commitment to the core values.

 

The Advancement Films team (L to R): Cosmin Cosma, Video Production Specialist; Mike Wolcott, Video Production Specialist; Patricia Kelikani, Associate Director; and Melody George, Video Production Specialist)

On Telling the Stories of Loma Linda

Patricia: We were talking about it and I think what’s nice is that we do tell other people’s stories and I think that a lot of times when we interview them, they inspire us. And at the same time, it’s therapeutic for them. They impact our lives because they’re telling us the story of how their life was transformed. At the same time it’s an outlet for them to tell their story so they can help others, making what they went through have meaning.

When we interview someone with cancer, someone who had their legs amputated, or someone who was abused as a child, they are able to share their experience and help another person. They are able to share what they did that helped them get through and give someone hope. It gives meaning to that negative incident.

Melody: I edited a video on child abuse and we interviewed a few people who were victims of abuse. One of the girls in particular was abused as a teenager. She told us that if her interview impacts one person or one life, it is worth it to her to be able to share what she went through. It’s very empowering to know that our telling of her story is changing lives. It’s giving her the opportunity to change lives and turn her negative, terrible experience into something positive.

On Collaboration & Core Values

Cosmin: We work really good as a team, and I think that’s the secret. It is the collaboration and the common goal of making everything that comes out of our office as excellent as possible. Even with a small team and limited equipment sometimes we do the best we can out of what we have.

Mike: We all have our own strengths, and we try to take advantage of that in collaboration. We’re always asking each other to “Come look at this”, “What would you do with this”. I think that’s what really helps a lot.

Patricia: We really try to use our resources to their fullest. Sure, it would be easier to have a bigger budget, but we work with what we have to give our look high quality.

Cosmin: When we go meet with our peers from television stations and production companies around the area, they ask us how big our team is and nobody believes us. It comes down to the story, though. If you have a good story and you execute it well, I think that’s a secret.

Patricia: And Loma Linda is full of great stories!

Cosmin: Our goal is to make our videos a two-way communication. We want people to use our videos for anything that they think can push Loma Linda’s mission, and it’s nice to get response back. We want to hear where that video was screened, we want to hear whom it was given to, and we want to see how it was used and what it resulted in.

Melody: Everyone has the same goal, which is to make high quality content that is really going to serve the mission of the institution.

Cosmin: I think this helps us be focused on actually telling the story and Loma Linda’s vision.

Melody: I think it’s a great example of living the mission of the institution because it’s the way that I feel like God designed us to interact as people, in positive ways, encouraging each other and just being able to do work and be productive in a way that is benefitting humanity

Cosmin: I think the most important thing is that we have fun. Coming to something that’s fun in the morning, something to look forward to, then getting paid for that on top of it is even better! 

To learn more about Advancement Films call ext. 46185. 

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