COM Media Abroad

Around the World

For the past couple of decades, I have been taking students abroad on film projects. From Honduras and Belize in Central America to Wales and Ireland, COM/media students have done some rewarding and award winning production across the hemisphere. 

Production in Paris

As is often the case, this year’s crew headed abroad to produce a promotional documentary about academic programs abroad for the Office of International Programs. In this case, the team was creating a film about the NC in Paris program, developed and operated by a consortium of North Carolina universities such as UNCW, Elon, NCSU, and Western Carolina, among others. The students left the US on the Sunday after graduation last May with cameras in hand and began filming almost immediately. The production team of Brittany Garshnick, Jordan Bell, Kendyl Bradley, Bryan Harden, and Joe Schumacher lived in central Paris just off of the Grands Boulevard for eleven days, using the city’s metro system to get around town. In addition to filming the sites of Paris, the students interviewed the faculty and staff of the NC in Paris program, as well as the students who were studying abroad for the semester. There was also time in the schedule for the production team to enjoy traditional tourist destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Museum D’Orsay, Giverny (Claude Monet’s home), and Rouen, the capital of Normandy where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. 

The COM Media gang poses for a photo in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Finishing Touches

NC in Paris director, Michel Bondurant, was the team’s main contact in Paris and really made their transition to Paris smooth and easy. The project is currently in post-production having completed a 2nd draft. The final version should be complete by the end of the semester and will be used by OIP to promote the NC in Paris program at UNCW.

-Dr. William Bolduc