91��Ƶ

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A 91��Ƶ film class—made up of 20 graduate and undergraduate students from around the country—was set to embark on a trip to Paris, France, last spring to produce a documentary on urban beekeeping and spotlight the rooftop bees that survived the historic Cathedral of Notre Dame fire.

Passports were secured. Tickets were booked. And all of the groundwork and arduous pre-production work, including setting up interviews and securing location approvals, were complete for a week-long shoot overseas. For many of these students, it would be a working Spring Break unlike most others.

But that was March 2020.

Weeks prior to the scheduled departure, the global pandemic ensured all international travel came to a halt, and the University, like most others around the world, immediately pivoted to remote learning.

The disappointment was real. The frustration palpable. But it was also short-lived, as these filmmakers—known as the 91��ƵDocs Team—knew the show must go on.

Professor Maria Luskay, EDd, whose “Producing the Documentary” course is part of the Department of Media, Communications, and Visual Arts on 91��Ƶ’s Pleasantville Campus, is a highly-regarded program, garnering over 34 prestigious film festival awards to date. (She’s been teaching the class for more than 20 years.)

“The experience I had was invaluable,” said Austin Braun, a graduate student. “We had a special experience. We learned how to produce a film online. We learned that we can make a powerful film with all of the technology we have… It’s the future of filmmaking.”

Professor Luskay (also the showrunner, or director), assisted by Professor Lou Guarneri, scrambled and came up with “Plan Bee.” They dispatched this group of budding filmmakers to beekeepers closer to home—New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

Now, roughly a year after the initial setback and long after their class had ended, the 91��ƵDoc Team’s film premiered on April 22, 2021—Earth Day.

“The experience I had was invaluable,” said Austin Braun, a graduate student from Stockholm, New Jersey. “We had a special experience. We learned how to produce a film online. We learned that we can make a powerful film with all of the technology we have… It’s the future of filmmaking.”

While it may very well be a sign of things to come in the industry, getting there was no small accomplishment. In addition to finding new locations to film and experts to speak with over the summer, the class had to learn how to edit together while working remotely across the region.

“We worked our tails off,” Braun added. “Through hard work and determination, we got it done.”