Celebrities, red carpet and… two University students? Seniors Nicole Lovince and Chad Courtney have a chance to represent the University as MTV correspondents at the 2009 81st annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Lovince and Courtney, both film production majors, entered the MTV contest for a chance to win a spot as a correspondent and cameraman, repectively, for this years Oscars held on Feb. 22.
Kris Kirk, affiliate relations for MTV, said they chose 10 video submissions out of 100 for the semi-finalists round.
“Of the 100, [we] chose people who were the most creative, had the most camera sense and experience,” Kirk said. “[Lovince] kind of stood out.”
Lovince, who has been a correspondent for local companies in her hometown of New Orleans, hopes her past experience will help her stand out against the rest of the semi-finalists.
“I’ve covered local clubs and other big events, so I know the right things to ask [celebrities],” she said. “I have lots of personality and I would like to get to know the celebrities better.”
After learning about the MTV contest from emails sent from the University’s film department, Lovince chose Courtney to help her film her entry. The two of them quickly shot, edited and sent in their video proclaiming why they should be picked.
Just days after they entered their video online, they were notified by MTV they were chosen to be in the semi-finalist round.
“I found out the day school was cancelled because of the weather,” Courtney said. “I got a call from MTV saying, you’re in the top 10!”
Courtney, who interned for Shadowcast pictures and was first assistant camera operater on the short-film “Closed for the Season,” did the lighting, camerawork and special effects for their video submission.
Anyone can vote for the semi-finalists online at http://www.mtvu.com/win/2009-oscars-student-correspondent/. Once on the Web site, voters can watch the video submissions of all 10 semi-finalists and vote for whoever they want as many times as they want. Voting for the semi-finalists ends at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 6.
Voting for the top three finalists will continue Feb. 9. The top three finalists will fly to Los Angeles to partake in all the weekend Oscar events. The grand prize winner will get to be the red carpet correspondent at the Oscars, as well as tickets in the balcony to attend the event.
