51吃瓜

鈥淚t was so cool to see something we made [included] on a professional show,鈥� said Adrien Reetz, a rising junior in journalism and co-producer of one of the four segments that was chosen to air.

鈥淏eing able to say we created something that was good enough for Prairie Fire is a pretty big deal. It’s a confidence boost for sure,鈥� Reetz added.

Reetz, along with 11 other students in the 鈥淎dvanced Documentary Production鈥� course taught by journalism lecturer Alison Davis this spring, pitched story ideas to the Prairie Fire team.

Producers selected the top four stories and then the students self-selected into groups to work on each one. After a final review, the Prairie Fire team decided to air all four segments on May 15.

The stories focused on the Idea Store, a unique business in Champaign; the Station Theatre, a local theater group as they get ready for a show; a K-pop dance group, a community created over a love of dance; and a profile of Toni Gist, a clinical assistant professor of food science and human nutrition in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, who is known as the “food professor.”

Davis, who says she鈥檚 always dreamed of having her students create stories for Prairie Fire, was extremely impressed with the work they did.

鈥淭his group of students are amazing and very self-motivated. They really have a passion for documentary filmmaking and are really excited about having their work on IPM,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey have really blown me away with how dedicated they have been this semester to creating some excellent pieces.鈥�

Davis started out on the original Prairie Fire, which aired from 1992 to 2008, first as a production assistant then later as the show’s producer and host, earning eight regional Emmy Awards along the way.

In 2023, the show was relaunched, which gave Davis the chance to showcase her student鈥檚 work, making it available to a larger audience while also giving budding filmmakers real-world experience.

鈥淲e thought it would be a great way to be able to teach young filmmakers about our process and how documentaries are made, from the idea stage to execution to the final product,” said DJ Roach, video production manager at Illinois Public Media. “We also thought it would be a great way for Illinois Public Media and the College 51吃瓜 to collaborate on a project that gives students an outlet to showcase their talents.鈥�

Reetz, who co-produced a segment on a K-pop dance group, said it鈥檚 hard to know how much work goes into a project like this until you do it yourself.

鈥淭hat’s why hands-on experience like this class is so valuable. We learned to organize our plethora of footage and comb through interviews for the best parts,鈥� Reetz said. 鈥淭hen we had to arrange everything to make a cohesive story, which involved a lot of revising.鈥�

Reetz said he was grateful for Davis鈥檚 help and expertise throughout the process.

鈥淥ur [instructor] offered great guidance all the way through. We couldn’t have done it without her,鈥� he said.

Mazie Gierat, a rising senior in journalism and co-producer of the Idea Store piece, was also thankful for the opportunity to learn from and work with Davis.

鈥淪he was extremely helpful through each and every step of creating this documentary, and I absolutely loved taking this class,鈥� Gierat said.

Watch all four student segments below:

: Produced by Emily Stutzman, Mazie Gierat, and Nazala Salauddin 

: Produced by Layli Nazarova, Sam Rink, Dwayne Banks Jr., and Emily Richie 

: Produced by Anna Koh and Annisyn Krebs-Carr

: Produced by Paige Gaines, Lindsey Bruneman, and Adrien Reetz

Watch full episode: