THE
LENS
OF
LEARNING By AMY CHarles
The University of Pikeville Film and Media Arts (FMA) Program has approached its 10-year anniversary of graduating students who have become successful professionals in film, news, design and broadcasting. The goal of the program has always been to provide opportunities for students in a diverse area of topics and help them choose classes that will support their career goals. With a hands-on approach to learning, students are actively engaged in projects in front of and behind the camera. After taking over the program from its founder Bruce Parsons in 2014, Professor Andrew Reed, MFA, MBA ʼ18 worked on retooling the major to appeal to more students by bringing in community members to lead the way in growth, and new courses were created to provide students with a broader range of options. “I tried to bring in a lot of adjunct professors who had life skills in certain areas. Not all students want to be filmmakers,” said Reed. “Many are interested in media production and want to pursue careers in broadcast, television news or sportscasting, while others are interested in technical skills like graphic design, motion graphics or Photoshop.” Viewers may have spotted Kyle Nagy ’19 at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards troubleshooting issues in signal feeds as the only audio and video technician on the red carpet. He is one example of how the changes Reed brought to the major help launch students into accomplished careers.
“The thing I remember most about Kyle is his enthusiasm. Even coming from an area with a much larger film industry, he was always eager and embraced the work,” said Reed. “That excitement never waned. He was always working on things and pushing himself to do more.”
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UPIKE MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Coming from just outside the Los Angeles metropolis to play football for the Bears, Nagy felt a little out of his element when he first stepped on campus. He dabbled in media production, and after accepting the scholarship offer, he was excited to see FMA on the majorʼs list.
“My first impression was a culture shock. Pikeville had a much different culture and atmosphere than Los Angeles. People knew immediately I wasn’t from Kentucky because of my accent. I felt a little out of place, and it was hard being so far away from home,” said Nagy. “After visiting student success, I met people who gave me the most comfortable sense of home. From there, I was introduced to my coaches and Professor Reed, and I knew that was where I was meant to be.”
With only eight students in his senior film class, Nagy says he truly benefited from the smaller class sizes, allowing him to thrive in his element while receiving individualized attention. “I could have easily gone to a larger film school since Hollywood is in my backyard, but I doubt I would have gotten the personalized education that I received at UPIKE,” said Nagy. “Out here, people are in such a big class. There may be 250 other people all learning the craft the same way.”
