Loyola's Night Shift: Student Creatives Power Stan’s Donuts Campaign

By: Bora Cecia

 

After a long day of selling doughnuts and coffee, Stan’s Donuts closed its doors at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night so a group of Loyola School of Communication students could produce TV commercials and create social media content for the local Chicago donut company.

 

The students were from Professor John Goheen’s Multimedia Commercial Production class. With limited time on the clock, their objective was to capture all the footage necessary before Stan’s reopened for business the following morning.

 

They worked until 2 a.m. at the Stan’s Donuts location at Chicago Avenue and Rush Street, emerging with enough material for multiple commercials and social media content.

 

“I would say it was a real success all around for all,” Goheen said. “Stan’s really stepped up by allowing our students full access, filled the front counter with fresh donuts in the case the same way they do each morning and allowed students to do whatever necessary to tell the stories.”

 

The Multimedia Commercial Production class at Loyola is unique as it combines two course sections welcoming both undergraduate and graduate students. This class focuses on providing students with the opportunity to engage in content production for real world clients. After getting in touch with Stan’s Donut and coming to an agreement with the marketing department, the project was scheduled to begin during normal class hours but end early the following morning.  

 

Joining students on this daunting venture, was Jake Brusha, a highly successful freelance Director of Photographer and SOC alum who took this class the first year it was offered. Brusha took on the role as the director of photography and worked with students alongside Goheen through the creative process.

 

Before heading to the filming location, students spent several weeks preparing and coordinating with Stan’s marketing personnel to map out how the evening would play out.

 

“We had to meet with representatives from Stan's to understand their preferences for the content of the advertisement. From there, each group created their own ideas and had to come together with a lot of logistical paperwork including creative briefs, shot lists, and storyboards. These all had many edits that were reworked to have us readily prepped for our shoot.” said Taylor Zielenbach, a first-year Multimedia Journalism student.

 

For this project, the students were first divided into four teams to create various versions of the commercials and social media content. This became a bit of a logistical challenge, as different pieces were being produced simultaneously throughout the evening. But in the end, the students persevered.

 

“As a student, the biggest takeaway from this experience was being able to work in a true professional environment with a real, big client,” Zielenbach said. “I learned so much about staying true to deadlines and becoming very professional as we were working with a company for a commercial. I was so grateful to be a part of a team that got to go through this chaotic process to learn what it really takes to put together a successful advertisement.”

 

This task pushed students to think outside of the box and unleash their inner creativity within a collaborative setting while also keeping in mind they were producing content for a real client.

 

“We are all in this program because we have a desire to create and because we are creative beings. But once you are part of a production, sometimes you must put your own light away to contribute to the light of the whole group,” said Chau Nguyen, a first-year Digital Media and Storytelling graduate student.

 

 “Creativity does not stop at the script; it can be found in troubleshooting, in camera angles, in talent choice, and even in post-production as we edit,” Nguyen said. “But we must find our own ways to contribute so that we contribute our own vision as well as the group’s vision.”

 

This hands-on experience allowed for all of those involved to learn and reflect. To hear from them directly as the shoot was in progress, here is a behind-the-scenes look.

 

Interested to see some of the final content produced by the students? A compilation can be found in this video.