Donovan Media Development Center

The University of Lynchburg students are the media professionals of tomorrow and gain real-world experiences through their work on your projects.

You might want to raise funds for your organization, create a messaging strategy for customers and donors, or need guidance in organizing a media project. We can offer individual consultation and group workshops on project organization and budgeting. That may be all you need to complete a DIY production successfully.

The Donovan Media Development Center is an excellent resource for fresh ideas, skilled professionals, and high-tech media tools. We listen to your needs and help you create messages that work to meet your goals. We are sensitive to the importance of support in a tough economic environment.

The Center is housed within the Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Lynchburg, and we are strongly committed to educating rising media producers through our programs of study.

Our Story

Faculty within the School of Communication and the Arts have a long history of working with community clients to meet their needs for electronic media. This community involvement was formalized in 2005 with the completion of Elliot & Rosel Schewel Hall and within that space, the Donovan Media Development Center. The facility was the brainchild of Dr. Woody Greenberg

and was funded by the Donovan Foundation. The Donovan Center students, faculty, and staff assist nonprofit organizations and businesses in creating print and electronic media to document, explain, and promote their activities.

Contact Us

The Donovan Media Development Center is located on the first floor of Elliot & Rosel Schewel Hall.

William Noel, MFA
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Director of the Donovan Media Development Center

434.544.8827
[email protected]

Considering a Media Project?

The Arc of Production: A Producer’s Practical Guide to Organizing and Executing Media Projects

Concept

Ideas can be generated internally or externally to the organization.

Ideas have a high mortality rate—that is, many are never started or completed for various practical reasons.

Ideas should be considered in relation to the main goal and the audience for the message.

Research

What has already been done? Know the market for the type of project that you are considering.

What is the vital content?

Are there creative, practical, technical, or logistical considerations?
(time, money, talent)

Organization

A producer has two thought paths to reconcile: practical and creative.

Creatively, you are developing relevant content into a format or script that conveys your message to the audience.

You need to visualize the end product.

Practically, you must consider costs, legal issues (copyright/talent releases), and other nuts and bolts of practical detail.

Production

Image acquisition: stills, graphic design, video

Audio recording and mixing

Editing, authoring, fixing in final form

Distribution

What media form works best to reach your audience? Perhaps more than one?

Does the final project stay true to the original goal? Projects do evolve over the course of development.

Can you link the final project to the original concept and have you allowed for feedback? Keep in mind that it is best to have a project leader and limits on revisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost?

We do not have a set rate card or menu of services. Each project is estimated after careful consultation with the client, and adjustments may be made to fit the budget. We are often able to offer clients options for complex or simple plans to meet their goals. Our services are subsidized for non-profit organizations, and even for-profit commercial clients find our services quite reasonable for this market, especially given our high-end capabilities.

Who does the work?

Oversight of your project is by a faculty producer specializing in the type of media work required. Usually this is also the person doing the actual creative/technical work as well. Paid work-study students participate as their skill level allows, while the faculty producer uses the project as an opportunity to expose students to new techniques. It is very much an apprentice experience. Ultimately the faculty producer is responsible for the quality of the final product.

We also encourage active participation by the client: planning, logistics, raw material (such as photos), rough draft writing, even vocal or video performance. These not only help the client get closer to their creative goal, but they also often save costs.

Do you have a student who needs a project?

This is a common question, and the general answer is “No.” Our academic plans are made well in advance of the school term, and assignments are carefully planned in advance. This is in part why we created the center – to assist the community without disrupting our courses.

How quickly can we start? And finish?

This really depends on the project dynamics. Are all of the elements in place? Are there events or seasons of the year that impact the work? Generally, projects are turned around quickly. In fact, we have come on-site, shot, edited on location, and provided a client with a finished television PSA, all in one morning. Other projects have taken months to complete as we waited for seasons to change and other details to fall into place. Our goal as professionals, and as professors in media, is to be as efficient as possible.

Can you work in HD video?

Yes! Our capabilities range from social media/point and shoot level cameras to full 1080p HDTV and 4K Digital Cinema.

I'd like to use music from one of my CDs in the project — is that okay?

Only if you own the copyright or have paid royalties to the copyright owner for the use of the material. This can be prohibitively expensive, and violating copyright law is a federal offense. We have production music and access to production music websites for royalty free music to suit your project. This is often quite reasonable ($10 – $35 per song).