A Ball State alumnus has worked his way up through the telecommunications world, earning his film team $110,000 in prize money.
David Ward and his team won several awards for the short film "The Man Who Never Cried" at the Doorpost Film Festival. Ward edited the film.
Ward said the experience was different than anything he'd ever done before, including working with established Hollywood actors, such as Keir O'Donnell of "Wedding Crashers."
"You're really doing it rather than just messing around with your friends for fun," he said. "This is a professional thing."
After submitting a five-to-seven minute film to Doorpost, several teams were chosen as semifinalists. The semifinalists were given a $40,000 grant to make a short film with a length between 15 and 30 minutes.
The team raised an additional $28,000 through donations from their friends and families as well as Kickstarter, a website where people can solicit investments for projects.
"The Man Who Never Cried" won the fan vote with a $10,000 prize. After going to Los Angeles to be judged by a Doorpost panel, they won the judge vote and $100,000.
Ward said he has received offers since his achievement, but as far as future projects go, nothing is set in stone yet.
Ward graduated from Ball State in 2005 with a degree in telecommunications. He resides in Austin, Texas.
Telecommunications instructor Rich Swingley said he knew Ward would excel after he left Ball State.
"He was incredibly creative. The other thing is he is applicable," Swingley said. "You have some creative geniuses that can't talk to themselves in the mirror without getting into a fight. David was always excellent that he could always get people to work with him."
While at Ball State, Ward founded "Something Else," a "Saturday Night Live"-like comedy sketch group.
At the time, Ward was looking for a project to further his learning outside of the classroom. Ward created "Something Else" after seeing there were no current projects in the telecommunications department he was interested in.
"Something Else" has a roundtable of writers each week, where they decide what idea is best and form a skit around it. Swingley said it gives students of all ages a chance to get their ideas and names out there.
Ward said telecommunications students at Ball State need to start working toward film festivals now.
"We actually made money from a short film," he said. "Not many people can say that. They are usually just really expensive and short."
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