Student-created TV ad selected to promote the Buick Golf Tournament

CONTACT: Melinda Finn
Communications Office
760-744-1150 ext. 2365

CONTACT: Pat Hahn
Associate Professor, Communications Department
760-744-1150 ext. 2964

SAN MARCOS (December 8, 2006) – Two Palomar College radio and television (RTV) students scored a “hole in one” when the television commercial they created was selected by the Century Club of San Diego, the organizing body of the Buick Invitational, to advertise the upcoming PGA TOUR Golf Tournament at Torrey Pines.

The commercial will be broadcast throughout the local San Diego area while the tournament is aired on the Golf Channel and CBS network from January 25-28, 2007.

The students, Christina Bale and Krystille Souza, may soon be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tiger Woods, as their commercial scored them VIP passes and clubhouse access for the duration of the tournament. Bale and Souza will also be introduced at a special media day for the event.

Palomar College was selected from a group of colleges in the San Diego area to produce a commercial for the golf event, after Pat Hahn, associate professor of Palomar’s Communications Department, was interviewed about Palomar’s RTV program. Other colleges and universities’ radio and television programs were also researched by the Century Club/Buick Invitational, but Palomar was chosen because of its experience in working on professional projects.

Raquel Licuan, ticket and web content manager for the Buick Invitational, said the Century Club was looking for a different approach to the advertising for this event that would appeal to a broader demographic than has been traditionally associated with golf events. The Century Club, known for its philanthropic efforts, donated a record $2.15 million to more than 200 San Diego based charity organizations and schools from the net proceeds of the 2006 Buick Invitational. Wanting to broaden its ties to the community, the Century Club wanted to give local college students the unique opportunity to design its commercial.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for our students,” Hahn said, explaining that this real-world experience could only help their chances of making it in their career pursuits. 25 students became involved in the effort, either writing scripts, editing footage, or providing background music.

Eventually, Palomar students produced seven commercials that were submitted for consideration, and from those seven, the one that combined Souza’s script and Bale’s edited footage was chosen. The commercial will be used for three 30-second television ads and three 60-second radio spots. The ads will run from mid-December through January.

Development of the commercial began when RTV Instructor Garrett Chaffin-Quiray gave members of his Broadcast Writing/Producing class (RTV 110) the assignment of writing a script based on information the Century Club provided. The students were asked to write six versions of the commercial script, three each for radio and television.

Chaffin-Quiray said that once the students turned in their scripts, Souza’s was an immediate standout. “She got inside the minds of the target market and wrote a dynamic and effective script,” he said.

When asked how she approached the class assignment, Souza said she did research on the Internet about the players and scores from last year’s golf tournament and used what she found to write copy that would appeal to those familiar with the golf world. “Even though I don’t know much about golf myself, I knew it was important to create anticipation and excitement in those who do know about golf,” she said.

Souza, 19, graduated from the School of Business and Technology, a charter high school in Oceanside. She is completing her third semester at Palomar, and would like to eventually transfer to Chapman University and study film production. She is interested in pursuing cinematography. When asked how this experience has changed her life, Souza said, “This has made me more confident in what I’m doing. I now know I am capable of doing well in this field.”

Once Souza’s script was chosen, The Century Club provided the college with the other ingredients for a commercial -- 12 hours of digital footage from the January 2006 Buick Invitational and a Tiger Woods voiceover. All six versions of Souza’s script were turned over to the students in Pat Hahn’s Digital Video Editing class (RTV 270).

One of those students, Bale, 24, said she spent about 80 hours working with the footage supplied by CBS, choosing just the right content to match Souza’s script. In addition to editing the footage, she also added digitally created sound effects to go along with the music other fellow students had provided.

A graduate of La Costa Canyon High School, Bale has been making films since junior high school. Married and mother to a two-year-old son, she has been attending Palomar on and off since 2000. She plans to transfer to San Diego State in fall 2007 and continue her studies in radio and television production. Her goal is to become a movie director.

Bale said this experience has already made an impact on her career. Since finding out she won this competition, Bale has become more popular in class – fellow students often seek her help with their projects. She has also had a job offer, which she declined so she could focus on completing her education.
Bale said when she heard about this competition, she was determined to do everything she could to win. “I knew how much this could help my career,” she said. “It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”

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