elondocs announces new members for 2013-14 school year

The School of Communications’ documentary program introduces its 11 new student participants for the 2013-14 academic year.

Brian Binder (left) and Stefan Fortmann

Brian Binder is a junior at Elon University with a Major in Media Arts and Entertainment and Minor in Business Administration. Brian loves to tell stories with the camera whether it be through narrative or documentary filmmaking. With the experience gained through elondocs, he plans to further his knowledge in cinematography and story construction, and be an all-around student of film. Brian plans to work for a small production company as a director/cinematographer on feature films.

Stefan Fortmann is a junior majoring in Media Arts and Entertainment and minoring in Psychology. He is a “born and bred” South African and came to the United States to play tennis. He works with the Elon Athletic Department and The Pendulum as a sports photographer. He would love to work with the African Wildlife one day either through photo or documentary work.

Brad Hinkle

Brad Hinkle is a media arts and entertainment major with a concentration in cinema. With a background in journalism, he is very interested in pursuing a career in the field of documentary. However, a recent semester in Los Angeles has convinced him that scripted production may also be a possibility. He plans on moving to LA after graduation and starting his career in the film industry at some capacity.

Audrey Horwitz is a senior at Elon University. She’s a cinema major and a literature minor from Pasadena, California. After graduation she hopes to write for television and live in New York City.

Sergio Ingato (left) and Brian Mezerski

Sergio Ingato is a junior from Princeton Junction, New Jersey, and is majoring in Media Arts and Entertainment with a concentration in Cinema. He recently returned from spring semester in Los Angeles, where he interned at Voltage Pictures and directed a short film. Sergio is humbled to join the Elondocs crew and hopes to enhance his skills in both filming and editing. “Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”

Brian Mezerski is a junior media arts & entertainment major and Communications Fellow. He loves student media and has worked with Elon Local News, WSOE 89.3fm and Elon Student Television, among others.  He also attended the Elon in LA summer program and elon@sundance experience. He most recently interned with FremantleMedia North America, one of the world’s largest television production companies.

Amory Parks (left) and Jacky Shacknow 

Amory Parks is a sophomore majoring in media arts & entertainment with a concentration in cinema. She is also minoring in psychology and history. On campus, she is involved in InterVarsity and America Reads. She hopes to create documentaries that feature interesting characters and explore social issues.

Jacky Shacknow is a sophomore from Wayne, New Jersey, majoring in media arts and entertainment. She is really excited to be a part of the elondocs program. In the future she plans to work making documentaries for a non-profit and eventually become an editor for high budget documentaries.

Brian Szymanski (left) and Kyle Vines

Brian Szymanski is a sophomore media arts and entertainment major with a concentration in cinema and an entrepreneurship minor. Through his on-campus job as a video production assistant and the elondocs program, he plans on learning how to direct, film and edit quality documentary films. His main goal with documentary work is to portray various cultures associated with sports and the arts. After Elon, he would like to direct and shoot extreme sports documentaries.

Kyle Vines is an Elon sophomore majoring in Strategic Communications with a minor in Music Technology. Kyle loves Jesus, music and banana pudding. Believing stories are the best way to communicate with others; Kyle looks to find the most interesting, engaging, and relevant stories today and capture them in documentary form. He currently works as a video production assistant at Elon University and hopes to go into the documentary field once he graduates. When he is not busy with school, Kyle can be found playing music, running or listening to podcasts. 

Molly Weingarten

Molly Weingarten is a senior from South Salem, New York, majoring in media arts and entertainment with a concentration in broadcast and new media and minoring in philosophy and political science. She has always had a fascination with documentaries and their ability to focus on the truth and shed light on the real issues in the world. Though she is a relatively inexperienced documentarian, Molly hopes that elondocs will give her the opportunities to pursue meaningful subjects and stories.