A reporter for the news outlet interviewed a student in Elon's Study USA program in Los Angeles outside the Oscars on Sunday night.
Elon students taking in Hollywood’s biggest night on Sunday caught the attention of the throngs of media outlets covering the Academy Awards. Within the coverage of Sunday night’s Oscars by the Los Angeles Times was an interview with an Elon senior studying this semester in Los Angeles through the university’s Study USA program.
The article by Jen Yamato titled “For Oscars super fans, the red carpet is the place to be” highlighted those lined up along the red carpet hoping to catch a glimpse of Hollywood stars as the filed into the Dolby Theatre for the Oscars. Coreena Boothroyd ’17 was among those Yamato talked to about who they were hoping to see.
“I liked ‘Hidden Figures’ and I can’t wait to see ‘Moonlight,” Boothroyd told the reporter, “but I won’t be made no matter who wins.”
Boothroyd was among nearly two dozen students participating this spring in the Elon in Los Angeles program that’s one of the university’s Study USA offerings. The program, directed by Assistant Professor of Communications J McMerty ’00 and open to all majors, offers a hands-on and realistic view of professional life in the entertainment industry. Students focus on areas including film and television production, public relations, entertainment law and acting.
As they have during past years, this year’s cohort attended the “Oscar Fan Experience,” which is a pre-ceremony event hosted by People Magazine and Dove that provides fans sightlines of the nominees, presenters and other stars as they enter the theater. Following the red carpet experience, the fans eat dinner and watch the awards ceremony at the El Capitan Theatre.
In a day filled with memorable moments, Daniel MacLaury ’18 said shaking Denzel Washington’s hand stood out. “It was a complete surprise and one of those unscripted things you hear about but never expect it to happen to you,” said the cinema and television arts major.
The students weren’t the only Elon representatives enjoying the film industry’s biggest night of the year. According to McMerty, there were as many as six Elon alumni working the event for various media outlets and production companies, including Mitch Pittman ’09, who was on location reporting for KOMO-TV, an ABC affiliate in Seattle.