A team of entrepreneurial East Carolina University film and video production students are on their way to Round 2 in the Gene T. Aman Pirate Challenge (APC), the university’s signature entrepreneurial business pitch competition.
Art juniors Khy Chapman and Jakeyia Dunn pitched their idea, local film production company CinaGlow, to a panel of four ECU alumni judges during a first-ever College of Fine Arts and Communication (CFAC) Round 1 of the competition on Tuesday, Oct. 7, held in the morning before the campuswide challenge.
Khy Chapman, left, and Jakeyia Dunn pitch their idea for a local film production company during the first-ever college-level round of the Gene T. Aman Pirate Challenge. (Photos by Steven Mantilla)
During the campuswide round, fellow School of Art and Design junior Taylor Greene also advanced to Round 2, set for Feb. 4. Greene, who has an animation emphasis, pitched CarriOn, a roadkill cleanup and recycling service she hopes will help keep roads clear and minimize waste. Greene made it to the APC semifinals last year with CarriOn.
Student teams who pitched during CFAC’s APC Round 1 did so again during the campuswide round. Out on the ECU Mall, Chapman said the morning CFAC pitch helped clear some jitters, and the teammates learned about knowing their audience and adjusting their pitch accordingly.
“I feel a lot less nervous being out here,” Chapman said. “And the judges were super nice.”
The CFAC judges were Brian Cordileone ’03, managing partner of the Craft Public House restaurant in Cary; Lisa Cordileone ’04, an actor, producer and owner of Creative Vision Collective; Whitney Fincannon ’09, associate director of G&S Integrated Marketing Communications Group, with offices in Raleigh; and Matthew Scully ’04, owner of downtown Greenville restaurant, The Scullery.
As the College of Business looked to expand the range of disciplines participating in the ACP last year, CFAC leaders were eager to go first and give students the opportunity to learn more about working in the “creative economy” so they can find success in their chosen artistic fields.
“I think this has to be our normal, helping students consider steps outside the classroom and portfolio and recital,” said Seo Eo, the CFAC associate dean who introduced students and faculty to the APC process and helped students prepare.
APC organizers and the Miller School of Entrepreneurship provided $5,000 to CFAC to cover the college-level prizes, student fellowships to observe the 2024 APC events in preparation for this year, and other expenses. Eo and Dean Linda Kean expect to continue participating.
“This is a great opportunity for (the students) to get that feedback,” Kean said of the early CFAC round.
Chapman and Dunn proposed CinaGlow as a production company with the goal of offering affordable video and photo work to local businesses and students, which they said fills a gap in North Carolina filmmaking. They also propose a positive impact by using a portion of their profits to fund sustainability initiatives, and want to showcase student and other local artists’ films during a film festival.
“If you want to keep stories alive, they have to come from here,” Chapman said.
Lisa Cordileone, the filmmaker, agreed that CinaGlow is filling a gap.
“This is my jam right here,” she said. “What I’m so impressed with is you’re looking at film as a vessel — because it is — to social impact, job creation, and you’re talking about sustainability.”
The judges offered feedback like building a team with different and complementary skills, and thinking of ways to monetize. Fincannon asked their first-step priority, which Dunn said would likely be connecting with local businesses, making connections and expanding their reach.
In a meeting of art and biology, teammates Kayla Cordy and Mai Tomosaka pitched Art Brings Joy, a business offering art activities and social interaction to hospital patients, nursing home residents, and people unable to leave their homes. The idea came from both students’ hospital volunteer work, and was heavily inspired by Cordy’s work with Art is Good Medicine through Emerge Gallery and Art Center.
Sharing sample art projects with the judges, Tomosaka and Cordy said they see many people who are alone and don’t have activities to occupy their time, or who are immunocompromised and can’t leave their room or home.
“We want to promote a sense of community as well as improving individuals’ quality of life,” Tomosaka said.
The judges offered ideas like working with a foundation and marketing to organizations like hospitals and care facilities to engage and find clients.
Scully said he liked the idea, and connected with it personally as his mother had dementia before she died last fall.
“As she went through that experience, it was really hard, and sometimes hard for us to find things to do with her,” he said. “This is special and a huge need for people going through it.”
Cordy and Tomosaka will receive the $200 prize for placing third in the CFAC APC Round 1. Chapman and Dunn will receive $500 for first place.
In second, receiving $300, is music theory and composition student Jaron Royal, or Sol, who pitched a music production and audio engineering business to serve as a pipeline for students looking to enter the industry.
“My idea is not only just a studio space, but a space that can develop performing musicians within the academic space,” Royal said. “What I wish to foster is a more abstract ideology in music that not only fosters the performer, but allows the performer to develop their own performance psychology while building their professional characteristics.”
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Film students advance in college-level Aman Pirate Challenge round – East Carolina University
