A student documentary produced in a School of Communications capstone class won the North Carolina Filmmaker award at the Carolina Film and Video Festival in Greensboro, N.C.
The 34-minute film, “Sequoia: A Sailor and His Ship” was produced by 2009 alumni Lauren Limerick, Kelly Murtaugh, Katy Branston, Emily Kamischke, Lizzie Napier, Chris Ford and Tim Johnson, and Interactive Media master’s student Conor Britain.
The documentary centers on the U.S.S. Sequoia, which served as the presidential yacht from Herbert Hoover’s administration until Jimmy Carter auctioned it off in 1997, and Cpt. Giles Kelly, a former Navy man and U.S. foreign services officer, who was hired to captain the ship in 1983. After going into a period of private ownership after President Carter auctioned it, the boat was bought by a trust in the early 1980s with the purpose of raising enough money to give it back to the government. In the film, Kelly, who is Limerick’s grandfather, reflects on his experiences with the Sequoia and how it affected his life.
The students completed the all the filming and basic work in the fall semester Communications Fellows capstone course and then put finishing touches on the project in the spring with the support of elondocs.
Watch the trailer for Sequoia by clicking HERE.