HOPE – The student organizations at the Hope Academy of Public Service get a boost from a music video filmed under the direction of an Arkansas Arts Council Artist in Residence with real world credentials.\r\n
\r\nHAPS Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) students Harlie Lockhart, Suvari Marshall, Edith Dominguez, and Skyler Wilburn, and EAST instructor Jacqueline Brady, previewed the colorful and lively music video for the Hope Public Schools Board here Monday night to rave reviews.\r\n
\r\n“I think it’s great,” Zone 8 Representative David “Bubba” Powers said after the viewing.\r\n
\r\nThe short video was produced under the direction of Michael Merritt, a multimedia specialist who hails from Little Rock, but has film industry chops.\r\n
\r\n“I have written, directed and produced several short films and mini documentary films over the past seven years,” Merritt notes in his AIE biography. “I am currently in production of my third book and editing several documentaries that highlight Arkansas’ rich heritage.”\r\n
\r\nAn essayist, poet and short story author, Merritt is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and the New York Film Academy, in Manhattan, N.Y.\r\n
\r\nThe video features students in each organization on campus highlighting their main focus, interspersed with some related and humorous graphics.\r\n
\r\nBrady said the students were responsible for music selection and production, scenic transitions, and related software to make graphics work.\r\n
\r\nHAPS Principal Dr. Carol Ann Duke, who appears during the credits roll of the video, said it will be uploaded to the HAPS YouTube account and to the campus Facebook page.\r\n
\r\nThe Artist in Resident program of the Arkansas Arts Council is sponsored through a partnership with the AAC Arts in Education program by the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council and the Hope Public Schools.\r\n
