Associate Professor of Media Studies Seth D. Myers and Loras Alumus Alum John Spencer Woerdehoff (’18) took home the Award of Excellence for Editing-Short Form for their work on the film Bella at the Iowa Motion Picture Awards Virtual Event. The Iowa Motion Picture Awards yearly recognizes outstanding creative and technical achievement in Iowa’s moving image production industry, in all its forms — in twenty-two Program Categories and twenty-five Craft Categories.
Wes Worthing, Iowa-based Actor, Writer, Board Member of the Iowa Motion Picture Association & Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance, said this about their editing work on Bella in a recent Facebook post, “I want to make some noise for Seth D. Myers and John Spencer for their edit of Bella. I personally have no affiliation with their film, but the film is gorgeous – the images, music, editing… all brilliant.”
Seth and John’s working relationship began at Loras College when John took Professor Myers’ Digital Imaging class when John was just getting started in the Media Studies major in 2016. John then took on an Academic internship through the Center for Experiential Learning, working with Professor Myers, assisting him on a commissioned video art series. This working relationship transitioned into a professional creative opportunity. John functioned as Co-editor and Director of Photography on Bella, co-produced & directed by Professor Myers and International artist Sarah Stolar.
“John and I have come a long way in a very short amount of time. I believe our individual strengths and weaknesses complement each other very well. I also think the generational divide between us allowed for different ways of seeing, bringing a fresh perspective to the work. This award is not only a testament to our creative strengths in the field of video editing but a major signifier of the continued support of the Loras community and the Media Studies program. We collectively could not have achieved some of our creative and professional goals without the college’s support. From being awarded a sabbatical and multiple faculty development grants to John’s internship, Loras was always behind us supporting our creative goals,” said Seth in response to receiving the award.
They recently worked together shooting on-location in Oregon, collaborating on a music video that John is working on and a commissioned video installation for a live music ensemble.
