From Montclair to Shanghai, and Everywhere in Between

Like many college seniors, Gentrix Shanga and Elaina Crow are actively involved in their school’s clubs and organizations that pertain to their interests and passions. But unlike most college seniors, Shanga and Crow already have brought their interests and passions to work around the globe. From London, to Malawi Africa, to Shanghai, Shanga and Crow have utilized the skills they have learned in the School of Communication and Media, internationally.

In January, the two TV & Digital Media majors traveled to London, England with producer Steven McCarthy in order to document Montclair State’s Vocal Accord choir’s work with the Richard Alston Dance Company. Shanga and Crow worked 12-hour days starting at 8 AM, following the choir and shooting footage of everything they did from rehearsing to walking the streets of London in order to make a documentary about it. They explained perhaps the most challenging part of their project was filming even when the choir was on break or sight-seeing.

“We didn’t have a break during the day,” Shanga explained. “We had to be on the ball at all times to be able to catch important moments.”

Their break and down-time came when they would travel back to their hotel and play back their footage from each day. Both Crow and Shanga noted the appreciation they felt from the choir and how that was maybe one of the most rewarding parts of their project.

“They can look back on it and use it themselves,” Shanga said. “This project really benefited everyone.”

The project is still in development, though they hope to complete it by the end of the Spring semester, and a trailer is available to view on wiredjersey.com.

While neither had been to London before, traveling and working in a foreign country was not a new experience for either Shanga or Crow.  Last year, Shanga traveled to Malawi, Africa with a group of four other School students and a professor to help produce a story regarding the African town. Shanga’s project involved a local entrepreneur who owned a hot sauce company who was working to expand the company globally. Shanga took b-roll shots of the hot-sauce factory and the city of Malawi, and interviewed the entrepreneur and his mother to produce her documentary called, “Hot Product from the Warm Heart,” which is also available to view on wiredjersey.com.

Shanga, who is originally from Africa, was intrigued by the idea to go back and tell the story of the Malawian entrepreneur.

“It sparked my interest in international journalism and storytelling,” Shanga said. “I want to go somewhere far away and bring that story back to tell people.”

By the time she worked in London for the second time, Crow was no stranger to working internationally either. Her first experience working oversees occurring in Florence, Italy during the summer of 2014. For six weeks, Crow worked on a mini-doc with two other students about Italian architecture. Crow’s work centered around a new opera house and an old train station now functioning as a convention hall.

Crow’s third and most recent international experience occurred this past spring break when, two months after returning from London, she traveled to Shanghai with other students from Montclair State’s film program to work with the Shanghai Theatre Academy, who visited Montclair State previously in the year. Crow and her team worked with the theatre academy to produce new scripts.

Traveling literally around the world in such a short span will certainly lead to a new outlook for anyone.

“The trips have given me a bit of perspective of how the world works and how different cultures come together,” Crow said. She also gained valuable experience working in the field and learned some lessons. “I was able to work with different cameras in different weather conditions and learn about international law. We learned to ask for forgiveness after the fact, not for permission beforehand.”

Though it seems like Shanga and Crow are out of the country more often than not, they still find time to be involved with the School’s organizations. Shanga is the president of the Alliance for Women in the Media. They meet to discuss the issue of the disparity of men and women in the media as well as host events to raise money for worthwhile causes, such as breast cancer awareness. Crow is the program director for Montclair State’s WMSC 90.3 FM, where she is responsible for scheduling and making sure the station is on schedule with their programming.

Both Elaina Crow and Gentrix Shanga believe their experiences oversees will help them in their future ventures. Shanga hopes to start her professional career as a production assistant and eventually would like to produce stories from around the world for shows like 60 Minutes. Crow, who is a self-described movie buff since she was young, would either like to work as a sound mixer in the film industry or a field camera operator for a television network.

Both are on the right track.