NYC taps Lehman to produce COVID series
Nearly two years after COVID
19 shut down New York
City, a new series of public service
announcements created
by Lehman College students
for the Mayor’s Offi ce of Media
and Entertainment (MOME)
is exploring how New Yorkers
adapted, endured and came together
during the pandemic’s
early days.
The series, “Shift NYC,”
was shot and recorded by 10
Lehman students, working
with a team of 11 faculty and
staff from Lehman’s Multimedia
Center and School of Arts
and Humanities, over the summer.
It debuted this month,
with fi ve episodes set to air
in weekly installments on
Lehman’s Instagram account
through early December. The
series can be viewed in its entirety
on the Shift NYC website
and the city’s website
and will appear on NYC Life
(Channel 22 on Cablevision
and Channel 25 on other cable
providers) and TV screens in
New York City taxis.
Each episode takes place
in one of New York’s fi ve boroughs
and, in just two and a
half minutes, captures the resiliency
and diversity of the
city and its people during the
pandemic.
Viewers meet business
owners, artists and communities
who found ways to support
each other and thrive despite
diffi cult and uncertain
times, from a volunteer group
in Queens that puts on pop-up
events to raise New Yorkers’
spirits to a group of kids in the
Bronx who use in-person gaming
to stay connected, thanks
to the nonprofi t New York
Video Game Critics Circle. In
Manhattan, we learn how costume
designers for some of
Broadway’s biggest shows kept
their shops open after theaters
closed.
The students were recommended
for the project by
Lehman faculty members and
had the opportunity to earn
academic credit for the experience.
Under the guidance of
Multimedia Technical Director
Brendan McGibney and
Lehman alum Keren Plowden,
who served as producer and
assistant director, the students
worked on all aspects of the
production, from photography
to graphics to music composition,
audio post-production,
and social media marketing.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 34 OV. 19-25, 2021 BTR
In addition, the students
sat in on 10 master class workshops
last spring, where they
learned about working in fi lm
and television and marketing
from faculty and industry professionals.
For Nathanial Gary, a senior
fi lm and TV studies major
who was part of the production
team and charged with taking
behind-the-scenes photos of
the crew, Shift NYC gave him
the kind of experiential learning
opportunity he needed to
round out his education.
“I loved being a part of the
project because nothing has
developed my skill more than
when I work hands-on on sets
and productions like these,”
he said.
Indeed, faculty hoped students
would leave the experience
feeling that way.
“The opportunity for our
students to work with professionals
in the fi eld, as well as
expert Lehman faculty, in creating
a series of short fi lms for
public broadcast is a tremendous
one,” said James Mahon,
dean of the School of Arts and
Humanities. “This is exactly
the kind of training that we
A new series of public service announcements created by Lehman
College students for the Mayor’s Offi ce of Media and Entertainment
(MOME) is exploring how New Yorkers adapted to COVID-19.
Photo courtesy Lehman College
want for our students who are
pursuing degrees in fi lm and
television, animation, computer
graphics, and media,
who will now be starting their
careers with a professional
credit in their résumé and the
experience of working in the
industry.”
This isn’t the fi rst time that
MOME has tapped Lehman’s
Multimedia Center. In 2013,
McGibney’s team produced
“Best of the Bronx,” a series
of vignettes showcasing some
of the borough’s famous landmarks.
The series won a New
York Emmy Award and a Telly
Award for Best Public Service
Announcement.
The Multimedia Center has
been contracted to produce
another fi ve episodes of Shift
NYC for MOME by January.
For behind-the-scenes footage
and more, visit lehman.
edu/shiftnyc
-Bronx Times
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