Javen Bies-Dupree
Layla Khan-Hickman sits quietly in a room in Athens, Alabama, surrounded mostly by strangers. She begins to recognize a few people in the dimly lit space, connecting faces and voices she’s only seen and heard from another dark room: a video editing suite.
Khan-Hickman is attending a film festival with her father, a filmmaker who shot and produced a documentary about the Athens High School basketball team. She helped edit the project, but the festival was her first opportunity to interact with the players, coaches and community members featured in the film.
“Seeing the subjects of our stories revel in the immortality of their film is so cool,” she said. “We get this opportunity to record people and tell their stories so that they last forever.”
The festival experience was an affirmation of how richly rewarding filmmaking can be, both for subjects and their storytellers. Now, Khan-Hickman’s path to a dream career in documentary filmmaking is being charted at The University of Alabama, where she’s a junior majoring in creative media.
Khan-Hickman’s time at the Capstone has been filled with abundant resources and opportunities to nurture her growth as a filmmaker. She has numerous options to gain valuable and practical experience through the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ Digital Media Center in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The DMC offers students studio and production spaces, private editing bays, cameras, lenses and lighting and sound gear. The DMC also houses the Center for Public Television, WVUA23, Alabama Public Radio and Crimson Tide Productions, all of which provide students internships, paid positions and laboratory work. These resources and experiential learning opportunities are rare; UA is one of just two universities in the nation to feature both a public radio station and a commercial television station operated by a single academic unit.
“The Center for Public Television has been a space for me to put all the skills I’ve learned in class to practice, and that is very unique to be able to do while still in school,” Khan-Hickman said.
For her work and projects with the Center of Public Television, Khan-Hickman utilizes the DMC’s full range of offerings, particularly its industry-standard cameras, LED light panels and audio equipment for filming on location, as well as spacious edit bays for sorting and editing her footage.
Her documentary, “What Makes You Happy,” with CPT has been nominated for a Southeast Emmy in the Lifestyle – Short Form Content category. It is one of six nominations for CPT this year, five of which are student films.
Through Khan-Hickman’s internship with CPT, she’s blending unique experiences through UA’s Honors College with her film projects. She is a member of the Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program, which prepares students for leadership and service in different communities. Khan-Hickman has had profound experiences in two distinct geographical locations – the Blackbelt of Alabama and Cuba – and is currently working on a documentary film highlighting the similarities of both areas, with a focus on Chip Cooper, former UA director of photography, and Cuban photographer and instructor, Julio Larramendi.
“A subject in one of my earlier films in Marion, Alabama provided me with a lesson that I have taken with me: ‘Life is not all about being successful in making money but also being happy and doing what’s best for you,’” she said.
In addition to the foundational experiences she’s gained through the DMC and Witt Fellows Program, Khan-Hickman is thankful for the scholarship support that has eased the financial burden of attending UA. She is a recipient of the Vulcan Materials Company Presidential Honors Scholarship and the J. Kelly Sisk Memorial Endowed Communication Scholarship.
One of Khan-Hickman’s goals is to make as many films as she can while also being an important part of her community.
“I want to be a citizen who goes to council meetings, supports the schools – even if I don’t have kids in school – and cares about what my representatives are doing,” she said.
The Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign will continue enhancing campus facilities to support exceptional students like Khan-Hickman as UA develops innovators and leaders.
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