This year’s Hall of Fame, Full Sail gathered more individuals that have been given a great honor for their hard work and contribution to the entertainment industry. These people come from every corner of the entertainment sphere from Game Design all the way to Recording Arts. Before they were Hall of Famers, they had to go through their personal trial and errors to get to where they are today. Students had the opportunity to hear what they had to say about their experience in the industry. These inductees are Micheal Cardwell, Fela Davis, Erin Eberhardt, Chris Kelley, Mark Kilborn, and Shaun McCabe.
Once the panel started the first thing they were asked was what happened after they graduated. Cardwell, Davis, Kelley, and Kilborn said they did not start off doing what they originally wanted to do. Cardwell and Davis had to partake in everyday jobs at the start because of the lack of opportunities for their industries. After some time passed, Cardwell was fortunate enough to have his friend Shaun that owned his own business and offered his help to Cardwell to start his own business which would, later on, become “Digital Brew.” His friend and business mentor would give him some of his clientele to get started. As for Davis, she would get in touch with Career Development to figure out her next step to get her into the industry. Career Development told her that she had to get her LinkedIn profile started and while at first, she was hesitant, she did it anyway. After she made her profile, she started working on her portfolio with equipment that wasn’t considered an industry-standard but got the job done. Kelley had to start off by doing freelance work until he would later start making connections with the individuals he worked with. Kelley always made sure he did his part and contributed as much as he could to the project which would let him eventually work with Google as a Staff UX Designer.
That just goes to show that as long as you are passionate about your dream job, it doesn’t matter what the setbacks are and the type of equipment you have. For these Hall of Famers, they had a long way to go before they could get to where they are and it is a motivator for students because it shows them to push through any obstacles that they have because even people we idolize also had to go through their personal obstacles to get the recognition in their respective industries. Be sure to catch Part 2 if this panel where we focus on the inductees’ advice on how to navigate and make it in the entertainment industry!
(Inductees are listed alphabetically by the last name.)
First up is Micheal Cardwell graduated from Film and Entertainment Business and is the Founder & Creative Director of Digital Brew which is a video production, animation, and design agency located in Orlando. Fela Davis graduated from Recording Arts and is a Front of House Engineer & Content Creator. She currently works with six-time Grammy winner Christian McBride as a Front of House Engineer. Erin Eberhardt was the first woman to graduate from Game Design and is the Lead Project Manager at Blizzard Entertainment. Chris Kelley graduated from Digital Media and is currently a Staff UX Designer at Google. Mark Kilborn graduated from Recording Arts and he is a Sound Designer who has worked on various projects including the Call of Duty franchise. Shaun McCabe graduated from Game Design and is currently Head of Technology at Insomniac Games.
Writer & Photographer: Angel J. Ortiz
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