CdA freshman believes in taking chances

Fourteen-year-old Lauren Pinney believes in gaining the most she can from every opportunity. The spirited freshman at Coeur d’Alene High School credits one of her eighth-grade teachers at Lakes Middle School, Mia Eggleston, with giving her the courage to go out on a limb.

“If I had not taken her class, I would not have learned to take chances,” said Pinney. “She is a real go-getter, and she told us not to let anything stop us.”

Eggleston teaches a television production class which Pinney describes as the best class she has ever taken.

It is that courage and willingness to try new things that prompted Pinney to enter a competition which found her in the top-20 finalists nationwide.

While surfing on YouTube.com, Pinney read about a contest sponsored by Kmart. Approximately 100 adults and teens nationwide produced commercials for Kmart with the hope of having their production chosen to air on national television.

“I found out about it (the contest) four days before it was over,” said Pinney, who said the looming deadline did not deter her from shooting and editing a commercial for consideration.

“I lived in my computer room editing my video,” said Pinney, adding that it took about 30 hours to edit two hours of footage into a 54-second commercial.

The video, which is set to hip-hop music, was shot in the Coeur d’Alene Kmart. Filmed by her mother, the commercial shows Pinney dancing and modeling clothes in a dressing room and the teen section.

“It’s shot from the perspective of the mirror,” said Pinney, who adds that she could not have completed the project without her mom who helped edit and create some of the artwork that appears in the commercial.

As one of the 20 finalists, Pinney won a video camera and a $250 gift card. The grand prize winner was awarded a five-night, four-day stay in New York, $750 in spending money and a $1,000 gift card. The winning commercial was aired Sept. 23 on the CW.

Pinney says that while the prize money and gifts were a great reward, what is more important are the things she has learned from the experience.

“It is more about what happens in the long run,” she said. “I’ve done interviews and learned a lot more about editing. It’s all been a really good experience.”

When Pinney was enrolled in Eggleston’s class, she and her classmates appeared on television every day before the entire student body.

“It was live so if you messed up everyone saw it,” she said. But she didn’t limit her interviewing to classmates.

When “Good Morning America” was in Coeur d’Alene last year, Pinney and her best friend told her classmates they were going to get an interview with ABC weatherman Sam Champion. Determined to show her friends that she could accomplish her goals, Pinney arrived at the resort at 3:30 a.m. and did in fact manage to film an interview with Champion.

“We had all our questions ready,” said Pinney. “(The video interview) is something I’ll keep forever.”

In Eggleston’s course, Pinney learned a great deal about how to edit and how to incorporate themes into a video – qualities she says helped in the Kmart contest.

“I feel like all the elements I learned in TV 271 made everything fit together like a puzzle when I produced the contest video,” she said.

Pinney says she cannot take broadcasting until her senior year. Until then, she intends to continue working on video production in her spare time and will continue her creative talents in her theater class.

She is proud that she had the courage to enter her video in a contest and encourages others to not back away from opportunities in life. After all, at 14, she has learned firsthand that taking chances can turn into big opportunities.

“We only have one life,” said Pinney. “Don’t miss out on opportunities. If you do, you will always wonder what could have been.”

Her commercial can be seen by logging onto www.kmart.com/youtube. Enter Pinney in the search for a video box to view her production.