Digital Media Studio

When University of Mary Washington senior Steve McClanahan pitched a proposal last spring that secured a Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant, it wasn’t his first time appearing before a live audience.

Steve has spent his college years participating in a weekly comedy show – think Saturday Night Live – where students learn to pitch sketches, write scripts, operate camera equipment, edit video, and produce live-streamed shows as part of a Digital Media Studio course.

“I thought you’d need to go to New York or Hollywood to do something like that,” said Steve, a psychology major and communication and digital studies minor who aspires to teach the latter. “I’ve gained so much professional experience from this.”

His passion for the project persuaded Cartland Berge, Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) director and adjunct instructor, to recruit Steve to share his story during the inaugural Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant presentations in April. Together, they earned a $4,000 Impact Grant for a new broadcast panel in the Hurley Convergence Center’s (HCC) Charnoff Production Studio.

“This program is funding innovative projects that are benefiting our students,” said Cartland, who teaches the class required to participate in Are We Live?. The updated technology will replace the older version that’s been in place since the HCC opened a decade ago, he said. “We’re giving them the opportunity to work with the industry-standard tools they’ll use if they pursue a career in this field.”

Piloted by UMW’s Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, the Impact Grant program awarded $25,000 this year in donor-funded grants to projects and initiatives proposed by students, faculty, and staff on behalf of recognized campus organizations. Applications for the 2025 Impact Grants are open through the end of January.

“We’re true believers in a broad liberal arts education,” said Mikhael Charnoff ’95, who made the original 2019 gift with wife Katherine Valentine Charnoff ’04 to name the studio. “In the past, college communications courses included rhetoric and speech, but today’s world requires video and digital media skills. Mary Washington students should have the resources to keep up and make a difference.”

The couple also made a recent gift to help purchase a new production desk to house the broadcast panel, providing increased accessibility for students and faculty.

“The studio used to have screens and other gear sticking out, and it was hurting the process,” Steve said. “Now, everything is streamlined.”

The bulky technology that was part of the older broadcast panel ‘was hurting the process,’ Steve said. ‘Now, everything is streamlined.’ Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

From left: Audra Young, Mariah Misch, and Pearl Lee prepare to broadcast an episode of ‘Are We Live?’ from the Charnoff Production Studio, using the older technology that had been in place since the HCC opened in 2014. The new broadcast panel increases functionality, Cartland said, giving students access to cutting-edge tools that were not available with the previous technology. Photo courtesy of Cartland Berge.

Mikhael Charnoff ’95 and wife Katherine Valentine Charnoff ’04 contributed a gift that helped pay for a production desk that increases accessibility. Cartland (foreground) and Steve test out the broadcast panel, which is housed in the production desk. Photo by Sam Cahill.

Steve, who graduates this spring, is no longer involved with Are We Live? but continues to produce online series through the UMW University Communications department’s Lively video project. He has already created Balancing Acts, interviewing Mary Washington students and faculty about their busy schedules. He’s producing another series this semester capturing Mary Washington memories and turning them into art.

Fittingly, his favorite memories feature the Are We Live? show, returning for its seventh season in February.

“I think everyone should take a class like this,” Steve said. “It allows you to have fun and be creative while building your digital skillset. I’m so excited for future students to use this new technology and to see what they do with it.”

The Hurley Convergence Center exhibit – “A Decade of Digital Convergence” – celebrating the building’s 10th anniversary will be on display in the HCC’s Digital Gallery through the end of the year.

UMW’s Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grants program is made possible through donors’ gifts to the Fund for Mary Washington. These gifts are vital to the University’s ability to improve the student experience and support faculty, providing crucial flexibility to respond to emerging challenges and seize opportunities as they arise. When alumni, parents, friends, faculty, and staff give to the Fund for Mary Washington, they are choosing to be part of a community that is committed to giving back and making the world a better place – enabling students to make positive change through programs like the Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grants.

The Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement is welcoming applications for projects that will take place between May 2025 and May 2026. UMW students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to apply for donor-funded grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 on behalf of recognized campus organizations. Learn more.

– Article written by Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04