Featured photo courtesy of “We Do It All” team
Story by Cadee Havard
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Last spring, Middle Tennessee State University’s College of Media and Entertainment set out to film a commercial that would highlight the college’s diverse set of programs. Dean Beverly Keel and Professor Bess Rodgers began planning the production of the commercial to include some of MTSU’s student talent.
Kelty Greye, a commercial songwriting major in her junior year at the time, entered in a school-wide songwriting competition for the commercial. After being selected to participate in the commercial, she got to sing and play fiddle in a studio on campus for the first time.
Greye worked with audio production major Phillip Beima, who was also selected to participate as an arranger and songwriter for the project. Another junior at the time, Nick Edgerson, known by his stage name Legendary Nedge, heard about the commercial. He was encouraged by Keel to participate in the mass zoom info session, and he started working on a verse for the track right after. After a few weeks, he was excited to see an email from Rodgers asking him to come in and record/film the verse.
Liliana Manyara, a music business major that was also in her junior year, had just finished the red carpet event for the Judds: Love Is Alive – The Final Concert. She said that they decided to include some footage from the event to be the opening for the commercial. After being asked on to the project, she ended up being the prominent on-screen talent, providing the narration.
The commercial features all of the different avenues that one can pursue in the College of Media and Entertainment. Greye came up with the fitting slogan for the commercial, “We do it all.” While the students surely believed in that statement, none of them were expecting what exactly they were about to accomplish.
Fast forward–it’s now December of 2023, and all of these students are about to finish up the first semester of their senior year. The team gets some news they never could have dreamed of–the commercial was nominated for an Emmy award. All of the students mentioned it feeling surreal, shocking and like a dream come true.
“It was an absolute honor to even be nominated. It was quite funny hearing when my friends would have the commercial pop up as an ad on television or YouTube. They would always send me a quick clip or message whenever it would come on, and that was cool and fulfilling in itself,” Manyara said. “An Emmy nomination, though, was even further validation that what we made was a success.”
Feb. 17, the students attended the Emmy Awards at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. When the time came for their category, Commercial Spot–Single, the team was stunned to hear “We do it all” announced as the winning nominee.
“It was incredible. It was one of those magical moments you dream about but don’t really expect to happen,” Greye said. “I’ll never forget the feeling of holding the award on the stage, looking at my talented classmates and the amazing faculty who made this possible, all in front of an audience of Emmy Award winning professionals.”
Aside from this being a surreal and unforgettable experience, the team of students is excited to see how this accomplishment can impact their careers. Greye said she is excited to tell the sync-licensing agency she just signed to that the songwriting work she did won an Emmy.
This was definitely a dream come true for Edgerson, who said “I would love to work in the industry as a songwriter producing songs for tv and movies. With this being my first professional placement, I’m grateful that it was published by my university in order to bring more students to the RIM program.”
All of the students expressed deep gratitude for the MTSU teachers and faculty that helped put this project together, including Rodgers and professor Allie Sultan. The new experience brought the students new connections and valuable industry experience for their future careers.
Feeling supported by both the MTSU staff and their peers was, as Edgerson described, a “dope feeling.”
“The end result was rewarding, but so was recording in the studio and seeing everyone’s reaction to the finished record,” Edgerson said.
“This commercial was the highlight of my time here at MTSU. Every part of the process of making it taught me something new and prepared me for my current job. I am so thankful to Professor Bess Rogers, who guided us through the musical process, and Professor Allie Sultan who directed this great commercial. I am True Blue,” Kelty Greye said.
“We Do It All” can be watched here.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell and Assistant Lifestyles Editor Shamani Salahuddin, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Instagram at MTSUSidelines or on X at @MTSUSidelines.
