NewTek Names Winner of World’s Smallest HD Sports Production Vehicle

NewTek announced that Centennial High School of Peoria, AZ, is the grand-prize winner of the company’s smart car HD mobile production vehicle contest. The winning entry featured a high-energy rap video with lyrics about the educational goals of the school and its students. The grand-prize includes a 2010 smart car equipped with a TriCaster 455 multi-camera live production and streaming system, a 3Play 425 slow motion/instant replay system, control surfaces, and dual wing-mount monitors.

The initial entry and the video production was a collaboration between five seniors: Tim Litwiller, Yuriy Isparyan, Malik Farria, Jorge Flores, and Isaac Keene. The effort began with an entry essay written by Litwiller that earned selection to a group of ten finalists. Once the team was notified that they were among the finalists, the kids took over. They planned the entire video entry, and did all the shooting and editing. Ken Keene, Centennial High School Media/Video Production teacher who was advising the students, was out of town when the student team spent four 12-hour days editing their final contest entry. When Keene returned, he reviewed the entry and told the students that he thought they had a real chance at winning the car.

When asked what they would do with the smart car, the students said they would cover district sports, but were also excited about sharing the vehicle with other students. Litwiller said, “We want to show it off. This was a concentrated school effort, with everyone involved, and it shows what we can accomplish when we work together as a team. We will learn to use the NewTek equipment, and this mobile live production vehicle really will improve our school’s broadcasting capabilities.”

Yuriy Isparyan added, “It will be so cool to drive this sports production car down to the middle schools and demo the TriCaster and 3Play for other students. We can show them what is possible with today’s leading technology, and maybe spark their interest in video production.”

Carter Holland, Chief Marketing Office for NewTek, said, “We are thrilled to recognize Centennial High School as our grand-prize winner. We received many fantastic entries, with a wide range of creative and fun content. We can’t wait to see how Centennial High School puts the car to use.”

The winning video and the 9 other finalist videos are available for viewing at:  http://pages.newtek.com/smar-car-giveaway-finalists.html

The Contest: Winner and Finalists
The set of 10 finalists were selected from hundreds of entries in the 48 contiguous states and District of Columbia. A panel of judges that included sports video production professionals determined Centennial High School as the Grand Prize winner. The nine runners up, all of which will receive a TriCaster 40 multi-camera production system, include:

Arvada West High School, Arvada, CO

Grissom High School, Huntsville, AL

Harmony High School, Harmony, FL

James Logan High School, Union City, CA

Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Palisades Charter High School, Los Angeles, CA

South Kitsap High School, Port Orchard, WA

Southeast High School, Bradenton, FL

University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX