The Cosford Cinema opened its doors to the ’Canes community for a celebration of UM alumni’s remarkable achievements in an event titled, The Road to the Emmys. The gathering, which welcomed students, faculty, parents and sponsors, provided a unique opportunity to gain insights into the inner workings of the media industry.
Karin Gwinn Wilkins, Dean of the School of Communication, set the stage for the evening’s celebration with a forward-looking perspective.
“Not only does the University of Miami turn 100 next year, but our School of Communication turns 40,” Wilkins said. “So we’re going to have a lot of fun with that theme. We’re going to think about how communication technologies and our media landscape have changed dramatically. So it’s a very different world.”
For decades now, the University of Miami School of Communication has been an opportunity-filled environment for future journalists, broadcasters and film. executives to make their dreams into a reality.
“Whenever the Emmys would be on TV, I remember I used to go in front of my family or my mom, and I would give this Emmy acceptance speech,” said Elsa Bolt, a UM alumna and Emmy-winning executive producer at WPLG Local 10 News in South Florida. “In 2018, when I did win my Emmy, I realized that a childhood dream of mine actually came true without me even realizing it. I had gone a completely different path and the fact that it still came true, even though it was in a different way than I could’ve envisioned… was really incredible.”
Bolt, along with Louis Aguirre, Marisa Navarro and Osvaldo Martínez, have each garnered distinct experiences throughout their time in the industry, from their first step into a UM communications class to the day they received their Emmy awards.
The event attracted a diverse audience of around 60 attendees, including students like Mateo Perez, a sophomore majoring in advertising and public relations.
“I’m here to meet new people and see what opportunities lie in the media industry,” Perez said.
The dynamic group of journalists, reporters and executives on the panel have had involvement ranging both locally and nationally in companies such as Telemundo, NBC and Fox. They were even part of student media organizations during their time at the U.
Aguirre, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and co-anchor at WPLG-Local 10 in South Florida, credits his rise to success to his first communications professor.
“It was my first telecom class, Introduction to Communications, taught by Professor Mitch Shapiro … He said, ‘I know all of you want a career in television, well I’m going to give you the facts. About 13 of you will actually succeed and have a job in television, and only 3 of you will be on camera,’” Aguirre said. “I was resolved in that moment to be one of those 3 people.”
Now, not only does Aguirre report on local and national news, but he also exercises his passion by spearheading the “Don’t Trash Our Treasure” campaign as an environmental correspondent.
“My first Emmy that I won at WPLG was for a half-hour special, which I wrote and produced, called ‘Saving Biscayne Bay.’ That was when we had the most horrific natural disaster outside of a hurricane, that happened in South Florida. We lost 27,000 marine species in the middle of Biscayne Bay, because of all the pollution,” Aguirre said. “We were the only station in South Florida that really reported on the scientific facts of what was happening… and that Emmy, those Emmys, they mean a lot.”
Similarly, Martinez, the executive vice president of multiplatform news for the Telemundo Station Group within NBCUniversal, called attention to the importance of passion within one’s work.
“I think you have to, as a journalist, have a curiosity about the world, you have to want to tell people stories, to empower the voiceless. That’s why you get into it,” said Martínez. “At the end of the day… the memories that I have are the teamwork around the stories … It’s the teamwork and your heart and soul that goes into it, that ultimately, hopefully is what you will value.”
Martínez started working before his time at UM, eventually becoming an overnight writer at Channel 7 WSVN. He expressed how his double-major in broadcast journalism and English literature made him a structured and versatile professional, shaping his career from the beginning.
“I learned to be a necessity… You learn a little bit about everything. My job at Channel 7 was to be a writer, but that’s not what my job ended as,” he said.
Navarro, director of production and post-production Services at Mediapro North America, is a testament to the fruitfulness behind honing one’s craft.
Navarro explained that when she started at UM, she thought of becoming a film director, but ended up enjoying editing and post-production of motion pictures just as much.
“You really shouldn’t be turning anything down. Because I think that that’s where you grow and that’s where you find your groove,” Navarro advised. “I think that when you are in a production track, you should be doing absolutely everything. Pulling cables, lighting a scene, running audio, whatever you can get your hands on you should be doing even if it scares you.”
However, the media landscape is rapidly evolving as major companies merge, leading to increased consolidation, greater control over content distribution and the making of industry giants.
“When there are these shifts in the market, it’s your opportunity to find greater challenges,” Navarro said. “If you’re that one man band, if you’re the one that can shoot, edit, light a scene, record audio, and you’re the jack of all traits — you will become that essential person.”
Bolt discussed how going the extra mile when it came to learning about writing and film led up to her executive position at WPLG.
“I was really interested in journalism, but I also loved to write and I loved a lot of different things. And that’s what I think makes journalism so special is that it covers so many different interests and so many different topics,” she explained.
In closing, Martínez invited his fellow colleagues to provide a powerful reminder and an inspiring message to the audience.
“Being a journalist is a privilege. No matter the hardships that face us, we get a front row seat to history on a daily basis. We get an opportunity to impact people’s lives, and change lives. That doesn’t happen in every field and every job,” Martínez said. “The fulfillment that will come with the impact that you will be able to have because you have that voice, is not something I hope you walk away from.”