Hope Martin ’21 emailed Governor Kay Ivey’s office during the first week of the spring term, hoping she could speak with her for her senior capstone project – a documentary on female politicians in Alabama. As the second female governor in the state’s history, Ivey was an obvious voice Martin wanted to include.

“I didn’t even know if I would get an email back,” Martin says, “but I decided to shoot my shot.”

A few weeks later, Office of the Governor Press Secretary Gina Maiola replied to help arrange an in-person interview between Martin and Ivey.

Pictured left to right: BSC Photographer and Videographer Cameron Carnes, Hope Martin, Gov. Kay Ivey, and Dr. Teddy Champion.

Ivey joins Lashunda Scales, Jefferson County Commissioner and Birmingham mayoral candidate, and Rosemary Elebash, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, in Martin’s documentary. Martin has titled her work “The Time is Now” because “this is the time for women who’ve broken barriers over the years to shine,” she says.

For their senior capstone projects, all media and film studies majors create a media project of their choosing. This year’s work included other documentaries like Martin’s, short films, promotional videos, podcasts, and more. Students are responsible for the planning, interviewing, writing, recording, and editing needed for their individual projects, showcasing their multifaceted skillset in media production.

Martin first had the idea to focus on women in politics because of her mom, Sophie Martin, who has served on Alabaster’s City Council for 12 years and currently serves as the city’s first female Council President.

“Watching her is where I got my inspiration for the documentary,” Martin says. “I started to think about all the different female politicians around Alabama and how important it is to have female leadership, especially in politics.”

Martin prioritized highlighting different perspectives – Ivey provides a look at the state government’s top role, Scales talks through politics at the city and county levels, and Elebash brings the lobbyist’s point of view.

In February, Martin, along with Dr. Teddy Champion, assistant professor of media and film studies, and her film crew, went to Montgomery for the interview with Ivey. She says some of the answers Ivey had were different from what she expected.

“Gov. Ivey said she tries to not focus on herself as a woman in politics,” Martin says. “I thought she was going to talk about breaking a barrier, but she told me she tries not to think of herself as a minority because if she had that mindset, her confidence would go down.”

As she listened to the interviews and selected the best sound bites, Martin found herself with more than enough material to compose her 15-minute capstone project. She thought she might need a narrator but instead presents clips with enough direction that additional narration wasn’t needed.

“They can tell the story themselves,” Martin says. “I want to show how far women have come and the impact that they have made over the years, and now we have a female vice president.”

With an interest in pursuing a career in media relations, Martin’s documentary project gave her direct experience interviewing important people and connecting dots through the editing and production process.

“I’m doing things that people in this field do every day,” she says. “I would love for this to be an example of what I can bring to the table for a future position.”