It was a little after six in the morning that past Saturday when a pink fade began to creep across the sky. At this time, depending on the class, most Full Sail students were either still asleep or just beginning to fall asleep after a long night of working on a project. But thirty minutes away beyond the Orlando city limits, and tucked away on a private piece of country land, Full Sail film students (both current and graduated) were already hard at work, preparing the set of Stephanie Berlanga’s “Band Aid” music video. 
It was an extremely impressive scene. 3300+Climbing has always been student ran. But this...this I admit, took the idea of student ran to a completely different level. Taylor Hayes, an alumna of the graduate film program, was the director, and current New Media Journalism graduate student/alumnus of the Bachelor’s film program Nestor Vera was producer. And between the two of them and Director of Photography Michael Fallon, Full Sail film students worked diligently to create an amazing music video for Stephanie. Instructors were not around to keep a watchful eye on these students as if they were in class. And in fact, students weren’t even doing this for a class. This project was completely put together by students on their own free time.

Yes, 3300+Climbing was there of course. In fact, one of our faculty advisors, Israel, got to play a cool part in the video (but we’ll keep the details on the down low until the video is released). Interns and coordinators also got to stand in as extras. Being that we are music and entertainment business students, it was slightly different hanging out on the set of a music video. But it was extremely fun, eye opening, and informative nonetheless. And a huge shout out goes to 3300+Climbing intern Jason Gordon, who went above and beyond to help the film crew with setting up (the night before and the day of). As a coordinator, I observe our interns a lot during meetings. Jason has always been quiet, possibly observing others just as much as I do. But this past weekend when I walked on set, Jason was all about production in the most natural and helpful way possible. He was definitely an important asset to the film crew that day as well as is an important asset to our artist development initiative. Kudos to Jason! 

Fast forward to mid-morning. Most crew begins to show up. 3300+Climbing interns begin to trickle in as extras and as extra hands. Stephanie arrives, excited and fresh faced, ready for a long day of work. The rest of the main cast are not too far behind her. 
​It was a relatively smooth shoot I believe. No one got hurt. No one broke equipment. We weren't too far behind on time. And it only rained for about twenty minutes (thanks, Florida, for reminding us that we are indeed in Florida). The skies cleared up just in time however for a crucial scene outside and by six in the evening, it was a wrap.
I was just an extra and I was completely exhausted. Imagine how tired Nestor, Taylor, and Michael were though. They dedicated all of their time and talents to putting together a music video for our artist and 3300+Climbing is forever grateful.  Their talents may be have developed over the years of training but the entire crew had a natural flair of hard work and drive that cannot be taught (even at the famed Full Sail University).  
Stick around for Stephanie’s music video coming out soon. It’s definitely something that you don’t want to miss. But in the mean time, if you need a music video, Nestor, Taylor, and their crew are a group of people that will definitely deliver. 

Written by: Claire Contevita 

Full Sail students may have jumpstarted their Hall of Fame 7 last week with the Grammys viewing party but 3300+Climbing officially started celebrating that Sunday on Valentine’s Day by tuning in to local college radio station WPRK’s “Biscuits, Bacon and Blues” (hosted by Full Sail Concert Management and Production instructor Jerry Waller).
 
The resident Sunday morning DJ of the award-winning station was so kind enough to interview Stephanie Berlanga (via phone) on his show. If you missed the interview, we got you covered. Think of it as spending a late Valentine’s Day with our artist!

We'd like to give a huge shout out to WPRK and Jerry for supporting Stephanie and our initiative here at 3300+Climbing and we hope to have many more 3300+Climbing artists on his show on Sunday mornings in the future. 
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To listen to the full interview, check it out here! 
https://soundcloud.com/stephanieberlanga/stephanie-berlangas-radio-interview-on-wprk-21416

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Tucked away in a quiet part of Sanford, Florida on a Monday night,  West End Trading Co. was buzzing with open mic night music, bar glasses clinking, and laughter. The stage lights were slightly dim (as if inspired by a Pinterest board) and a soft scent of cigarette smoke, beer, and delicious fifty cent wings blanketed the air, creating a very typical local bar atmosphere. The bar wasn’t too packed but just enough for guests to have to wait in line to grab a drink and yell to their friends right next to them as they enjoy casual conversation. Again, it was a very typical atmosphere. But what stood out amidst the smoke, wings, and noise was a soft spoken artist with a very big and angelic voice.
 
Stephanie Berlanga, fresh from a few days’ worth of Hall of Fame performances, appearances, photoshoots, and a two day recording session at TSM Studio, hopped on stage with her guitar, smiled at the crowd, and introduced herself. A large crowd filed into the bar from outside (that crowd being 3300+Climbing interns and Stephanie Berlanga fans) to support Stephanie. The rest of the crowd – the local Sanford guests – continued to have fun amongst themselves, almost oblivious to the fact that such amazing talent just stood up in front of them. But by time Stephanie reached the chorus of her song “No Fool,” the rest of the bar had quieted down and refocused their attention on Stephanie and her amazing voice.
 
Three songs in and people, who never even heard of Stephanie, whipped out their phones to record her performance. Despite the loud crowd, when Stephanie sang a few covers from artists that inspired her over the years, guests could be heard mentioning, “she is so good! She sounds just like the the CD version...even better!”
 
But alas, Stephanie’s open mic night performance at the West End Trading Co. was finished. Or so we thought. Guests wanted an encore. People raised their bar glasses, clapped, and cheered for another song. Stephanie smiled at the crowd and strummed her guitar. For Stephanie, to have a crowd of complete strangers cheer for another one of her performances, this must have been one of the best feelings in the world. For 3300+Climbing, this was a huge success. To watch our artist grow over the past few months has been a whirlwind of creativity and success that definitely gives us bragging rights around campus. It was an awesome night over all. Stephanie was able to show off her pure talent and 3300+Climbing interns and Stephanie Berlanga fans were able to mingle together over a casual night of music.
 
Huge opportunities are coming Stephanie’s way. Those dim lights that surrounded Stephanie as she walked onto that stage in the middle of an amazing local bar will only get bigger and brighter from here on out over the course of her future and successful career. 

Written by Claire Contevita 

Our second 3300+Climbing artist, Stephanie Berlanga will be flying into Orlando exactly one week from today! Upon her arrival she will be greeted by a few fellow Full Sail students who will document her arrival for a behind the scenes video we have in the making. The day after she lands we kick off the third day of #fullsailhof with Stephanie speaking on the panel Making the Connection: New Media and Content Distribution on Friday, February 19th 9am-10:30 in FS3B-113.

Right after that panel Stephanie will be joining us for 3300+Climbing: Behind Full Sail's student-run artist development initiative in the same room as the first panel at 11am. Shortly after the second panel, Stephanie will be performing in the back-lot so come say hello!

Saturday and Sunday are booked for Stephanie, for she will be recording her second studio EP at TSM Studios, which is owned by Full Sail grad and entrepreneur Jason Ross. We can't wait to get Stephanie in the studio and we thank Jason and his colleagues for investing time in this project!

After a long two days in the studio, Stephanie will be on campus Monday discussing music video ideas, posing for a photoshoot and interviewing with AudioPress.

Stephanie will be featured on WPRK 91.5 with Jerry Waller THIS SUNDAY at 11:15am. Be sure to tune into this radio show, and tell your friends! Follow this link to listen.

That's about all I have for now, but keep checking our blog because there are exciting things happening!

Written by Michelle Susan

By Claire Contevita 
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​​What’s artist development without including cool merch as part of the promotional process? As part of Stephanie Berlanga’s promotional campaign, we hired a graphic designer to create artwork that would be turned into a sticker. We did so for three reasons.

One: Bands and artists always have stickers as part of their merchandise menu.

Two: Stickers are a nice gesture of gratitude if included in a music submission for radio stations

Three: Stickers are just plain fun (look at any college student’s laptop).
 
Around the same time that we were putting together Stephanie’s radio campaign in December, we got in touch with Full Sail Media Design graduate Brenna Chapman. During the brainstorming process, we wanted something that would make Stephanie stand out from the rest of the thousands of other artists and bands on the market. And Brenna delivered just that. As a result, she designed for us a simple sticker that particularly plays up Stephanie’s current EP The Way Things Go. It’s light-hearted and fun and stands apart from the typical young artist that caters to a college demographic.
 
After a few weeks of designing and redesigning various looks for the sticker, we finally settled on one that will represent a first of many other promotional goodies for Stephanie’s fans. Additionally, the fact that 3300+Climbing kept the collaboration within the family by working with a Full Sail graduate is the icing on the cake.
 
Stephanie’s stickers will be sent to college radio stations that are playing her music as a symbol of thanks for their support. The stickers will also be available during her attendance at Hall of Fame in a few short weeks.
 
If you are interested in Brenna’s amazing work, please check out her website here.

​College radio promotions is by far one of the most important aspects for indie artists in the music industry. Although the process of trying to get an artist on rotation is a relatively long and detailed task, the benefits from college radio air time are plenty. Which is why we at 3300+Climbing changed it up a little bit this time around and decided to focus a little bit more on actively interacting with stations to ensure that our artist Stephanie Berlanga gained the appropriate recognition from college radio programmers.
 
Initially, that radio database that our interns created provided information for about 300 college and community radio stations all across the country. After a little digging, we settled on submitting Stephanie’s current EP The Way Things Go to 160 college stations in physical CD format as per request from those stations. Later, we will submit her music to the remaining stations in digital format.
 
Earlier this week on December 14, 2015, 3300+Climbing teamed up with the Music Retail and Promotions class to put Stephanie’s CD together. Typically, our meetings start at one in the afternoon however most interns and students from the Music Retail and Promotions class showed up thirty minutes early to get our task finished. We created a pretty awesome assembly line. First, we cut out and insert CD covers. While a few did that, about four people were including social media contact information stickers to the back of the CD as our faculty advisors oversaw the burning of Stephanie’s music onto discs.  Once all 160 CDs were burned, 3300+Climbing members Cassi and Cody applied a designed sticker to the disc. And finally, after we packaged Stephanie’s album with a one sheet into envelopes, we applied stations’ addresses. At the moment, we are currently waiting on a really awesome sticker from Full Sail graduate and graphic design artist Brenna Chapman. Her sticker will be included in the package for college radio DJs to use and show off as they play Stephanie’s music.

By Claire Contevita