This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about student-produced films on campus. In order to personalize the achievement for your students you will need to prepare a spreadsheet of student data to use as placeholders throughout the achievement. Here are the placeholders used in this story:
- FIRST NAME*
- LAST NAME*
- HOMETOWN*
- ZIP CODE*
- EMAIL ADDRESS*
- MAJOR
- FILM TITLE - The name of the student-produced film (eg. Killer Chipmunks from Outer Space)
- FILM SYNOPSIS - A stand-alone sentence that summarizes the plot of the film (eg. The film follows six chipmunks from Mars who invade Earth intent upon eliminating the humans who launched them into space in the 1970's.)
*= Data required by Merit
Achievement Title & Summary
Your achievement title and summary will be used for the online version of your story and shared across social media. They will also appear on your school's Merit page.
Your summary should act as a comprehensive overview of the achievement. After your summary, readers will see a list of students who are part of the story.
|
Achievement Title: Merit University Students Present Film(s) at Annual MU Short Films Festival Achievement Summary: The Merit University Annual Short Film Festival will showcase the work of thirteen Merit University students. Each film must be no longer than 10 minutes, and can be animated or live-action. |
Individual Story
Your Merit achievement will create personalized online stories for each of your students. Throughout this story you will insert placeholders for the data from your spreadsheet. These placeholders are in [BRACKETS] in the text below.
This version of your story can also be sent to newspapers interested in just one student. Merit will automatically turn it into an individual press release for you and add your saved boilerplate.
|
Headline: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]’s Film [FILM TITLE] Selected for Annual Film Festival Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], a [MAJOR] from [HOMETOWN], has been selected to screen [FILM TITLE] at the Annual Merit University Short Films Festival on May 25. [FILM SYNOPSIS] Each film must be no longer than 10 minutes, and can be animated or live-action. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes placeholders for the name of the film (eg. Killer Chipmunks from Outer Space) and a brief summary of the plot (eg. Six chipmunks from Mars invade Earth intent upon eliminating the humans who launched them into space in the 1970's.)
Group Press Release
This is the version of your press release that will be sent to newspapers interested in multiple students from your spreadsheet. It's a local story that will include a list of only the students from a paper's coverage area.
Your group press release will have an opening, repeating and closing section. The opening and repeating sections will be the same for every newspaper. The repeating section will contain all of your placeholders and will be the only part of the press release that varies from paper to paper. Use the last sentence of your opening to introduce your list of students.
|
Headline: Local Merit University Students Present Films at Annual Short Films Festival Opening: The Annual Film Festival, taking place this month, will showcase the work of the following local Merit University students: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], a [MAJOR] from [HOMETOWN], has been selected to screen [FILM TITLE]. [FILM SYNOPSIS] Closing: The MU Annual Short Film Festival, taking place this month, will showcase the work of thirteen Merit University students. Each film must be no longer than 10 minutes, and can be animated or live-action. |
Note: Merit will automatically add your saved boilerplate to the closing section of your group press release.
Add Images and Publish
Achievements are at their best with images included. If possible, include a photo with your story. Get a picture of the achievement in action or a group shot of the students involved. If you're unable to include a photo, instead consider using a school or department logo. The image(s) you choose will appear on your online stories and also go to media recipients.
Use this template as inspiration to publish your next achievement. Log into your Merit account here. If you’re looking for more details on how to build this template into the Merit achievement workflow you can follow the step by step tutorial here.