Media Arts Professor Brad Barber Shares More About His Experience Creating the Emmy Award-Winning Documentary Series “21”
BYU Media Arts professor Brad Barber’s expansive film career has spanned cinematography, producing, directing, editing and several Emmy wins — 5 for his documentary series “Beehive Stories” and another for his series “21.” In this Q&A, Barber reflects upon his recent work with students, his experience in the media arts program and his most recent Emmy win.
Q: Tell us about your documentary series “21.” Where did the idea for the series originate?
Barber: “21” is a series for New Jersey public television that features one person in every county of the state of New Jersey (there are 21 counties). The good people at NJ PBS approached me a few years ago after seeing my two documentary shorts series I made with media arts students here at BYU: “Beehive Stories,” which is a collection of short documentaries about one person in each of Utah's 29 counties, and “States of America,” which features one person in each U.S. state. NJ PBS said that they wanted me to help them do a similar series, but for the Garden State, so that's what we did, from 2020 to 2023.
In “States of America,” I had a lot of control over who I would collaborate with, because they were students, or, in some cases, even friends or family members. The thing that is really different about “21” is I joined a different team that I didn't assemble. I was a little nervous about it at first, but the experience of working on “21” with the team from New Jersey was so wonderful. They were some of the finest people I have ever worked with and that experience of getting to work with total strangers and seeing their generosity and wisdom gave me even more faith in the goodness of people who work in documentaries and public television.
Q: What was it like collaborating with your former students? Was there a difference in how you worked with them as students versus as alumni?
Barber: It was so great! I was so proud of how professional they were and the growth I saw in them as editors since they had graduated. They each had worked with me on one of those other series I mentioned (“Beehive Stories” or “States of America”), so we just picked right back up where we left off. Most of the time we were working together over Zoom. One editor lived in Los Angeles, one lived in New York City and then two were here in Utah. I still recall editing on a laptop in the BYU Museum of Art sculpture garden with one of those former students, as we were starting to emerge from lockdown.
I can't say I noticed any change in how I worked with them, which I think speaks to their talent when they were students. I treat my undergraduate students as professional colleagues so the relationship was the same. It's very collaborative and we have a lot of mutual respect.
Q: How did it feel to win an Emmy? What was your thought process?
Barber: It’s worth noting that there are a lot of different types of Emmys, and the one that we won is considered a “regional” Emmy, not a national one like the Primetime Emmys (that’s the one with shows and actors you have actually heard of, with the ceremony airing on national TV). Having said that, the New York Emmys recognize one of the United States’ largest markets, and it is rather competitive — I had never won one there before, so this still felt special.
But even better, I am a “proud parent” of these former students I worked with, and it was even more rewarding to see their work recognized. And I’m elated for my collaborators at NJ PBS who worked so hard and served their own community with their great work on the series. They deserved this honor, as their service in public television is so important, now more than ever.
Q: What is something you’ve learned from students and what is something you hope they’ve learned from you?
Barber: The students on all these projects are not usually with me when I shoot the material, so their reaction to seeing it for the first time is really helpful. When we watch the dailies together, I often learn from them what is working and what might be boring or not as important because they have a more objective point of view. I have learned some new data management techniques from my recent students, a student named Adam Bonny in particular, who helped me with organizing and managing the ever-increasing size of “States of America” in particular (I just filmed state #49!).
I try to teach my students tips and tricks about editing faster and more efficiently. That is a practical thing I think they end up getting from me. A lot of them have taught themselves the basics of editing but are using less effective, less professional techniques, so the experience of working with me on these episodes that air on national public television helps give them better habits and puts them in a place where they’re more prepared to work in the industry. I also hope I am teaching them something about relationships and relationship-building. In most of these documentaries, I haven't met the people on screen before, and didn't have any prior relationship with them. So the students and I are working together to tell the best version of this near-stranger’s story that we can, in just a few minutes. I hope that is something my students take away from me — how to gain respect and trust with their documentary participants. At the end of our time together, students regularly tell me how close they feel to this person on screen they’ve been spending so much time with, despite having never met them.
Q: What do you enjoy the most working with students in the media arts program?
Barber: I am lucky that one of my responsibilities in my position is to mentor students in professional settings on professional projects, in what we now call “experiential learning” at BYU. I get to do a lot of that with my students, and that is by far my favorite thing I get to do with them, because we are collaborating and learning together. I mean it when I say I work with them as equal collaborators. I learn things from them that I didn't know before and vice versa, it is a mutually beneficial relationship.
We collaborate in a way that follows whatever the best idea is rather than if it came from the professor or the student and we are all trying to portray the person on screen in a light that shows them as dignified, decent and wise. Here at BYU, we really enjoy those opportunities to try to learn about others, build our empathy for others and try to become better disciples.