9 Questions with Morgan Hawkins, SRL Alum and All American High School Film Festival Winner

Morgan Hawkins is a senior in the film production track at D.C. International High School. Morgan has produced several stories with SRL, and attended the 2023 Summer Academy in Boston. Last year, she won Best Broadcast Feature Story at the All American High School Film Festival in New York for her documentary on Michael Woody. Michael is a formerly incarcerated member of a Georgetown prison program that helps rehabilitate inmates through education. 

In this interview, Morgan gets candid about the process of telling Michael’s story and her passion for challenging stigmas. 

This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

 

How did you get involved with Student Reporting Labs?

My school has a partnership with SRL. And from there, I just started working with my classmate who worked with SRL first. At first, I did not want to take my production class at all. But then we got to the hands on part and learned the cameras. Now it’s a passion of mine. I can’t go a day without video production.

What’s your favorite part of video production?

Probably the directing process. I like to tell people what to do, and I like to have my own thing. Me being able to direct what I want to direct and not have nobody else tell me what to do, it’s perfect. I love it. I like to be my own boss. My favorite piece that I’ve directed was my documentary. I grew as a person tremendously.

What inspired you to tell Michael Woody’s story?

I was inspired by how he wanted better for himself. I was inspired by his rehabilitative efforts to help mentor youth but also better himself. Sometimes people should get a second chance, but it’s not common that people do. And that he was a Black man who got a second chance stuck out to me. 

What stories are you interested in capturing next? 

The untold stories of D.C. Like, D.C. go-go music, D.C. culture. I feel D.C. is just a very different place, and a lot of people only know the tourist side and the politics. Everybody knows Northwest. They don’t actually know Southeast D.C. where I’m from, and people think it’s just a really bad area with lots of killings and drugs, when it’s actually just like one big family, and there’s a whole bunch of different stuff going on. 

What are some of your favorite subjects for news stories?

I like local stories, because they tell me what’s happening a hundred feet from me. They make me more aware of what’s going on in my neighborhood, or in the neighborhood of my friend. Local news is relevant for everybody. But I also like entrepreneurship stories that tell us about new owners of small businesses. Specifically Black entrepreneur stories, because at one point in time, Black people didn’t have the freedom to do anything, let alone work for themselves. And for them to be opening their own businesses, it’s a big yes to me. I’m an entrepreneur. I have my own business. So it’s a motivation for me to keep going.

Who are some of your inspirations?

My biggest inspiration is my teacher, Miss Porter. Without her, I feel that I would not be where I am today. She is my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. She’s my favorite. I’ll go to her with my problems in video production, and she’ll help me and lead me through to complete the assignment without giving up on myself. I really wanted to give up on the prison story because it took so long, and she motivated me to finish. I told her through the whole process, “Miss Porter, I’m ready to give up on this story… I don’t wanna do this.” But she’s like, “you got this, Morgan. You’re gonna get it done.” And now that is my favorite story that I have completed.

What are your goals after high school?

My goal after high school is to go to school for broadcast journalism and just create more stories. And probably even get an internship with a big production company. Eventually, I want to open my own, called Lizzelle Productions. Lizzelle is my middle name, it’s also my grandmother’s name. I’ll produce documentaries. Short, because my attention span isn’t long. Shorter content is big now.

What’s your favorite thing that you learned while you were involved with SRL?

The post-production process. The first product is not gonna be the final one. It might take you three or four times to get your final product. And it’s also gonna take time to get your feedback for each draft. And that feedback is important.

What’s some advice that you would give to someone who maybe saw you win that award and is thinking “I wanna do that, how do I get started?” 

My advice would be to just ask for help and to keep going. Even if you’re ready to give up, just keep going. You got this.