Brooklin Walker, a junior at Kokomo High School, was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Drive Safe Chicago PSA contest, part of the Chicago Auto Show. The PSA is about “Passenger Empowerment – Empowering Passengers to SPEAK UP when in a vehicle being driven unsafely,” according to the Drive Safe Chicago website.

First, second and third place in the contest is decided by the public. The PSA with the majority of the votes will win $2,000, second place wins $1,000 and third wins $500. Go to https://m.shortstack.page/VCJq9L to vote for Walker’s PSA. Voting will conclude on Thursday, Feb 9. The winner will be announced on Friday, Feb. 10 during the Chicago Auto Show.

Following the award ceremony, Teen Kids News will air a story highlighting each of the finalists.

As part of the contest, Walker was given the opportunity to work alongside Emmy Award-winning producer Alan Weiss.  Weiss and his team from Alan Weiss Productions flew in from New York to work with Walker and her actors, KACC Radio and Television Production students Isaiah Wallace and Kaitie Bonds. 

Walker worked side-by-side with Weiss to perfect the script and direct the video shoot. The shoot took place just down the road from KHS. Planning the PSA wasn’t as easy as it might sound. There was a lot of time and dedication that went into planning the shoot, as well as much thought and planning for the script. 

“The planning was a lot, meaning I was stressing over it. What am I going to do? Am I going to have to be in this PSA or who will be? How am I going to start this?” said Walker. “There was a lot behind the scenes of the video that was not seen. The perfection of the script came with a lot of time and effort.” 

But beyond the experience of writing the script and directing the video shoot, Walker and her actors gained valuable experience working with Weiss.

“Being able to work with the Emmy-award winning Alan Weiss was very notable. This experience was outside of our typical filming experience through KACC,” Wallace said. “Far beyond the final product of the video project, being able to talk to industry-professionals and work alongside them was a great experience and a look into my future in this field.”

Bonds, who spends much of her free time on stage, was able to use her talents in front of the camera. But for Wallace, getting out of his comfort zone helped him realize his strengths in the TV Production industry.

“I will be going back to behind the camera,” Wallace said.

Don’t forget to vote for Walker’s video at https://m.shortstack.page/VCJq9L. You can vote once per day per device!