It didn’t take long for Catrin Hedstrom and Patrick Lawler to let some opportunities slip through their fingers. With their schedules packed full of classes, the duo could hardly find a congruent time of day to film.

Catrin Hedstrom and Patrick Lawler proved themselves to be excellent students, using their film production classes to their full-advantage as they became the first ever winners of the Santa Barbara City College Commercial Contest.

Hedstrom and Lawler were selected by a panel of City College faculty and staff and were awarded the grand prize of a MacBook laptop computer, valued at $1,300.

Last semester, the Marketing department opened the contest to all students. The goal was to create an original, 30-second promotional commercial for the college.

Initially the two weren’t entirely sure they even had the strength to begin such a project. They were both swamped with school work but in the end, by carefully following all the rules and deadlines, the duo submitted a video collage of the happy students at SBCC’s seaside campus.

“She talked me into it,” said Lawler.

In one week, the pair spent approximately 10 hours gathering the footage for what was to become the winning entry. In between classes they hustled and bustled passing their film equipment like the Olympic torch.

They also spent a large portion of time editing the film. They said almost all of the editing was done on campus in their classrooms.

Hedstrom and Lawler are avid filmmakers and have been friends for nearly two years. Hedstrom originates from Sweden and Lawler is from San Luis Obispo. Both exhibit a humorous vibe, and when they are together they act as if they know something you don’t.

The triumphant duo is proud of their work, and both said they would love to do it again.