Teleduction<\/a>, in Wilmington, Delaware. He began by\u00a0 answering phones and completing small Photoshop projects while learning new digital tools.\u00a0<\/p>\nCollins worked at Teleduction from 2001 to 2015. Because the company was small, he said he taught himself to edit and gradually learned all aspects of filmmaking. He credits his mentor, Sharon Baker, with teaching him how to create impactful documentaries on limited budgets and\u00a0 giving him opportunities to learn while telling real stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first documentary Collins edited for the company, \u201cHis Master\u2019s Voice,\u201d explored the origins of music recording and won an Emmy Award in 2003. Although he didn\u2019t direct the film, he said he was stunned that the first project he edited received such recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes what you do is just keep working hard, following your instincts and passions, and things just tend to work out,\u201d Collins said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After leaving Teleduction, Collins began working independently and refining his documentary process. He described it as centered on building rapport and trust with the people whose stories he tells, emphasizing their voices as the core narrative thread. He\u2019s worked with groups ranging from veterans to undocumented immigrants, noting the critical role of trust in visual storytelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continues studying visual elements \u2014 such as backgrounds, wide shots and framing \u2014 and experiments with those techniques to develop his style.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collins said he long admired Stankard as a prominent figure in the glass art world, but the project formally began when Stankard\u2019s assistant approached him and said, \u201c\u2018Paul is about to turn 80 and we really need to tell his story.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Filming took place over 18 months before Collins submitted the documentary to film festivals and public screenings, which he said are critical for networking and gaining recognition for award shows such as the Emmys. He said he believed the documentary would resonate with public television audiences given Stankard\u2019s age and fan base, so he contacted public television directors throughout the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having previously judged the Emmy Awards, Collins understood the submission process and felt confident that \u201cFlower & Flame\u201d was worthy of consideration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be stiff competition because the Emmy\u2019s are a major institution, but I had a feeling we might do well because I just thought it was that good of a story,\u201d Collins said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He attended the ceremony with executive producer Dave Graber and their wives in black-tie attire. Collins said he remained calm until about 10 minutes before the announcement, when nerves set in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the film won, he said he felt like he was \u201cfloating on air.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever you do this kind of work, it\u2019s really nice to hear an external organization, especially one with the prestige level of the Emmys, to say \u2018this is good work,\u2019\u201d Collins said. \u201cI don\u2019t need to justify my artistic work, but it is nice to hear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lehigh is Collins\u2019 first job in higher education, a path he\u2019d long been interested in but previously lacked the credentials to pursue. He produces video content for the Office of University Communications and Public Affairs, creating material for YouTube and social media. He said one of his biggest challenges has been learning to tell compelling stories in 30 seconds through short-form media.<\/p>\n
Jordan Gruber, the director of multimedia content, said Collins has the ability to turn an idea into compelling storytelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been able to take his skills from longform storytelling to make an impact with only 20-30 seconds of content,\u201d Gruber said. \u201cHe tells stories beautifully and holistically.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brett Ludwig, the vice president of communications and public affairs, said Collins has been an asset in telling Lehigh\u2019s story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said Collins brings not only the skills but also the passion and excitement of a documentary film producer to share the university\u2019s work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(Collins) has a really positive outlook on what we do here and on the world around him, which is infectious in our office,\u201d Ludwig said. \u201cHe is tremendously talented and his work speaks for itself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collins said he came to Lehigh to explore new opportunities as a digital storyteller and to continue learning new skills in his field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved going to college so much that I kind of wanted to come back,\u201d Collins said. \u201cI always wanted to work at a university for the chance to do things like checking out the art galleries, talking to faculty and telling stories.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside of work, Collins said he enjoys spending time in Lehigh University Art Galleries because he\u2019s drawn to the calm and reflective atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Much like his own documentary work, he said art offers reflective moments of beauty that can be transformative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s room in everybody\u2019s life for some calm moments of beauty and reflection,\u201d Collins said. \u201cThey might not even know they need it until it happens to them.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Daniel Collins was in third grade, he wrote stories about his hiking escapades with friends, stapled the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[8918,4784,153,155,154,9728],"class_list":{"0":"post-111233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-7-minute-read","9":"tag-administration","10":"tag-bethlehem","11":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","12":"tag-bethlehem-news","13":"tag-profile"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}