Are you a student at an Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA) Participating school (click here for list) with a passion for musical theatre, social media, and news reporting?  We are seeking Student Reporter applicants to cover the Broadway In Chicago Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards on Monday, May 12, 2025. From the applicants, two students will be selected to work with the Broadway In Chicago Social Media team to cover the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards on social media and be in the running to be the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter.

The ideal candidate is a student who loves theatre, is poised and energetic on camera, confident with their social media skills, and interested in news journalism. For the 2025 IHSMTA Student Reporter search, applicants must be students (grades 9-12) at an IHSMTA participating school but cannot be students who have played a qualifying role in their school’s musical and have applied, or will apply, to participate as a nominee at IHSMTA.

In addition, The Jimmy Awards is seeking two Student Reporters from around the country to travel to New York and cover the 2025 Jimmy Awards on social media. The student selected as the IHSMTA Student Reporter will be submitted to be considered for one of the positions as the Jimmy Awards student reporter, so they must be available May 12 (IHSMTA) and June 21-24 (the Jimmy Awards). Click Here for additional information on The Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Search.

Materials needed for the application include: A Submission video (along with a sample IG Reel/TikTok caption to accompany your video), Release Waiver, Short Answer Essay to a prompt, and A Letter of Recommendation from an educator, director, or member of your school’s musical team.

For the Student Reporter Video: Applicants should create a video, up to 60 seconds in length, in the style of an Instagram Reel/TikTok video showcasing your ideas for how to share nominee experiences on the day of the ceremony and encourage The Jimmy Awards® social media followers to tune in to the ceremony livestream. Then, write a sample caption to accompany your Reel/TikTok video. Parameters for the video submission are as follows:

• The video should include at least one unedited segment of at least 20 seconds in length with the applicant speaking directly to camera.
• The video must not include any performance footage; the content of the videos is otherwise up to the applicant.
• Any pre-recorded music used must be royalty-free.

• Submissions must meet the requirements for an Instagram Reel/TikTok video with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16 and minimum resolution of 720 pixels.

• Please talk about how you would cover The Jimmy Awards®, NOT how you would cover IHSMTA.

CONTENT PROMPT FOR YOUR VIDEO SUBMISSION: Imagine you are covering the day of The Jimmy Awards® ceremony in NYC on social media. Create an up to 60-second video in the style of an Instagram Reel or TikTok video that showcases your creative approach to content creation and includes at least one of the following scenarios as part of your video:

• You are on the bus with the nominees heading to the Minskoff Theatre, where they will rehearse and perform on a Broadway stage later that day.
• You are at lunch with the nominees after their first technical and staging rehearsal on a Broadway stage. In about six hours, they will be performing in front of a sold-out audience.
• You are interviewing Broadway talent and/or Jimmy Awards Judges on the red carpet before they take their seats in the audience for the ceremony.

We want to see your personality shine in this video! Show us how you would use your unique perspective to build interest in and awareness of the Jimmy Awards. This is an opportunity to showcase your skills in event coverage, visual storytelling, video editing, videography, photography, and/or social media.

PLEASE NOTE: the Student Reporter Application requires a letter of recommendation from a teacher or director. Student Reporter applicants should have their Teacher/Director e-mail their letter of recommendation to us directly at ihsmta@broadwayinchicago.com. We will pair it with your application. This is a required piece of the application, and applicants without a letter of recommendation will not be eligible. 

You can find can additional information here. IHSMTA Student Reporter Submissions are due on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 12:00 pm. Please email ihsmta@broadwayinchicago.com with any questions.