Eastern Connecticut State University may not have sent any student athletes to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but one student still found a way to spread the University’s message to viewers during the games.

Ryan Reid, a business administration major and videographer, filmed a 30-second ad for Eastern that was aired throughout Connecticut on Peacock and Telemundo during the Olympics from July 26 to Aug. 11.

The ad follows Wes Buzelle, a senior at Eastern who plays on the men's rugby team, who acts as a track athlete practicing alone on the track at the Mansfield Athletic Complex. Sounds of an imaginary crowd rise up around him as he visualizes the thrill of competition.

While the Olympics ad brings a new visibility to Reid’s work, he is no stranger to advancing the voice of universities and their students through his audiovisual work. RLR Visuals, which he founded and serves as creative director, has taken on that mission for several years.

“My target audience is any individual who is looking to capture either an important moment of time or an important milestone,” said Reid. Given his status as a university student in Connecticut, many of his clients are also university students in Connecticut.

“My mission is always to not only provide the best experience possible, but to give somebody the best products possible so that it’s an amazing time and then you have something to look back on that you’re going to cherish forever,” said Reid.

“I mainly do portraits and events when it comes to photography and then when it comes to videos, it's always events and then commercial work as well.”

Reid’s interest in working with a camera started with photography courses in high school. His interest didn’t stop when he left the classroom, and his passion was aided by the school-issued camera he was allowed to take home with him.

“I found myself playing with (my camera) in my free time, trying to figure it out,” said Reid. “That's when I knew that I wanted to do something related to (photography) later on.”

Reid hopes his Olympics ad will inspire others to work toward their dreams, whatever they may be. “I want people who see the ad to be drawn to what Eastern can provide them, because that’s the goal of the advertisement,” he said.

Reid hopes his ad will remind young people that chasing their passions can be gratifying. “I want the ad to serve as that goal for anybody, to just stay consistent,” he said. “Especially for me ... to just stay consistent and keep going, just keep trying to do good work.

“Hopefully it reaches who it needs to reach.”