It’s important to share the message that our wildest dreams can come true with hard work, determination and a bit of stubbornness. We hope the theme of pursuing your dreams never goes out of style and that others always find stories like these interesting and uplifting.”

— Janel Hawkins, owner, sculptor, Sand Castle University

GULF SHORES — The sandcastle sculptors of the Gulf Coast with Sand Castle University (SCU) were featured in a mini documentary that has now been nominated for an Emmy.

Jocelyn Claborn produced the film when she was at the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio as a student producer. Contributions were also made by students Nicholas Lewis, Kendra Zebroski and Mary Claire Vaughan. The film, released in December, can be found on the Alabama Public Radio’s Facebook page by searching “Alabama Public Radio Sandcastle University.”

The mini documentary focuses on SCU, which teaches sandcastle building lessons on the beach, and what happens during a day of the life of SCU owner and sculptor Janel Hawkins. It also shows Hawkins’ journey of creating the business.

“When I started Sand Castle University, I never thought I would grow my business to the point of having five instructors on staff, as well as a part-time administrative assistant,” Hawkins told GCM. “I truly wanted to make a living doing the artform I love most in my most favorite location — the beach.”

Hawkins said building SCU “from the ground up” required a lot of “blood, sweat and tears.” She launched SCU in 2017, but business “pretty much exploded” during the COVID-19 pandemic after Alabama beaches opened back up quicker than other states, and families were looking for “private, outdoor activities.”

When Claborn reached out to SCU on behalf the university’s public television group, which is an Emmy Award-winning production company, the team was “all in.” The Alabama company focuses on telling the stories of “unique people and communities” in the state.

The public television crew took a trip to Gulf Shores for a few days to film sandcastle classes, Hawkins creating a sculpture and a practice session with the SCU sculptor crew.

“We planned a full two days so that they could get a wide range of footage of all the things we do,” Hawkins said. “We did have a nice thunderstorm in the mix during that time, but we pivoted and made it work, just like we always do. When the beach is your ‘office,’ you learn to work around the weather.”

The thunderstorm was even featured in the film as Hawkins was packing up her tools and said she would try again the next day. While SCU doesn’t “really seek out publicity,” Hawkins embraces any opportunity to “tell our story.”

As previously reported by GCM, Hawkins started SCU after working as a professional sculptor in Florida for three years. When she launched the business, she “was a broke college student” at the age of 22. One day, she saw an ad for a sand sculptor apprentice and “immediately replied.”

After her apprenticeship, Hawkins returned to Gulf Shores, where she grew up, and decided to “bring sand sculptures to Alabama” with SCU, which hosts classes and creates commissioned sand sculptures for everyone from Hangout Music Festival, the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships and corporate events to promotional creations for a new Spongebob movie.

SCU quickly amassed a social media following for Hawkins' videos, including time lapse shots, of her process and results. Videos of her stomping on and destroying some creations bet particularly high engagement. She broke one million followers on TikTok in December and currently has 434,000 on Instagram and 710,000 on Facebook.

“It’s important to share the message that our wildest dreams can come true with hard work, determination and a bit of stubbornness,” Hawkins said. “We hope the theme of pursuing your dreams never goes out of style and that others always find stories like these interesting and uplifting.”

Hawkins said the SCU team has been supportive of Claborn as her film earned a gold medal in a student competition and now the Emmy nomination, which she earned by placing as a finalist in the 2025 Southeast Emmy Awards for the magazine program – single program category.

With the news of Claborn’s Emmy nomination, the SCU team was “so excited” for the production crew and were “very proud of their accomplishment.” Claborn said, in addition to the SCU film, she has received two nominations for other documentaries she has worked on.

“She is out there chasing her dreams and being successful at it, and we are right here cheering her on,” Hawkins said of Claborn. “We know with her level of professionalism that the sky is the limit for her and we wish her all the best with future endeavors.”

Claborn said she would not have been able to work on the film without the SCU team and the crew with Center for Public Television. She said Hawkins is “such an inspiration” and she enjoyed learning about the creative process in the “world of temporary art, like Janel’s.”

Something Hawkins said that “really stuck with” Claborn was how her video production was also a form of art and she would help with anything needed to “accomplish your artistic vision.”

“I think that was just so beautiful,” Claborn said on Hawkins’ comment. “We’re all artists in our own way, no matter the medium.”

With the awards ceremony in June, the SCU team waits with their “fingers crossed,” planning out a “congratulatory sand sculpture” for the production team if the documentary wins an Emmy.