HOPE grad's TV commercial to air during big football game

ATLANTA – Ben Callner, 25, is the grand prize winner of the Georgia Lottery's "Powerball: Lights, Camera, Action" contest."

Callner's winning television commercial will air throughout Georgia during Sunday's broadcast of the biggest professional football game of the year.

""It feels really good," said Callner, who graduated from Georgia Tech as a lottery-funded HOPE Scholar. "It feels great."

As the grand prize winner, Callner also wins $5,000 and a mini-handheld HD camcorder. Four second prize winners will receive a mini-handheld HD camcorder.

Contest participants had to produce a 30-second TV ad about Powerball coming to Georgia. Powerball sales in Georgia began Jan. 31.

Callner will watch Sunday's game with friends. The aspiring filmmaker is grateful for the opportunity to have his work broadcast during the biggest professional football game of the year.

He also is grateful for the opportunities that the HOPE Scholarship provided.

"The HOPE Scholarship was too good to pass up, so my brother and I both went to Georgia Tech," he said. "It's the reason we stayed in Georgia."

Callner grew up in Marietta and currently resides in Atlanta.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $11 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 940,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.