They shot four hours of live television in Hollywood, met actress Betty White and other celebrities, and helped raise more than $700,000 to care for animals in the greater Los Angeles area. Sound like a busy day for a professional stage crew? Actually, these were just a few experiences of Pacific Union College students in Broadcast Productions II class, under the direction of Terry Cantrell, PUC instructor in film and television production.
From Jan. 20 to 23, Cantrell took six PUC students to assist with the production of the annual fundraising telethon for the L.A. chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The show was broadcast from the Universal Studios lot in Hollywood.
Cantrell directed the SPCALA telethon three years ago while working for the Adventist Media Center. Three weeks before this year’s show, they called and asked him to be the assistant director on the current production. He accepted, on the condition that his students could be part of the production crew.
The six students made up nearly half of the 14-member crew. Meghan Nelson served as the floor director, and TJ Gleason and Paul Galvez operated cameras. Vivian Chen, Jonathan Hartnell and Holly Hilton worked utilities, helping on various tasks such as setting up the cameras and wiring.
“They learned more in the four hours than they could have learned in an entire quarter from the textbook,” Cantrell said.
Not only did the students work hard, but they also made contacts in the industry and got important advice from the professionals on what it takes to get a job and what it’s like working in the industry.
“Four hours of live TV go by quite fast when you’re working hard,” said Gleason. “Now we also have some professional experience to put on our demo reels.”
According to RoseMarie Channer, vice president of SPCALA and executive producer of the telethon, the students gave a stellar performance. “This was the best-produced show we have ever had,” she said. “The PUC students with their teacher were the difference this year. I welcome them to come help us with our television production events at any time."
Cantrell couldn’t be happier with the results. “This was a test for me to see if the students are learning what they need to know to work in the industry,” says Cantrell. “And they passed the test.”
