Eryn Brennan
In Motion Staff Writer
The WDSC-TV 15 Studio is bustling on Thursdays with students who are preparing to go live with Daytona State College’s own, “The Millennial Show.”
“The Millennial Show,” hosted by students Matthew Mercer and Sasha Saliba, is produced and crewed by students in the Team Media Production class, with the show itself acting as a lab for those students. Students are responsible for everything from the idea of the show and the set design to the footage shown and the guests that appear.
The students debated on the idea for their show in the fall semester, and after much discussion and a series of votes, “The Millennial Show” officially launched February 11.
“This series is something that they as a group agreed upon. We did a brainstorming session over many hours. We seriously probably spent eight or nine hours going through the pros and cons and the logistics of executing a lot of different shows they came up with. And this ended up being what the majority of them voted on,” explains Anita Bevins, the professor of the Television Studio Production Certificate.
After coming up with the idea for the show itself, the students decided what the set should look like and held auditions to find hosts. They then signed up to run their own show and do all of the pre-production themselves.
Each student comes up with their show’s topic and runs it past the group, writes a script, shoots and edits footage for their show and brings any extra props to the set that they might need.
The student in charge of the show also finds the guests; usually, it’s someone the student knows and who has an interesting story while fitting the description of a “Millennial.”
For example, on the March 10 show, the producer was student Marisa Glidden. Glidden explains that she knew her guest Adam Lynch, a self-published author, through work and thought he would be a perfect fit for “The Millennial Show.”
The hosts interview guests on “what they do, their past and history and how them being a Millennial affects their profession or their hobby,” says Mercer.
On the night of the show, at 6:15 p.m., there’s a pre-production meeting. The producers and crew sit in a boardroom and discuss what will happen in the upcoming show, who in the crew is doing what that night and the students can ask Professor Bevins any questions they might have.
After the pre-production meeting, they have a rehearsal before going live at 7:30 p.m. The producer of the show, who also acts as the assistant director for the night, sits in the Production Control Room with the other producers and makes sure that the show runs smoothly. Because it’s a live show, people can call in with questions for the guest. After the show, there’s a post-production meeting where everyone discusses what worked in the show, and what didn’t.
The show gives students who may want to go into this field a taste of what TV production is like.
“It’s been an awesome experience and I learned a ton about videography and editing, love it all,” says Glidden.
“The Millennial Show” will be airing every Thursday until May 5 on WDSC-TV Channel 15.