SMADtv to premiere Thursday
By Kaleigh Maher, staff writer 
Posted on February 5, 2007

After several years of TV production classes being taught in the local WVPT studio, the school of media arts and design has its own studio again, and along with it, a new TV network.

“SMADtv is a network of shows by JMU students, for JMU students,” senior Brianne Casey said.

SMADtv expects to premiere Thursday before “Grey’s Anatomy” on campus cable channel 55. Off-campus students will be able to view SMADtv through a link on the SMAD Web site. The idea came about during the spring of 2006, when SMAD professor John Hodges and senior Matt Langan began to talk about a TV production practicum.

After a general-interest meeting, they put together an executive team for the project with Langan as executive producer, senior Connor Mullaney as production coordinator, Casey as creative director and junior Kyle Perron as pre-production coordinator.

“My goal was to really have this be a student-run offering, so that they have the ownership in the project,” Hodges said.

Under the executive team are seven line producers in charge of creating their own shows and then a production staff of SMAD students.

“Four weeks ago I had the names and e-mail addresses of 39 SMAD students,” Langan said. “Somehow that list has turned into seven shows and a television network.”

Some shows the network will air include a cooking show on how to cook good food on a college budget with dormitory resources, an entertainment newscast which will host a two-sided debate on celebrity gossip, a dating show, a comedy sketch show and a sitcom.

“We’re not trying to be too grown up with it,” Perron said. “The process has taken us through a lot of different ideas already, so I’m sure there will be more changes as we get responses.”

Langan said SMADtv hopes to give students involved the professional experience they want while providing entertainment for JMU.

Junior Nate Smith, line producer of a comedic drama called “Shuttlecocks” is enjoying working on SMADtv. Shuttlecocks’ plot is centered on four freshmen that form an intramural badminton team, but also displays their struggles on and off the court.

“I think it’s great for production experience,” Smith said. “It’s an opportunity to be completely creative and come up with something original.”

SMADtv is a zero-budget production using SMAD equipment, studio, and whatever they get “in kind” from businesses and organizations. According to Langan, local establishments have been willing to help.

“That’s what we’re really excited about, bringing the community into it,” Langan said. “Harrisonburg has a lot to offer that a lot of freshmen don’t have access to. We want to give them a window to outside of 22807.”

Langan hopes SMADtv will grow to include the rest of the campus, suggesting that College of Business students become involved in marketing or theater majors as performers.

“I’m trying to set this up and leave something that can be built on,” Langan said.

Casey added, “I’m hoping that SMADtv will be something that fosters JMU community involvement, JMU creativity and a steady source of entertainment by and for JMU students.”