Collegio Online

Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: After Hours

Media Credit: Salman Alkhulif/Collegio (left to right) Leo Hudson, instructor of the dramatic television production class, helps Jaakko Vallo, junior in information systems, record the audition of Jeremy Johnson last semester. New auditions will be held on Friday and Monday, Feb. 15 and 18.

Leo Hudson says his crew is ready to roll on two new episodes of "The Complex," a TV drama written, produced, edited and directed by PSU students - all they need now is actors.

Auditions for several roles will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, and from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18, in room 123 of Whitesitt Hall.

Both male and female college-age actors are needed. The show will start shooting in early March.

Hudson, an assistant professor in communication, started the COMM 480 Dramatic Television Production class as a "results-oriented" class focused on employing all of broadcasting students' skills in one project - a half-hour TV drama.

"All theory leads to this," Hudson said. "You can't know what you're doing wrong unless you know the theory behind it."
A rocky fall 2007 semester, the first time the class had been taught, produced about 90 percent of a show, and Hudson says he hopes to have that episode finished by the end of the spring semester to go along with the two new ones that have yet to be filmed.

"It's a learning process... the actors get to learn as much as we do," Hudson said.
Hudson says that although making the show last semester was difficult, it still turned out to be a quality product.
"If I had to say what our strongest parts are from the last episode, our acting was up there," Hudson said.

Unfortunately, most of the actors from the last episode are unavailable to come back this semester. New faces are needed to fill the roles.

Kaylan Grizzle, junior in communication, played the lead role of "Jules" last semester. She says that while finding time to shoot the show outside of class was difficult, it proved to be a worthwhile experience.

"I spent a lot of time on it," Grizzle said, "but I learned a lot from it. It also looks good in my portfolio."
Grizzle says that news of her starring in "The Complex" even reached back to her old university in Georgia.

"It looks good for the actors to get their foot in the door," Grizzle said. "It was recognized by more than just Pitt State."

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