IU Student Televiion producers Jesse Wallace (left) and Matt Horwitz edit a segment on the Indianapolis Zoo.

Bloomington Speedway’s Chuck Welsh (left), is interviewed by a crew from IU Student Television including Hillary Lodge, Mica Habarad, Andy Mills, David Clark and Matt Horwitz.

Photos by Chris Meyer

Jesse Wallace, executive producer for the series, said the idea for Cruise Control was launched earlier this year as word spread that programming was needed to fill the newly expanded schedule at the two-year-old IUSTV. The concept to take student hosts on location for unscripted interview segments was an easy sell. After June auditions, four hosts were tapped and production started.

“It didn’t take a lot of convincing,” said Wallace, a junior telecommunications major from the Hoosier community of Princeton. “We had a good turn-out – about 15 for the auditions. Then I talked to friends of mine and we were ready to get working on it.”

Cruise Control offers viewers a chance to discover area attractions as the on-air hosts tour and conduct interviews on site. Wallace compares the flavor of the show to Comedy Central’s Insomniac, “but we don’t go to bars. We’re trying to go to places close to campus,” he said, adding that some of the already taped segments profile Bloomington Cooking School, WonderLab, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Lake Monroe, Mondo Delgado Salon and Spa, Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point and the Bloomington Speedway.

Wallace said many of the places selected were unfamiliar to him, and most likely would be places of interest to students new to Bloomington. “I didn’t come up with all these locations. It was a collective effort and everyone’s done an awesome job,” said Wallace, who was assisted by over a dozen student volunteers in taping, hosting and editing the series.

The show will launch during Welcome Week with an installment dedicated to popular campus locations. The remaining installments will premiere throughout the semester, joining IUSTV’s dating show, Hoosier Date?, and its student-produced news program.

Wallace believes the new series has the potential to motivate more students to become involved at the station, ultimately leading to additional programming. “We need students involved a lot earlier in the school year,” said Wallace, adding that the station has the potential to grow into a medium comparable to the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Any student can submit show ideas and volunteer through the station’s Web site (at end of this story.) Another potential source of programming for IUSTV may come from student-run stations at universities across the country.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 40 student television stations have joined in creating the Open Student Television Network. The group will facilitate a program exchange, giving each station access to original programming and offer station managers the opportunity to share ideas and critique each station’s work.

IUSTV is channel 2 on the Bloomington campus.
http://www.iustv.com

Visual presentation by Chris Meyer at the Bloomington Speedway.