Hospitality TV was developed by the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts to showcase the Find Dining initiative. Within their first season, host Michelle Caine, Chair of Hospitality Management, takes viewers through various restaurants in Scarborough to help demonstrate how the initiative assisted those in this industry throughout the pandemic.
Helping to produce and execute this project were the instructors, students, and graduates from our Broadcasting program at the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design. Karen Shopsowitz, an Instructor within our Broadcasting program and Film and Television – Business program, helped to oversee the project, and says, “I saw the initial concept and watched various edits throughout the process and was thrilled to see the way the project came to life. And, of course, much of the credit also goes to the Chair of Hospitality Management, Michelle Caine, and Dean, Damian Goulbourne, for coming up with the idea of putting together this pilot.”
Karen adds that she was so impressed with the completed work and that it was great to reach out to Broadcasting grads to give them this opportunity and to see them use their talents, as they handled everything from start to delivery. Joel Souza, a 2021 graduate of our Broadcasting program, produced and directed the project and shares he first found out about it through Karen. “She brought it to my attention and asked if I was interested in producing and directing. Not only did it sound like a great opportunity, but also like a fun project! It also made me quite proud that she had thought of my name amongst all the talented students she meets all the time.
On the production side, Joel explains that he was responsible for the practical aspects of the project, from developing a script to finding crew, equipment and a date to start filming, which he says was possibly the most challenging during the pandemic. Accordingly, Joel was also in charge of the health and safety protocols to keep everyone safe and says he’s glad to say it all went very well. While his directing responsibilities, he says, were standard for this kind of show. “I worked closely with the cinematographer to set the look and feel of the show, as well as to develop a shot list and make sure we would shoot everything we needed and more. I knew there would be no chances for a redo, so whatever we recorded on that day would be all that we’d have available in the editing room.”
Check out the first episode below.
Joel says the entire experience was a lot of fun and adds that he is thankful for the opportunity and hopes the project will keep going. He shares, “It was amazing to work with some of my classmates again and even to meet some folks in a professional setting for the first time. And I already worked with most of them in other projects after this one. I also had the opportunity to work with some great people from Centennial’s Hospitality program, whom I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise.”
He continues, “Michelle and Damian were great partners, and it was an honour to be able to bring their project to fruition. And she was a great presenter, too! You’ll see it when you watch the show, haha. And I can’t forget to mention Maylene’s incredible food - none of what’s on-screen went to waste. We ate it all!”
While already having some prior production experience, the lessons Joel learned within his program have added to his skillset in this industry. He shares there was a lot of technical learning, including tools and techniques that were either new or that he never had the chance to try out before the program. He adds that the program is up-to-date, includes great teachers, and lots of resources. “I have to say that the greatest lesson [from the program] is about teamwork and partnership during a project. This can be a very stressful industry, and I love that the program takes its time to prepare the students to work through that together,” he says.
The work Broadcasting grads completed in this project highlights their talents tremendously, and we are so proud of their work. Be sure to check out the pilot and the first three episodes here.
Article by: Alexandra Few
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