This semester marks the first year for the Cabrini communication department’s newest student-led agency, House 67 Productions. Advised by John Doyle, assistant professor of video production, the agency offers a one-credit video practicum and allows students to produce studio content for the Cabrini community.
“House 67 is a production house that produces news, interviews, and basically the happenings around Cabrini, and it’s a place to tell stories that matter,” Amir Ings, senior digital communications major, said.
House 67 allows students to be on- or off-camera for a variety of content segments where they work hands-on from pre-production to post-production. The new production house is open to students no matter their skill level or comfort within a studio setting.
“Personally, I didn’t have much experience in the studio aspect of the communications department, so once I got in there on the camera for a while I asked if I could try something new. I was put on audio and got to test the levels of the microphones,” Erica Zebrowski, senior digital communications major, said. “That was really cool to try different aspects of the studio.”
The agency meets every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for a work session or shoot to produce studio news segments, interviews with important people on campus and Loquitur reporters, as well as a segment called “This Week at Cabrini” highlighting campus events and activities. Students also produce a sports wrap-up that includes the weekly news in Cabrini athletics and a sports roundtable.
Ings said, “My role is talent, so I help do the interviews … We interview about fun things happening on campus while also interviewing about more serious topics such as the safety of students,” he explained. “I don’t just do the interviews, I’ll switch back to behind-the-scenes stuff with sound or video, and I also help with [social media] to get people to know about House 67.”
More than a class
House 67 Productions is more than just a class where students worry about getting work done for a grade. While grades are assigned, they are not based on the quality of the content but on the process of creating and are not the reason why the crew participates.
Ings said, “My favorite part is the community we’ve built around House 67 and what I like most about it is the passion everyone has in House 67. Everyone … wants to give the best quality work we possibly can.”
While House 67 is a class, it is focused on team building and fostering an environment for students to produce content that is more diverse than the work they might produce in a required course within the department. Not only does their content support the Cabrini community, but it also allows students to create content for professional reels or portfolios and grow their skills and interests within video production.
“It is about building a team structure around video production that isn’t classroom dependent,” Doyle said. “These are students who have signed up for the course or volunteered for the program and they have made a personal commitment to do the work. As a result, we can spend the time worrying about team building.”
This focus on collaboration is the main reason students want to work every Thursday no matter how late the night goes.
“We get the job done but also have fun doing it,” Zebrowski said. “You are learning as you go, you’re doing this with your peers and some people are more comfortable producing or directing, but you can learn how to do those and it’s easy. It’s a comfortable environment and people are willing to teach you.”
The future of House 67
Even though House 67 is new, the production team has a clear vision for its future and the growth they would like to see in coming semesters. Being able to have their content shared on screens around Cabrini is at the top of the list.
“The future that we really want to achieve is to be on the TVs around campus even if it’s only an hour twice a week. We want to have more in-house production versus just seeing the weather channel on the TVs and you can’t engage with that,” Zebrowski said. “What we want is to get our faces up there and get the student’s faces up there to try and engage with people.”
Campus engagement is a top priority for House 67 and the content they produce. Being able to inform students about things happening on campus and engage with them about the topics they are interested in whether that be video games, pop culture, or sports the crew wants to be able to create more of a sense of life on campus.
“There are a load of video monitors around campus that are black and this content could be present on those monitors and bring a sense of life. Seeing fellow students on those screens creates life on campus,” Doyle said. “For me, there is a sense of these students being able to be active creators of campus community.”
If you are interested in joining the crew at House 67 Productions talk with your advisor about adding the video practicum to your future class schedule. Be sure to follow House 67 Productions on Instagram and Youtube.
