In the past, University of Tampa TV, the student-run broadcast organization, has filmed its programs on the weekends to prevent shooting conflicts between the club’s classes and extracurricular activities. However, with the new semester, UTTV found out there had been cutbacks to the equipment cage and Black Box Studio’s hours, preventing it from shooting on Sundays.
The cage used to be opened seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Now it’s only open on weekdays.
“This year has seen increased usage of Cage services due to increased enrollment in courses that rely on the equipment cage,” said Gregg Perkins, the chair and associate professor for the Communication Department. “We have temporarily closed the Cage on the weekends this semester as it is a time when cage usage is at its lowest.”
This decision introduced new challenges for the UTTV team that they had not experienced in the past such as working around class schedules.
“The process of setting up our shooting schedule became much more difficult in finding a time that worked between the Director, talent and any additional crew that are required for any particular shoot,” said Jamie Denko, film and media arts major and president of UTTV.
UTTV and the Communication Department worked together to make new arrangements for scheduling issues.
“We are currently working closely with UTTV to best suit their equipment and space needs, and it appears that they will now be shooting on Fridays. Additionally, we are working to get the Black Box Theatre open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sundays so that UTTV, or any other authorized student, could use the space,” Perkins said.
Matt Boehling, the UTTV director of production, said that they will most likely have to film during multiple time slots on the weekdays. They want to make sure not to interfere with other production classes who also need the studio and equipment.
“I certainly hope that all of our members are able to participate this semester with the new schedule and that it doesn’t discourage new members from bringing new talent and energy to our organization,” Boehling said.
Even though the recent schedule change at the cage has caused some minor hiccups, the team at UTTV has found a way to use its current situation to its own advantage.
“Due to the cutback of hours, UTTV has created some interesting attempts at some of our new shows, that we will be implementing this semester,” Denko said.
“Tampa Talk,” one of the programs that UTTV produces, will be in a different location every time it is filmed. Uchat, a man on the show program in which they ask UT students questions everyone wants to know and “UT Tour” segment will be on air again.
“Our planned movie review segment will be filmed outside of the Black Box. However, we are still discussing the location at this time,” Denko said.
UTTV will now be able to use the Black Box studio on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m rather than 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jesse Long can be reached at jesse.long@spartans.ut.edu
Zoe Fowler can be reached at zoe.fowler@theminaretonline.com