“The Buzz” set to premiere
Written by Emilie Kefalas
Image courtesy of SCAD
The world of television is a culture. With dozens if not hundreds of minds working backstage. A variety of talents working together to deliver content people can relate to and enjoy. This idea of collaboration is known as “studio culture,” according to Andra Reeve-Rabb, Chair of the Performing Arts Department, Director of Casting at SCAD, and one of the masterminds driving the School of Entertainment Arts’ latest project, “The Buzz.”
For the first time at SCAD, an original sitcom pilot, “The Buzz,” will be taped in front of a live studio audience this Saturday February 27 at Hamilton Hall, Studio A.
Producing the sitcom with Reeve-Rabb is Mark Tymchyshyn, Greg Smith and Neil Short, all SCAD professors and professionals in show business. Reeve-Rabb, who was the head of casting for CBS for ten years, said she has always wanted her students to have the opportunity to join forces with other departments to create something truly unique.
“We wanted to bring that studio culture here to SCAD,” Reeve-Rabb said. “Here, this collaboration has been going on since September, and it’s culminated to this live taping on Saturday both at 6 and at 8 in front of a live audience.”
“The Buzz” focuses on three main characters trying to get a grip on reality. Make sense of their hectic post-college lives at their local coffee shop. Writer of “The Buzz,” Matt Nickley, is a performing arts graduate student who drafted the original script as a joke. After Tymchyshyn encouraged him to build upon an idea he presented in class last fall.
A couple of the characters included in the final version of the script did not exist until after the audition process last quarter.
Once Nickley found his cast, the script rewrites didn’t stop. According to him, placing the characters in a coffee shop seemed like the perfect setting for them to meet and interact with one another as their stories developed.
“The beauty in something small, like a coffee shop, [is] who are these people you see everyday,” Nickley said. “They must be fascinating people on a road to somewhere else, and luckily the sky was the limit when it came to what we could do.”
Over 120 volunteers make up the team responsible for making “The Buzz” a reality, and watching the cast and crew develop into their roles throughout the production process has been one of the most exciting parts for both Reeve-Rabb and Nickley.
The entire production is a five-department effort, involving production design, performing arts, film and television, sound design, and even painting for the artwork which decorates the walls of the set.
For Reeve Rabb, the most rewarding element of producing “The Buzz” is being able to share her and her colleagues’ real world experience and introduce it to the students on set.
“There’s a cadence and there’s a tempo and sound to half hour comedy,” Reeve-Rabb said. “It’s almost a language of its own, and for students to learn that language, it’s been incredibly exciting. And hitting all those jokes and hitting the timing, for me, it’s been the most rewarding part of this.”
Students facing creative challenges on set is part of the real-world process when putting together a live television experience, Reeve-Rabb said.
“Our production design students put in a couch that was made of a leather that had too much reflection for the lighting department, so it was a last minute switch of couches,” Reeve-Rabb said. “That’s part of the fun, learning to overcome those challenges.”
Looking ahead, Reeve-Rabb said she and her fellow producers would love to have an ongoing series with an episode shot each quarter with the same actors and even guest stars. Reeve-Rabb encourages students to come witness the live-taping on Saturday to see not only their peers but how live television is done on a professional scale.
“We are doing it like it would be if they went to see a taping of ‘The Big Bang Theory,’” Reeve-Rabb said. “It’s set up exactly like a multi-camera live studio shoot would feel like. The studio audience is part of the show. That laugh track is the audience.”
“The Buzz” is presented by the School of Entertainment Arts, and is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Students can RSVP by emailing the SCAD Casting Office at scadcastingoffice@gmail.com.
