Southeastern Channel named fourth best in nation
Monday, December 12, 2016 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
FOURTH IN THE NATION - The Southeastern Channel, Southeastern Louisiana University's educational access channel, has won fourth place in the nation for its student entertainment show, “College Night.” The show was honored by College Broadcasters, Inc. for “Best Comedy-Video” at the 2016 National Student Production Awards in Philadelphia. It’s the 12th time that the Southeastern Channel has been named one of the top four in the nation by CBI. From left are Rick Settoon, Southeastern Channel general manager, and Danielle Shearer of Ponchatoula, producer of “College Night.”
HAMMOND - A student entertainment show produced for the Southeastern Channel, Southeastern
Louisiana University’s cable access channel, has won fourth place in the nation.
“College Night” was named the country’s fourth best in the “Best Comedy-Video”
category by College Broadcasters, Inc. at the 2016 National Student Production Awards
in Philadelphia recently. There were 969 entries in the competition from universities
across the nation.
It was the 12th time that a Southeastern Channel production has been honored
as one of the top four in the nation by College Broadcasters, Inc. The channel has
been recognized multiple times for its student newscast “Northshore News,” along with
student news reporting, sports play-by-play, and a student-produced promotional spot.
The channel won first place in the nation the past two years for a student documentary
and public service announcement.
It was the fourth time that “College Night” has placed in the top four in the
nation. The winning episode from December 11, 2015, was produced by Danielle Shearer
of Ponchatoula.
It was the second straight year that one of Shearer’s productions was recognized
at the National Student Production Awards. Last year her promotional spot for the
student sportscast, “The Big Game,” was named one of the best in the nation.
“I feel so honored. I produced a total of three episodes of ‘College Night,’
and it’s nice to have all of the hard work recognized on a national level,” said Shearer.
“’College Night’ is special because it gives students who are more into filmmaking
a chance to stretch their creative muscles,” Shearer said.
Shearer not only produced the show but also wrote, directed, shot, edited and
acted in many of the segments. Among the numerous Southeastern Channel students who
contributed to the program, those who also played a large part in writing, shooting,
editing and acting were Rachel Taylor of St. Amant, Mason Dauphin and Jordan Reid
of Luling, Mallory Milton and Tyler Hampton of Ponchatoula, Sarah Barbier of Mandeville,
Molly Flynn of Amite, Richard Mills of Hammond, Dominique Brogle of Destrehan, and
Courtney Bruno, Amairi Cordova and Maria Goddard of New Orleans.
“It’s a great honor for our students to be recognized once again as among the
best in the nation,” said Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick Settoon. “Danielle
is wonderfully creative and skilled with a great work ethic, and she led a talented
team of students with high-quality standards to produce a fresh, clever and entertaining
program.”
The winning show was produced in the vein of “Saturday Night Live” with comedy
sketches that used college activities like intramurals, sorority recruitment and beauty
pageants to parody popular television shows like “Supernatural,” “Big Brother” and
“Charlie’s Angels.” One vignette, “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. S,” featured the character
Milly Cypress as a humorous takeoff on Miley Cyrus.
Shearer also produced a pair of music video parodies, a college dormitory version
of “Zombie” by Family Force 5 and a parody of “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift and Kendrick
Lamar with students cosplaying Disney princesses locked in a supernatural battle sequence.
“I learned so much at the Southeastern Channel,” Shearer said. “I got to learn
a little bit of everything - reporting, producing, studio positions and commercial
producing. Knowing these different departments of a television station makes you more
marketable in the job field.”
Shearer graduated in May with a degree in communication with a concentration
in electronic media. She was immediately hired as a marketing producer by KATC-TV
3 (ABC) in Lafayette. She said the techniques learned in video production courses
like Comm 260 and 449 at the Southeastern Channel helped her with “College Night.”
“The basics that we were taught in production courses like framing, the production
process, and the process of telling a story all helped us to have success with this
show,” she said.
The Southeastern Channel has won over 300 national, international, and regional
awards in the last 12 years, including 13 Emmys. The Channel airs in 90,000 households
on the North Shore with a potential viewing audience of 250,000 on Charter Cable 199.
Its live 24/7 webcast and video on demand are viewed in 46 states and 47 countries
monthly at www.southeastern.edu/tv.
