By Chris Isidoro Saldivar
After a long year of off-campus instruction, students are motivated to get involved in extracurricular activities, specifically for Mass Media Art students involved with CAU-TV.
Emani Gonzalez, a senior Mass Media Arts student from Marietta, Georgia is one of
the leaders at CAU-TV. Gonzalez aspires to be a producer for shows like “Potomac”,
“Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Married to Medicine”. She is currently in
production of her own talk show called Blackout and talks more about her
experience running her own self-produced show.
Q:What is Blackout?
Blackout is an entertainment talk show with four college students that talks about
relationships, social media and adulting. We are all college students who are going
to graduate and enter a new chapter of our lives. It can be very scary.
Q:What inspired you to make this show?
When I first got to Clark Atlanta University, there were no shows produced by students. The only produced shows at the time were from Clark Atlanta University Alum Anthony White.
Those shows he produced were Peach Fit, Black Taboo and Fill in the Blank. I wanted to produce something myself because the only thing I was doing at that time was stage manager or audio manager. I decided to do something I liked. I made my own opportunity and produced my own talk show, something that was not easy but realistic, like, I could not just make a cartoon show. I thought, what is entertaining? On YouTube I would watch things with college students and game shows, so I put these things in the show.
Q:What was your process for Blackout?
First, I had to have a script for each episode. Next, figuring what the segments will
be and having a rundown of the script by breaking down the segments. After that I
find out who the talent will be and who will be the crew for each episode, as well
as an editor to make sure the show is edited correctly. Lastly, I need an expected
air date.
Q:When can we expect to see the first episode?
You can expect to see the first episode air by the end of October on YouTube.
For more, you can subscribe to Blackout’s YouTube channel “Blackout” and follow us on Instagram “@blackout.223."
After having the chance to be on set during a recording of her talk show for an
episode, one can see that her determination is paying off and speaks for itself
though her production crew. Gonzalez's crew consists of production assistants, camera
operators, stage directors and more. She has taken Clark Atlanta University’s
motto to heart and practices it every day during her production shoots: I’ll find a
way or make one.