by Adam Colbert
http://vimeo.com/108904051
HSPN(Hudson Sports Production Network) has been growing popularity and student interest all over the school since the start of the school year. Students,mostly seniors, have been staying after school for the first time to help produce short video clips including previews of most of the sports teams, a documentary on the Red Sea, September’s top 10 plays and even an athlete of the month have been shown on Hud-TV on TVs around the school. They have over 6,000 views on Vimeo and have been blowing up on twitter; @TheHSPN1 gained 180 followers in one month.
The masterminds behind Hud-TV are three Hudson graduates fresh out of college. Cam Ciesluk, Dan Donaghue and Jared Ware are giving their heart to the program. When it first started two years ago, Ciesluk was just recording games for Hud-TV when he had the chance to. Now with the combination of the three, they have been able to do more than film games. They have been able to create content on most of the different fall sports teams including golf.
The “three-headed monster” feeds off of each other to develop quality products that have the quality of a full-scale productions. Each person is responsible for a piece of the overall production.
Ware is the anchor on camera, Donaghue is the cameraman and floor director, and Ciesluk is the Producer. They all chip in and edit and create content for HSPN.
The enthusiasm and passion they have for video production has been shared with the students, and “at least 12” kids have came by after school in the media room to ask if they could help. Students such as Bennett Emery have never had any experience with production before HSPN. “I got asked to join because it would be fun after school so I checked it out and liked it.” His favorite part is “Seeing the effect video has on the people that you film. I love seeing people react to what we do.” Emery did a video on Broadreach, a band including Andrew Nugent, Taylor Benson, and Edj and Buren Andrews.The band was blown away by the quality of the video and grateful for the opportunity to be featured on Hud-TV.
Other students like Liz Cauella and Alex Schley are on-air talent for HSPN. From the Schley Report during half-time of home football games and Buffy On The Street(Cautela), they help make HSPN what it is today because of the content they help produce.
Cam, Jared and Dan hope to groom other students to help fill in the spots of the seniors that will be moving on to college next year.
TV news and media teacher Linda Chilton is really excited for HSPN. “It’s the first time we have seen a passion and spirit for High School sports. I don’t see anything else to compare this to, they are really leading the pack,” she explains. What separates their video from other’s is the emotion in the video. “They all have an eye for drawing emotion into video. Watch a video and you sense emotion and pride in all their work. You can sense the school spirit when you watch the volleyball and football videos.”
Besides all the hard work and passion HSPN gives to their work, former Media teacher Scott Darlington is to thank. “I owe my whole career for him and what he’s done for us,” explains Ciesluk. Darlington got each of the guys started in high school and got them back in the studio after college.
“His passion and enthusiasm really reflected onto us. He encouraged us to keep coming back to the studio,” says Ciesluk.
“I love him, but I wouldn’t tell him…I owe a lot of credit to him for where I’m at and where I’m going with my career,” says Ware of Darlington.
Before Ware came back for HSPN after college, he was volunteering to do the play-by-play for basketball games during his winter break from Rhode Island where he studied communications. But his favorite is doing the Turkey Day football commentary
Ware’s passion is driven by the thrill of the grind going up to the Friday football game. Ware does a preview for the game in front of a camera, followed up by a halftime show and a game summary. He compares it to running a marathon in order to get ready for a 100 meter dash. “When you work hard, finish and it looks good…that’s the best feeling.”
Ware hopes to make a career out of sports broadcasting and go on to bigger and better places such as ESPN or Fox Sports. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever considered doing.”
But for now, Ware and the others are putting their heart into the community. “We are just doing fun things. The kids are excited about making and watching videos, so we just have to keep it interesting,” says Donaghue.
“We do it for the community response. Even if it is little, people and kids still get excited about seeing their local events on TV,” says Ciesluk. Ciesluk’s goal is to get the community involved. He believes high quality video coverage of events with increase school spirit and community strength.
“Our goal is to make it cool and exciting, something people want to watch. And the students see it, and it’s just like what they see on TV in the real world and they love it.”
