Cal State LA is has created a three-class series to help students get an advantage in a red hot segment of the entertainment industry: Game shows.
The first in the three-class series slated for the fall is called, “Get in the game.”
“The whole idea is to provide not only a gateway into the industry, but to send people out to be eligible for jobs,” said Harry Friedman, the longtime producer of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, who helped create the classes.
He was among those who gathered Thursday in a Cal State LA auditorium filled with students, professors, and entertainment industry professionals for the announcement.
Friedman said the idea for the classes began in a conversation between him and California State University administrators about how to help graduates enter the television industry.
Friedman said Cal State LA was the first campus to step forward to create a curriculum.
“There’ll be internships, there’ll be on-the-job training, there’ll be field trips, there’ll be all these things that will help them, hopefully, step right out of school and into jobs,” said Kristina Hackel, chair of Cal State LA’s department of television, film, and media studies.
Jobs in the “happy factory”
Film production for TV and theaters is struggling. But the the New York Times has reported how in that environment TV game shows remain popular.
“It’s a pretty turbulent world out there, folks… there’s a lot of conflict going on and this is a safe space,” said Bob Boden at the announcement.
Imagine a job… where you make people happy for a living… we never lose sight of the fact that, we are a happy factory.
— Bob Boden, consultant on “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader,” and “Massive Monster Mayhem”
Boden has been a consultant on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, and Massive Monster Mayhem, among other game shows. He’s also the co-founder of the National Archives of Game Show History.
“Imagine a job… where you make people happy for a living… we never lose sight of the fact that, we are a happy factory,” Boden said.
Gameshow producers and hosts (L-R) Bob Boden, Harry Friedman, Brooke Burns and Rane Laymance on April 25, 2023.
J. Emilio Flores
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California State University, Los Angeles
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Boden underlined that game show prizes do a lot to help people out. Prize procurement is an important job in each show, along with casting director, set designer, and production accountants.
Will the classes attract students?
Professors made the announcement on the opening day of Cal State LA’s annual film festival.
Some students who attended the announcement are TV, film, media studies majors and want to get their foot in the door in the entertainment industry.
“I’m really looking into music editing for films. I really just enjoy music and how it shapes a picture,” said third year TV, film, and media studies major Isaiah Nieves.
But now, after hearing about what goes into producing a game show, he said he wants to take the first class in the fall to find out if he can do that kind of work for game shows.
For now, professors expect the first class in the fall to attract about 25 students, but they say they can expand the enrollment if there’s big enough demand. There’s also interest in other parts of the country to take the class online. Hackel, the chair of TV, film, media studies, said that’s not in the works for now, but the plan is to keep offering the classes, so that may change.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez focuses on the stories of students trying to overcome academic and other challenges to stay in college — with the goal of creating a path to a better life.