Salt Lake Community College is giving one dozen prospective chefs a new place to showcase their culinary skills.
The Center for Arts and Media television studio was transformed into a kitchen for the filming of “TeenChef Pro” this month at South City Campus.
“We are pleased to be hosting [the program] here at our CAM TV studio,” says Nick Burns, associate dean of Communication and Performing Arts. “Our [film and audio] students are involved on set and we actually have some alums working as well.”
According to director of photography Michael Call, “TeenChef Pro” is a 13-part reality show and cooking competition where the winning teen chef receives a culinary scholarship. The local, state-supported television program will air in the fall throughout the Intermountain West.
Burns and other school officials made the deal to host “TeenChef Pro” in an effort to be more involved in the community and to help SLCC students.
“This was a production that we thought would be a great experience for our students to get some real-world experience on a TV set,” says Josh Elstein, coordinator for the CAM. “It also connects us more with the community and incoming high school students.”
The CAM opened in 2013 with state-of-the-art equipment for student use.
“One thing that I think is very exciting is the folks who are coming in crewing this, the local professionals, to a one have said how fantastic our facilities are,” Burns says. “They all have been extremely impressed by our facilities and what we’ve got here for our students to be learning.”
Call, who joined the “TeenChef Pro” production crew this year, shares that sentiment.
“[The CAM studio] is so much more modern that the one that was available last year … There were a lot of issues with it because it wasn’t a modern facility and we were all really excited to use this one,” he says. “It’s been a joy to work with.”
SLCC student Mike Fewkes is a part of the “TeenChef Pro” crew, working as an audio intern. He has landed a job with the show’s sound production company after his internship ends.
“One of the things that interested me in this internship was that they mentioned that the sound production company they were using were looking to hopefully hire their intern,” he says. “[The supervisor] really likes how knowledgeable I am about sound and about the recording process … I understand the physics of sound and the way microphones themselves work … and that it gives me a lot when I come to work on a project.”
SLCC students and staff have helped all they can to make this a successful endeavor for the college.
“It’s been a positive,” Burns says. “If we do this again of course we would like to grow it and have even more students involved. This has been a big project for our facilities here.”
