Name: Sam SpeedyAge: 20Year: juniorMajor: telecommunication on the production trackHometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Her Campus: What is ChomPics Productions?Sam Speedy: “ChomPics is an entirely student-run video production company. It started with a five-episode web series, which is fit to broadcast standards and made possible by teams of more than 150 students directing, writing, acting and editing it into fruition. We had so many students who were interested in producing more content during their off time from the web series that we started additional projects including the ChomPics Commercial Project, which assigns participants into groups who produce commercials like PSAs, parody commercials, student association promotions and so on, that air with the web series. The audio project puts students into groups who plan, brand and record their own podcasts. The Bite is our live in-studio entertainment news show, and this year we’re adding Sunshine State of Affairs, which is a parody news show for those who are interested in comedy writing. It’s a lot to explain! We’re an organization made up of students who are looking to express themselves creatively and produce interesting, original content, and ChomPics’ partnership with NBS gives us the resources to make all those ideas possible.”
HC: When and how did you first get involved with ChomPics?SS: “I got involved with ChomPics its first year, 2013. I actually missed the deadline to apply for teams, and as a timid, anxious freshman I would’ve been too scared to apply for anything anyways. I went to an NBS meeting where they talked about ChomPics, and when I realized there was no opportunity like it in the College of Journalism and Communications, I decided to ask the founder, Connor Hachey, if there was any way I could get involved. He directed me to the auditions for on-screen talent and I read for the role of Codi, who was one of the four roommates our first show, Off University, was centered around. The character description for Codi specifically said she wore combat boots, and freshman year I was trying to prove how tough I was and would stomp around in Doc Martens all the time. Okay, I still do, but less intentionally. So I think that put me in a good position from the beginning of auditions. I got the part, and my glamorous new life as the co-star of a web series began.”
HC: What are you most looking forward to this year in ChomPics?SS: “I’m really looking forward to the web series this year. Like, really looking forward to it. Like, I’m going to get fired from my job because I spend all my shifts doodling characters, title cards and logos. The process of coming up with a topic was so collaborative and creative that all our meetings have been a lot of fun, and we’re jazzed about what we came up with. We’ve learned from the writing mistakes of the past and are determined to make this series the strongest one yet. I’m also extremely excited for Sunshine State of Affairs. I introduced the idea this year and I’m in the process of getting it up, running, writing and recording. It’s nerve-wracking starting an entire program from scratch, but there’s so many eager students who want to be a part of it and make it great. I don’t even care if they end up being funnier than me.”
HC: What is the most memorable experience you’ve had so far with ChomPics?SS: “I’ve met most of my best friends in college through ChomPics, so the lines are blurred between work and play. For all the work we do, there’s an equal amount of time spent laughing at something behind the scenes, writing bad horror shorts that we never film, paying to see movies and then immediately tearing them apart — the list goes on. We’re all bonded together by the common interest in creating something, and that keeps us coming back to each other and to ChomPics as a whole. Maybe even more importantly, the sense of community that comes from a shared drive builds a support system that gives us the freedom to fail. We have an end goal of producing something large scale and impressive, but along the way we come up with and immediately trash a million other little ideas. I’ve failed at a lot of things throughout my time with ChomPics, but I’ve also grown creatively and personally in ways that make me completely unrecognizable to my fall freshman self. So, all that being said, the best experience was probably meeting the extra from The Walking Dead at the NBS convention last spring.”
HC: Is there anything else regarding ChomPics or your role as producer that you would like to add?SS: “I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in production or just loves TV, movies or entertainment to come hang out with us. Come to an art direction meeting, come to a Sunshine State meeting, come to a general body meeting. Whatever weird, specific thing you’re into, there’s someone in ChomPics who’s into that same thing. If your thing is either bad horror movies or documentaries about prison, please come talk to me specifically. Whether you get in a fight with someone about how Desperate Housewives is the best drama in television history, place bets on when Frank Ocean is going to release his new album or swap issues of Swamp Thing, you’re going to leave knowing there’s a place for you in our island of misfit toys. ChomPics taught me that nothing feels like work if you’re with friends, including waking up at 7 a.m. the day after a tailgate and walking 3 miles to the shooting location. Also, if you don’t have a car, please just ask for a ride unlike freshman Sam Speedy. During shooting weeks, I put in upwards of 30 hours a week for ChomPics, but it feels like nothing compared to a three-hour shift at my real job. If you come to a meeting and freeze up and get too scared to talk to anyone, come up to me and say, ‘Sam, please find me someone to talk to about how good chocolate chip cookie dough Larabars are,’ or whatever you’re into, and I will be so happy to facilitate that.”