Logistics, look and love drive student producers of annual THON livestream

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Each of the thousands of students who participates in the annual Penn State IFC/Panellenic Dance Marathon (THON) has a reason for their involvement, which include everything from simply finding a campus community to personal motivations for battling pediatric cancer, and those driving factors are just as important for the students producing the annual THON livestream.

Those students — members of 46 LIVE and mostly from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications — take pride in their opportunity to make sure the THON stream engages children and families at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center while it also reaches every Penn State campus and some 80 countries and 200,000 viewers around the world.

This year, with THON scheduled Feb. 16-18 in the Bryce Jordan Center, the 46 LIVE team, more than 80 students with nine cameras, will be on site for all 46 hours, and even a little longer because of necessary setup and takedown. They’re focused on making the livestream look a little different than previous years, with more than just wide-angle shots of dancers on the BJC floor.

Viewers may watch the livestream coverage at THON.org beginning at 4 p.m. Feb. 16., when dancers will arrive at the BJC. It runs until the event concludes at 4 p.m. Feb. 18.

“We’re want to make it more like a show,” said Georgia Peters, a senior telecommunications major from Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania. She’s one of three executive producers for 46 LIVE. “We’ll certainly show the dancers, and viewers will see Greek letters in the crowd, all the colors and more. We’re just hoping to help people better connect with students who are dancing through live dancer interviews, and we have pre-produced videos with all the THON captains.”

The 46 LIVE team has been focused on logistics, planning and working closely with their THON counterparts, since last July. Previous streams as part of the project documented the THON 5K and the 100-day countdown kickoff to THON.

Mackenzie DeArment, a senior film production and African studies double major from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and James Morrison, a senior journalism major from Middleton, Massachusetts, round out the team of executive producers.

“I’m just excited to see it come together,” DeArment said. “We’re all on the same page and have worked hard to coordinate things. We have big goals — we’d love to get past 200,000 viewers — and it’s wonderful to be able to contribute to THON this way.”

“It’s such a good group,” said Morrison, who initially picked Penn State as an intended architecture major, then switched to communications and found the 46 LIVE student organization to connect with others and hone his skills. “It’s all given me a broad range of experience, something really valuable, and with the livestream we’re able to help many others, too."

While the trio of executive producers will work mostly behind the scenes (arriving at the Jordan Center at 10 a.m. Friday for setup and leaving round 7 p.m. Sunday after things end), the livestream team has 12 others who will be in front of the camera.

Junior Jordan Spagnolli, a journalism major from Irwin, Pennsylvania, who serves as host producer, helped coordinate five-hour shifts for dozen hosts, with three working the livestream and three hosting packages.

“We’ve worked with the EPs, THON and have a concrete rundown, so we should be able to produce the best content possible,” Spagnolli said. “All the hosts know what they’re doing, and our communication and preparation have been strong, so we’re really optimistic.”

Plus, they want to make the most of their equipment, eight cameras and one GoPro camera. The high-end cameras have more powerful lensing, which should allow them to get two times closer to the action than previous years.

Members of the 46 LIVE leadership team anticipate 30 to 35 hours in person at the event. They trust each other, the overall team and know a marathon production approach might not mean a quality production. So, they’ll get at least a little rest during the weekend.

“It’s been a team effort,” Peters said. “Everyone’s respectful of others’ decisions and we’re all committed to making the steam the best it can be.”

None of the students are worried about what happens at the end of THON.

“It seems like when we’ll be about to roll credits at the end that that’ll be when it hits,” DeArment said. “It’ll be a moment of relief, like, we did it. It doesn’t matter what happened during the weekend. It happened and we helped share it with a lot of people.”

She’s also putting her film skills to use and leading a team of students who are producing a documentary about 46 LIVE and THON based on this year’s event. It will be completed by the end of the spring semester.