Aching for fame? Check out UPTV and WPTS

So you’ve just arrived at Pitt, and you want to make something of yourself. You want to be… So you’ve just arrived at Pitt, and you want to make something of yourself. You want to be the face on television, the voice on the radio. You want to be famous, a household – or dorm room – name. Or maybe you just want to get involved in campus organizations that’ll prepare you for a career in media and communications. The answer: Get involved with the student-run TV and radio stations right here at the University of Pittsburgh.

UPTV, or University of Pittsburgh Television, is Pitt’s student-operated television station, first formed by the communications department and the University Honors College. Students involved with the station can create and star in their own television series, or, if they’d rather play a more minor role, they can serve as extras in any of the countless film and TV projects going on at the station. Whether you like to write, produce, act or direct, there’s a place and a project for you at UPTV.

UPTV celebrates a year of creativity and hard work in student film and television with its annual UPTV awards. Modeled after the Academy Awards, the ceremony includes awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best TV Show and Best Commercial. The awards show, typically held in April, never fails to entertain the audience with clips of that year’s best TV shows, commercials, short and full-length films.

While UPTV hosts entertaining events for Pitt students – last fall they got a magician to perform at one of their movie screenings – the station exists primarily to train students in television and film production. Students involved with the station can rent out cameras and other equipment to complete their projects and then edit them on the station’s computers. Once you’ve completed a film project, you can be sure it’ll reach the viewers in the student body. UPTV, broadcast on channel 21 to all University televisions, features an eclectic mix of programming – everything from situation comedies to music videos to dramatic films.

To get involved with the station, new students can check out its Facebook group, “UPTV.” Those interested can drop by the station in room 400 of the William Pitt Union, or contact the student officers at uptv21@gmail.com.

But television isn’t all Pitt offers in the way of media and communications. Students who want to share their musical tastes or send their smooth voices out over the radio waves should check out WPTS, the student-run radio station also located on the William Pitt Union’s fourth floor. At the station, students can work as DJs, screen new music or help out with other duties involved in running a professional-quality radio station.

Become a DJ for the station and your voice is sure to be heard. WPTS has a broadcast radius of about 30 miles. The station broadcasts from the Cathedral of Learning – that’s why their logo depicts the Cathedral emitting radio waves. If you’d like to give the eclectic music mix and student DJs a listen, you can check out WPTS at 92.1 on the commercial band of your FM radio dial. Designed to expose students to the reality of working in radio, WPTS aims to broadcast new and innovative music while at the same time educating staff about radio work in the real world.

To learn more about WPTS, or to listen to the station’s live online stream when you’re out of the Pittsburgh area, check out the WPTS website at www.wpts.org.

The student activities fair, held early in the fall, is a great opportunity to learn about and sign up for these and other activities in media and entertainment. Both WPTS and UPTV hold informational sessions at the beginning of the school year, so look out for fliers. You’re here to prepare yourself for a successful future, so put yourself out there. Make a name for yourself. You know you want to.