Sometimes the Saint Louis University Television studio is a crazy place to be, but despite the hustle and bustle of producing several shows and broadcasts, junior Matt Wesselschmidt stays remarkably calm.
In his three years working at SLU TV, Wesselschmidt has risen in the ranks to the position of Executive Vice President. In this role, he is responsible for running the control panel for shows like Mondays in Midtown and the daily weather reports.
He also assists the SLU TV president, David Koeller, with administrative activities, such as putting together budgets for annual funding and placing orders for the latest technologies.
Wesselschmidt was at the right place at the right time at the beginning of his SLU TV career. He just showed up in the studio one day during his freshman year.
“They were putting together the news broadcast and were short staffed, so they just threw me into the control room,” said Wesselschmidt. “I’ve been addicted ever since.”
Wesselschmidt was never formally trained to work at the station. Most of what he knows he learned on his own.
“It was a trail by fire sort of thing.”
As a computer science major, Wesselschmidt is right at home when he is in front of a control panel. He said that his favorite part of working at the station is getting to mess around with the expensive equipment.
“I do enjoy pushing the buttons and seeing them light up and what they can do. It’s fun.”
Wesselschmidt said he did not watch a lot of television as a child, but some of his favorite shows now are 24, Dr. Who, and House. His interest in working in television started in high school. He considered joining his school’s television station then, but he did not actually get involved until he got to college.
Wesselschmidt contributes in a number of ways at SLU TV.
“I also do some writing for the news broadcasts, and co-host Updog every week,” Wesselschmidt said.
Updog is SLU TV’s weekly Wednesday night talk show. Wesselschmidt said that Updog is mostly unscripted, but he tries to come to the set equipped with amusing stories, important topics and a plethora of bad jokes.
“Updog is the main thing I do that goes on screen,” said Wesselschmidt. “But the majority of the stuff I do here goes on behind the scenes.”
Wesselschmidt’s behind the scenes work has opened up other opportunities for him as well. In addition to managing the station, he also works at SLU’s Law School in multi-media services.
While most of his work at school has been in media, he does not expect his experiences at SLU TV to translate into a career after college.
In terms of where we will see Wesselschmidt’s career head, stay tuned. He is not sure what he would like to do after college.
“Working for Google would be pretty fun,” Wesselschmidt joked.
This St. Louis native is not all just about technology though. Wesselschmidt is also an Eagle scout. His favorite part of being a scout is that it gives him a chance to explore the wilderness. His interests also lie in video editing and he claims to be a master finger painter, with several of his more popular pieces exhibited on his refrigerator.
Wesselschmidt said that he’s had a blast working at SLU TV, but his favorite moments at the station are the ones that do not always make it onto the screen.
“The out-takes are pretty funny,” said Wesselschmidt. “I’ve been wanting to make an out-take highlight reel for some time.”
