The Southeastern Channel is creating a horror entertainment series expected to air in the fall called “Darkstalkers.” The project was thought up by senior communication major Jeremy Gaines who is also leading the production. courtesy of Jeremy Gaines
Coming soon to the Southeastern Channel will be a supernatural horror series titled “Darkstalkers.”
“‘Darkstalkers’ is a new scripted TV show that is produced by the Southeastern Channel,” said Jeremy Gaines, a senior communication major. “It follows Eric, an immortal demon hunter. He heads back home to Louisiana to track down a powerful demon. With the help of his newly acquired teammates, Cam, Samantha and Angelo, they fight off the wickedness that has come to Hammond.”
Gaines bred the idea and is leading the production under the direction of Rick Settoon, the general manager of the Southeastern Channel.
“I’ve been wanting to work at the channel since I’ve arrived at SLU,” said Gaines. “I wanted to improve on my editing, but even more, I wanted to learn more about the behind-the-camera work. I’ve dabbled in the film industry, and I wanted to see if I could learn more. I spoke with the GM of the Southeastern Channel, Mr. Rick Settoon and told him about this project I wanted to develop outside of school. He introduced the idea of actually producing it through the channel. The majority of the production team is made up of very talented individuals who work or volunteer at the channel.”
“Darkstalkers” will be the first entertainment series of its kind for the channel.
“Southeastern does not have a dedicated film and television department,” said Gaines. “We do have the SLU Channel, but the channel is known for developing media journalism. Whether it’s sports or TV news reporting, the channel does it all. Some students have produced short films, but our team is taking the extra step forward with the actual development of an episodic TV series.”
Filming and production have already begun and is expected to air beginning in the fall.
“I want to say early fall 2017,” said Gaines. “I asked Mr. Rick to allow me to shoot a teaser that would give him an idea of what the show would be like and allow him to see our team’s capabilities. From there, we’ve been on a roll shooting actual episodes.”
Gaines and fellow students are in charge of each aspect of production.
“Pretty much the same as bigger productions,” said Gaines. “We are just working on a smaller scale. We write our scripts, have team meetings, audition, location scout, table reads, work with cast and crew schedules, film and finally edit. We’ll have something soon to show everyone, and we hope you all enjoy it.”
Gaines hopes the series will foster pride in the students of the university.
“Ultimately, we want this to be a show that everyone can get into, but preferably our fellow SLU students,” said Gaines. “To know that fellow SLU students created a project like this, I think that would increase our lion pride.”
