Fall 2007 - SCOOP Magazine

From the WireClose to H meStory byElizabeth CourtneyAfter collaborating on student projects for videoproduction classes at the University of Tennesseealumni Daniel Callis and David Lane have continuedto work together on productions for Knoxville’s JupiterEntertainment. Callis was hired by the company in2004, and encouraged Lane to join him. Since then,the college friends have teamed-up to produce showslike Oxygen’s “Snapped,” A&E’s “City Confidential,”and The History Channel’s “Human Weapon.”Q:Lane is a producer and Callis is a productionspecialist working in photography and audio.How do your different roles contribute tocreating the final show?DC: There have been many times where it’s just been me andDave when we’ve gone on a local shoot. Dave has done hishard work setting up where we need to shoot, whether it’sjust footage or an interview, and I can handle the equipmentpart of it and shoot it.DL: Having worked together as students, Daniel can expectthat stuff on my end will be taken care of, and I can expectthat his end will be taken care of, and we don’t need muchcommunication.Q:How has working together as students helpedyour working relationship with each other?DC: It was a seamless crossover. We had experienced workingas a team, which is very important at a small company.When you are out in the field, you are always a small team,usually of three people, and that’s usually how it was with us,working on our (student) projects.DL: We came into it being able to work together as a betterteam than most of the people already there.Q:What did you learn at UT that has been mostrelevant to your career?DC: The photography part of it. Doug Edland really influencedme on that. He really taught us how to shoot — whatto look for; how to shoot so you’ll have something to editwhen you bring it back in house; telling the story through thecamera and making it easy for the editor.fall 2007DL: When I first started helping out on the projects, I sort oftook on contacting local businesses and contacting people atthe places we wanted to shoot. That really did help at Jupiter,because that is the exact same thing that I do now.