By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Sure it might not be Saturday Night Live, but every television sketch show has to start somewhere. The Television Academy Foundation honored Voorhees native Daniel Scott Siegel on Saturday, April 9 at the 32nd Annual College Television Awards for his work on Northwestern Sketch Television.
Siegel is currently a student at Northwestern University.
The competition honored the nation’s best student-produced work in video, digital and film production. Mary Lynn Rajskub of the television series “24” hosted the gala, with awards presented by some of television’s biggest stars.
The series won first place honors in the Outstanding Narrative Series category at the competition’s red carpet gala, which was held at the Hollywood Renaissance hotel.
“The College Television Awards is the country’s premier exposure opportunity for television’s next generation of leaders,” said Norma Provencio Pichardo, executive director of the Television Academy Foundation. “Past winners have gone on to successful careers in television, and have even won Primetime Emmy Awards. This competition opens many doors for talented student producers.”
First place winners were awarded $2,000, second place winners took home $1,000 and third place winners received $500. In addition to the cash award, winners were invited to a private mentoring brunch and panel discussion with industry professionals. A selection of winning pieces will also be featured on mtvU.com.
In a short interview Siegel and his film partner Pat Bishop talked about the inspiration for their winning piece branching from being huge fans of sketch comedy while growing up.
The series gave a chance to Siegel and Bishop to form their own group, discover their own comedic sensibility, and gain the experience of running a large-scale production.
“We shot a sketch called “Gun Club,” a parody of “Fight Club,” where two guys get into a gun fight in a back alley. While we were filming, someone called the police and they sent a car over,” they said. “Luckily we didn’t have the fake guns out when the cops showed up and we were able to convince them to let us continue shooting and finish the sketch.”
