When you begin your career in one of Klein College of Media and Communication’s award-winning TV studios, it’s likely that the connections you make will last throughout your professional life. This is certainly true from Kevin Otte, KLN ‘15, and Chase Senior, KLN ‘15, who recently worked together on an episode of The Playbook about NBA coach Doc Rivers, a Netflix original documentary series about championship-winning professional sports coaches, executive produced by LeBron James. Otte worked on the series as a first assistant editor and Senior provided a voiceover.
The two met on the set of OwlSports Update on TUTV, with Otte behind the scenes and Seniorin front of the camera. The two would end up working on a number of projects together for TUTV, but fondly remember being assigned to go to football, basketball and other Temple sports games together as a camera and reporter team. “We were a team together, that’s why it’s so cool all these years later to connect again and put that Temple Made stamp on it,” Senior says.
From the time they began at TUTV, it was clear that the Otte and Senior combination had big ideas, and would make changes and improvements that would stay with the show for years after they both graduated. For instance, they began the first consistent use of YouTube for TUTV shows, filming regular digital segments.
“Kevin came into OwlSports Update as a freshman, and already had such great vision for all the different things that we could do, and he moved us in a direction where we wouldn’t be doing all the great things we’re doing today if it weren’t for his willingness and wanting to expand all the things that we do,” says Matt Fine, an associate professor of practice in the Department of Media Studies and Production who worked on OwlSports Update with Otte and Senior.
So it’s no surprise that Senior hit the ground running when Otte contacted him in April, just at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, in need of a voiceover for the Netflix project. When using archival footage for documentary purposes such as The Playbook, voiceovers from famous broadcasters like Barbara Walters can be expensive to use, or otherwise be charged with plagiarism. In order to avoid this, documentarians will often re-record the voice overs from famous games to use with edited footage, giving the audience the effect that they are watching the game as it was recorded.
Since Senior had experience in both sports broadcasting and playing bit reporter roles in shows like Designated Survivor, Otte knew exactly who to call to record the voiceover for the Doc Rivers episode. In addition to the fact that Otte had called Senior for voiceover roles in the past, Senior also happened to have an arsenal of audio equipment at home, ready to go, because of his extensive involvement with numerous podcasts. Thus, no studio time would be necessary, and nothing would need to be delayed due to the pandemic.
Still, both alumni point back to their days at OwlSports Update to explain their preparedness and flexibility, where both were often put in positions where they would have to learn on the fly, make things work and multitask to get the job done.
“Klein is one of the best broadcast, journalism and communication schools in the country because of the opportunities that are available to students and the opportunities that are available to people like Kevin and me,” Senior says. “Without going to Temple we wouldn't be where we are today because of those experiences and the resources that were at our fingertips.”