Saint Vincent professor’s ‘Office Hours’ TV show promotes student and professional filmmakers from across the region

by Public Relations | July 30, 2024

LATROBE, PA - The opening montage shows a man with a briefcase walking across the Saint Vincent College campus. He ascends a stairway inside the Dale P. Latimer Library and steps into a room in Prep Hall. The man sits down, faces the camera and says, "I'm David Safin, associate professor of digital art and media here at Saint Vincent College. This is my office, and these are my office hours."

Thus begins "Professor Safin's Office Hours," a series of 30-minute television shows on the Armstrong Neighborhood Channel. Safin, chair of the Visual Arts and Media department in the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, began doing the show last January. Six episodes already have aired-past shows are available on YouTube -and more are in production.

"The concept is that the people I interview are visiting during my office hours," Safin said. "We talk about filmmaking and the idea that filmmaking isn't just isolated to Pittsburgh. We [feature] fine filmmakers and artists from Saint Vincent, Ligonier, Westmoreland County, Washington County and all over and give them a forum."

Several Saint Vincent students and alumni have appeared as guests. Recent graduates Kieran Rapp, C 24, and Brennan Valladares, C'23, discussed their documentary, "Don't Count Us Out"-a behind-the-scenes look at the Saint Vincent women's basketball team during the 2022-23 season. Made as the students' final project for Safin's documentary production class, the film won a Gold Viddy Award and was selected for inclusion in the College Filmmakers Festival.

Episode four of "Office Hours" featured Reilly McKay, C 25, and Will Radan, C'23, who discussed their project "The Writer's Room."

David Fedor, producer of local programming at the Armstrong Neighborhood Channel, came up with the idea for the show. After speaking to one of Safin's classes a few months ago, Fedor asked if Safin wanted to do a show on the Armstrong Neighborhood Channel.

"It's one of those things built through networking," Safin said. "I know this guy, he and I became friends, and we came together to do this show."

The original plan called for Safin to do face-to-face interviews in a studio, but the production details became too complicated. Instead, the show is conducted over Zoom from Safin's actual office in Prep Hall.

Although he's used to delivering lectures in front of crowds of students, Safin admits to some occasional jitters when he's staring into the camera. "I'd rather be a guest than the host," he said with a laugh.

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Screenshot from episode four of "Professor Safin's Office Hours"

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