Having the opportunity to talk to celebrities is something people dream about, but for four Ball State University students that dream has become a reality.
Students Adam Klotz, Derek Steinborn, Kyle Pierog and Lindsey Thompson are working with the radio station WCRD to air a one-hour radio talk show, Klotz-n-Stein@9. On the show, the students interview celebrities such as Kenny Kramer, whom the "Seinfeld" character Kramer is based off of, and Ali Landry, a supermodel and actress on UPN's "Eve." They also interviewed Autumn Reeser and Willa Holland, who play Taylor Townsand and Kaitlyn Cooper, respectively, on Fox's "The OC."
Pierog, a freshman business administration major and the show's executive producer, said the idea for contacting celebrities came when his roommate Klotz wanted to find Reggie Miller and get him on the show. Doing research trying to find Miller led to contacting other celebrities by phone and e-mail, he said.
"The hard part is figuring out which celebrities we would like to have on the show," Pierog said. "The whole process starts with us sitting around thinking of people who we would like to have on the show. At first I looked for that person's official Web site and looked to see if they had any contact information or ways of getting a hold of them. Then I continued trying to track down celebrities that way, but stumbled across another Web site that lists the actors and actresses and their representation. Now we go strictly through their publicist or manager."
Lindsey Thompson, a sophomore organizational communications major and the show's PR coordinator, said that in the future, they hoped to interview not only actors and actresses but also musical artists, athletes, coaches, ESPN anchors, models and comedians.
Klotz, a sophomore telecommunications major and co-host for the show, said the managers of the WCRD station were all excited about what they had been doing.
"Our program manager was just telling me how this is something that WCRD has never seen before," Klotz said.
Steinborn, a sophomore communications studies major and co-host, said both co-hosts interview the celebrities and share air time on the show. He said they originally started the show with the idea of a sports talk radio format but, after a few shows, they decided to have the format be mainly a current events talk show.
Klotz said even though the show was well scripted, they tried to make it seem as informal as possible. They encourage people to call in as much as possible, he said. He said he loved involvement with the listeners.
"We want the atmosphere to be where everyone listening feels like they are sitting in the studio with us, just hanging out," Klotz said.
Steinborn said he thought celebrities see college radio as a chance to reach a more laid back audience in a more relaxed environment.
"I do not think there is anything wrong with Ball State's reputation either, especially since [it] is known nationally for its excellent telecommunication program," Steinborn said.
Thompson said the show had done quite well in such a short time.
Pierog said he did not know what would happen with the show but national recognition would be nice, although it was not something they were actively pursuing.
"'Klotz-n-Stein' is already trademarked for being a show at WCRD that actually goes beyond music and talk radio and has contacted celebrities to call in for interviews," Thompson said. "The show is a great addition to Ball State radio. Therefore, what I would like to see happen to the show is for it to continue to bring in the greatest celebrity interviews and give a new meaning to college talk radio."
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