Hired initially as an intern, Galloway quickly wowed the film\u2019s producers with his talents and tenacity and was promoted to production assistant and then to first team. By the time production wrapped, Galloway had gained real-world professional experience and made several industry connections, one of which led to his being hired as a production assistant for Law & Order<\/em>, a job he begins this January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A communications major with a concentration in media studies and production, Galloway says he was already looking for an internship to fulfill his graduation requirements when a departmental email alerted him to the opportunity to work with Navesink River Productions, the company behind Miranda\u2019s Victim<\/em>. After interviewing via Zoom with Carly Harper, one of the film\u2019s producers, Galloway was hired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two weeks later, another producer, Alexandra Guarnieri, pulled him aside to tell him he was being promoted to production assistant. \u201cShe said the producers appreciated the work I\u2019d been doing and thought I had a knack for it,\u201d recalls Galloway. \u201cShe said they could see this is a field that I want to pursue and they wanted to give me an opportunity to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after, Galloway was again promoted, to first team, which gave him the opportunity to work directly with several of the film\u2019s A-list actors, including Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (\u201cShe is super cool,\u201d says Galloway) and Enrique Murciano (\u201cHe\u2019s the funniest man I ever met. He has 10 personalities, and they all come at you at once.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of Galloway\u2019s responsibilities entailed serving as a liaison to the actors. That meant coordinating their schedules with the hair and makeup departments, arranging their transportation to the various filming locations throughout Monmouth County, ensuring the actors were properly miked and outfitted by the props and costume departments when they got to the set, and assisting them throughout. After shooting was done each day, he did all of that in reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being on the set of a major motion picture was more than just fun, says Galloway\u2014it was incredibly educational. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI got a clear view of how everything runs in the real world,\u201d he says. \u201cI saw how the props department works. I saw how the art department dresses the set for the scene. I saw the director doing her thing and the camera and audio and lighting people doing their things. I saw how it\u2019s all intertwined and how one area can\u2019t function without the other. I was really in the thick of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One day you\u2019re working the camera, the next day you\u2019re directing, [and] the next day you\u2019re the talent. It\u2019s an all-hands-on-deck type [of] thing. There\u2019s never a time you\u2019re not learning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The workdays were long\u201412 hours or more\u2014and Galloway says he used the time to learn as much as he could about what it\u2019s like to work in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was just picking people\u2019s brains about everything they were doing,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get really close to people when you\u2019re working together every day for two to three months. No one had any problems letting me know how things worked, what the difficulties of the job are, [and] what the rewards are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway, who earned an associate degree from Brookdale Community College before transferring to Monmouth, says he arrived on campus knowing he wanted to pursue a career in the TV and film industry. Getting involved with Hawk TV early on was the perfect way to get his feet wet, he says. Working at the student-run TV station gave him the opportunity to contribute to a variety of productions, from pop culture and sports talk shows to news broadcasts and live event coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d been around sets before coming to Monmouth but never as intensely as what I experienced with Hawk TV,\u201d says Galloway. \u201cOne day you\u2019re working the camera, the next day you\u2019re directing, [and] the next day you\u2019re the talent. It\u2019s an all-hands-on-deck type [of] thing. There\u2019s never a time you\u2019re not learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His coursework at Monmouth only amplified the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy favorite class was Introduction to Television Production with Professor Donna Dolphin,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s very hands-on, and you really take a deep dive into how to operate the cameras, how to work the technical director board, and how to operate the other equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This January, Galloway will put everything he learned at Monmouth to work behind the scenes of Law & Order<\/em>. The production assistant job came through a connection he made with Paula Clarkson, the second assistant director on Miranda\u2019s Victim<\/em> who also works on the TV procedural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway says that as filming on Miranda\u2019s Victim<\/em> wrapped, Clarkson tried to persuade him to forgo his final semester at Monmouth and come work with her right away. \u201cI mulled it over for maybe five minutes,\u201d he says, before he decided he wanted to finish his degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard, gone to class every day, completed all of my projects, [and] put in my 50 hours of practicum,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want that to be in vain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides, he says, \u201cI knew my mom would probably kill me if I didn\u2019t finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At Monmouth, Leon Galloway worked on the set of a major motion picture, an experience that led to a post-graduation job on one of TV\u2019s longest-running shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":16125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":46,\"y\":31}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-16122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents","tag-alumni-student-faculty"],"thumbnail":"\n
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