Cinema Central HomepageThe History of Cinema Central

The History of Cinema Central

Here's a brief overview of how Cinema Central has become the longest running show currently on MHTV. In the spring of 1996 Keith Hillock has an idea of producing a show that was like a mini movie. Keith had a lot of experience on working on other shows and wanted to produce his own. He talked with Brian Seifferlein, who also had a lot of MHTV experience, about his idea and they agreed to work together. Sometime later Dave Cebulski became involved after showing some interest. In April of 1996 the three purposed the show to the staff of MHTV. Some people wondered if it would work. They were given a chance in the fall of 1996. The first tapings were a little shaky, the group was a little unprepared and didn't expect more than 10 people to show up at their very first taping. Amazingly some of those people ended up staying with the show for a very long time. The first episode of Cinema Central, which never had a title, was put together. It wasn't near perfect but a good learning experience. The show was about a student who had a bad day and then kills himself. There wasn't much show there as the closing credits are about seven minutes long.
The second show called May I Cut In didn't go so great at first. A lot of things went wrong during the tapings, and when the show was complete it didn't air. The script didn't work with bad dialogue and had to be rewritten. The rewritten scenes added a lot to the show, so did the acting by Brett Darago and Landon Cooke. After all the reshooting the show finally aired.
Apathy In America was written by Brian Seifferlein. The idea came about from his father. What would happen if a high school dropout was a high school teacher. It pokes a lot of fun at the media and at how things are showed into people's faces. This was the first show that was a solid show for Cinema Central. The third time was a charm. To follow up this show was the first hour long entitled Taking A Chance which was written by Dave Cebulski. The show benefited from the use of many theater actors who were just excellent in the show. The performance of Chris Berzac, Christine Arft, Rebekah Teifenbach, and Kyle Gargaro added a lot to the show.
After the first season Dave Cebulski found out that he had an ulcer. Dave decided to stick with the show for the second season. For the second season came a few new actors Chris Cook, Joe Yacsich, Kelly Sims and Kelli Higgins, to join Jenni Banko, Landon Cooke, Brett Darago, Emily Rose, and Seth Trizenberg.
The fifth show called Things Better Left Unsaid written by Brian Seifferlein was the first show of the second season. It included a long monologue by Landon Cooke at the beginning. It compared a persons morals and beliefs and how they were used in 1984 and Braveheart. The show dealt with a lot of personal issues. We're All Clones followed. It was a statement show that didn't make much of a statement. Writer Dave Cebulski wanted to show how people need to be more independent. The show didn't hold up that well. Landon Cooke wrote the seventh show If It Ain't Broke... which was a black and white silent movie. During this time the broadcasting equipment at CMU was sub par and became the inspiration of the show. The story consisted of a group of students trying to put together a television show with bad equipment. They then hire a criminal to break their equipment. After the university President sees all the damage he gets them new equipment was worse than what they had before. Regarded as a classic by many. The show's story line was kept secret almost right up to it's air date until real equipment problems happened. The week the show aired it was announced that the radio and television department would receive new equipment. After this show Keith Hillock graduated from Central and Dave Cebulski took time off because of his ulcer.
Mary Louise Hutter joined Brian Seifferlein and Seth Trizenberg to produce the third season. Their collaboration made a different season compared to the first two. lauren bakhaus joined the cast. Episode 9 Cornstalks was written by Matt Schutt, a first time a show was written by someone who never was affiliated with Cinema Central. It was about a hitchhiking girl who gets picked up by a guy on his way accident. Oddly enough it's his accident, and the other people in his car are the victims. Episode 10 Life Would Be A Dream was written by Brian. It was about a girl who died with the aid of a doctor and later finds out there was a cure for her disease. She later finds out on what she missed out on because of dying. Since their was a number of ghost stories at CMU, Episode 11 was about those stories. Legends of CMU put the famous stories together in a half hour show. The show didn't turn out of great as everyone wanted it too but a number of people did enjoy it. Just like they worked together in the second season, Chris Cook and Seth Trizenberg wrote Collision. Which was actually there two stories of people having bad days cross paths. For the season finale Mary Louise Hutter wrote The Chocolate Tower a show that had a lot of surrealism. The idea came about after one of Mary's dreams and was partially taped in her high school in Bay City. During the taping of this episode, Brian and Mary announced they would leave the show to produce other shows. When Dave hear the news he talked to Kelli Higgins and they produced the fourth season. They were a like in lot of ways when working together. The first show was a horror story called A Hall Night Party. A group of kids decide to stay in a building overnight after a maintenance worker gets killed there. It was a lot of fun to tape and the show was a whole new look for Cinema Central as they had a number of new faces, including Rory Mallon, SÎan Williams, Frank Ciseli, Robert Dolton and others. This was the only show the both Kelli Higgins and Dave Cebulski would edit together, afterwards they would edit a particular episode on their own. Episode 15 Deja VU was about a girl who ends up in scene's from her favorite movies. This was a fun show to tape cause the actors got to portray some of their favorite movie scenes, including scenes from Resivour Dogs, Clerks, and Back to the Future. The follow up to that was the hour long The Meaning of Life written by Ron Riekki. The show starred Brett Darago and SÎan Williams as a couple who argued the existence of God and put marriage and sex on the line. This was the first Cinema Central show that had no PSA breaks during the show, it was just one hour of non-stop action. This feat would occur a lot during the fifth and sixth season. The following show was the History of Cinema Central. A review of the first 15 shows with interviews of a number of cast members and producers. Another show that had no PSA breaks. A another show was taped at this time but never edited when Dave Cebulski was unhappy with the footage. It was the first time that a show was ever scrapped by Cinema Central, luckily they had enough shows to get away with that. For there season finally they showcased two shows. Episode 18 The Petermann Baby about a girl who finds out from her parents that she was adopted, and Mount Pleasant a tribute of sorts to the town where Cinema Central was produced. It was also about an individual's need to accept what other people do. After this season ended Dave Cebulski left Central, Kelli Higgins and Brett Darago are starting work on the fifth season of Cinema Central. Their first episode was Cinema Central's twentieth. The third show of the season caused some problems after one airing. Kelli quit the show a week later, more details soon.