By Aurora Martínez, Journalism senior

It “takes a community” to produce the University of Florida’s annual Homecoming Parade in Gainesville, Florida, held each Friday on homecoming weekend. While hundreds of people watched and cheered for the parade floats passing by 13th Street and University Avenue on Oct. 6, a team of UF College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) students and staff are bringing the magic of the parade to people watching via WUFT-TV’s live broadcast.

Sophia Abolfathi, a UFCJC Media Production, Management, And Technology junior, was this year’s parade director. The parade started at noon, but her day started much earlier at 5:30 a.m. As director, she was in charge of facilitating the control room that puts the show on air. Constant communication with her technical crew, show’s producer, floor manager and student anchors and reporters on scene were key to keeping everyone on the same page and ensure their overall success.

“That’s my job — to kind of be the ringmaster of the circus,” she said. “The person that’s a central contact for this big web of people that ultimately puts the show on TV.”

She did it all while sitting in front of a monitor tracking six different cameras, four different video tracks and about 15 different lower thirds. During the duration of the parade, she was talking on the headset to between 10 to 12 people at any given time.

“The show itself is so diverse and dynamic that there is a lot to keep track of,” she added.

Before the parade, which celebrated UF’s 100^th homecoming event, Abolfathi had worn different hats at the UFCJC Innovation News Center, from shadowing all positions to becoming technical director and, more recently, the director of WUFT’s First at Five weekday newscast twice a week. But she had never coordinated a live show.

Contrary to regular news shows where almost everything is scripted and planned for, in a live parade there are countless surprises and things that must be addressed as they happen, she said, like wanting to have on camera a man dressed in a chicken suit or UF President Ben Sasse fist-bumping kids.

“I feel a great sense of pride after the fact knowing that the show went on,” Abolfathi said.

The experiences she has had at UF make her believe a career as a director or producer could serve as a steppingstone to pursuing other passions later in life, such as filmmaking and documentary filmmaking.

“I really enjoy getting to manage a newsroom and kind of trying to organize the chaos,” she said. “It really speaks to a part of my brain.”

Students with different levels of experience and skill sets make the show come to life. During the parade, Nicole Borman, a Journalism sophomore, served as one of seven field reporters.

Although it was her first time and she wasn’t sure what to expect, Borman said she is always enthusiastic and willing to take on challenges. She said improvising as she scouted for people and conducted interviews was key to doing it successfully.

“It was honestly such a fun experience to go live for one of the biggest events of the year,” Borman said.

Borman is currently a radio show host and on-air reporter for Noticias WUFT, a Spanish-language news operation at UFCJC. Her goal is to become a professional news reporter. Taking part in the parade, learning from fellow students and interviewing on the fly seemed like a step in the right direction.

“Having this experience, especially only as a sophomore, was incredible,” she said.

Also on the streets surrounded by chants, orange and blue spirit, local citizens, students and alumni, Reighan Sheppard, a Journalism Sports and Media senior, enjoyed talking and connecting with Gator fans attending the parade.

As someone who dreams of having her own talk show in the future, taking part in the parade was a great experience to put into practice the knowledge she gained at the College.

“My expectations were just do the best that I could do,” Sheppard said. “And it was honestly one of the most fun experiences I’ve been a part of since being here at UF.”

Sheppard currently anchors sports news for WUFT and helps film UF football and volleyball games.

For some students who have participated in its production before, participating in the parade is still a gratifying experience. Chris Will, a Journalism senior, was a field reporter this year, but his first experience with the parade was in 2022, when he was asked to create a sports segment and do a live shot during the parade transmission. This year’s experience was more hectic but still exciting, he said.

“It was just cool to see the community come together,” Will said. “It really does end up making you feel like you are a part of a much larger Gator family.”

Will has wide experience in the CJC that includes serving as news anchor, sports anchor, producer and sports coordinator at ESPN Gainesville. Participating as a field reporter gave him the opportunity to practice what it would be like to approach people on the spot and cover live, breaking news events once he is out of college, he said.

“When you just embrace the fact that it’s live TV and things might happen, you feel a lot more comfortable in that situation.”

Posted: November 27, 2023
Category: College News, Profiles
Tagged as: Chris Will, Homecoming, Nicole Borman, Reighan Sheppard, Sophia Abolfathi, WUFT