A longtime member of campus improv comedy group the Lighted Fools, Brian Keller ’18 has always been passionate about making people laugh—and now, thanks to a production assistantship with the Glass Entertainment Group, the biology major and psychology and environmental studies double minor has the chance to unleash his wit upon a far wider audience.
“I really love biology and environmental studies and want what I learned from those courses to influence my future work,” Keller says, “but I was able to realize I didn’t love lab work as much as I loved the creative writing I was doing through sketch comedy and in my [English] courses. I appreciate the support I received at Haverford for pursuing something unrelated to my major.”
That support includes the Center for Career and Professional Advising (CCPA), which held the career fair at which Keller found an internship with Glass Entertainment Group, which, in turn, led to his current job.
“I wanted to get a start in the television industry,” he says, “so I was looking for any opportunity to get involved with that, particularly on the writing side of things.”
Keller began his job less than a month after graduating and is eager to learn the ins and outs of the entertainment industry. There’s no better place to do it than at Glass, a Philadelphia-based production company headed by six-time Emmy Award-winner (and the first woman to be the solo host of a nationally syndicated news show) Nancy Glass. Credited with congressional campaign videos, reality TV shows, true crime documentaries, educational miniseries, public service announcements, promotional shorts, and corporate commercials, the company boasts an extraordinarily well-rounded portfolio, as well as past collaborations with Animal Planet, PBS, E!, TLC, CNN, Oxygen, History, and the Food Network.
“So far, I’ve done a lot of true crime research and writing summaries, as well as helping with video pitches, or ‘sizzles,’ and written treatments, generating show ideas, and keeping up-to-date on current events and pop culture for inspiration,” Keller says. “There’s a lot to learn, but it’s nice to start getting involved so quickly.”
And his experience with the sciences has proved unexpectedly useful.
“I think my psych courses, especially, really helped with my perception and understanding of things and with working with people,” says Keller. “For things like figuring out what people like and what they’ll be turned off by when it comes to television, it’s been really valuable.”
“Summer Centered” is a series exploring our students’ Center-funded summer work.
Photo: Lighted Fools alumnus Brian Keller ’18 is continuing to flex his funny bone at production company Glass Entertainment Group post-graduation.