On a particularly hot Thursday afternoon, Oct. 20, dozens of cameras, student crew members and performers gathered on Santa Monica College’s Main Campus quad. A line of students stretched across the walkway, waiting for a chance to sit down with talk show host and first-semester SMC student John Kerwin for his latest project, “Kerwin at SMC: Live on the Quad.”
Kerwin, a celebrity interviewer, host of “The John Kerwin Show,” is also the author of “Talk Big: How to Interview Celebrities and Make Them Love You!.” Currently taking Professor Gail Fetzer's Media 46 class, Kerwin took a class production assignment and turned it into a full-scale campus production.
Students approached crew members to sign up for interviews, many of them experiencing their first conversation with a professional talk show host. Kerwin, who has interviewed celebrities such as Olivia Rodrigo, Steve Wozniak and Dick Cavett, said bringing his work to SMC offers something different.
“It’s the authenticity… it’s unprepared, and it’s unplanned, anything can happen,” Kerwin said.
Despite the long lines and eager participants, many students had not heard about the event until they came across the production on campus. Some also questioned how the event was advertised.
Second-year SMC students Ariana Sulaimankhil and Luna Gomez happened to wander into the production area while walking to their afternoon classes. When asked whether the event could have been advertised better, Sulaimankhil pointed to a flyer used to promote it.
“Oh yeah, we didn’t even know about the event, and then you have this AI generated flyer with some information that’s just like ‘Hey!’” she said.
The flyer, which featured AI-generated material, was printed on copy paper and distributed across SMC campuses.
“I don’t love it, I’m not really a fan of generative AI,” Gomez said.
Despite their concerns about the promotion, Sulaimankhil enjoyed her conversation with Kerwin. She said his interest in her life as a student made the interview feel natural.
“He asked about my major, then slowly we talked about politics, debate; I just loved the way he interviewed, it didn’t feel like a set,” she said.
SMC meteorology major Mathias Ramirez, Kerwin’s first interviewee, also described the host as personable and easy to talk to.Ramirez said the conversation began casually, with Kerwin introducing him to the band performing at the event.
“He talked about the band, he told me they were called Meowls,” Ramirez said.
As the conversation continued, Kerwin gave Ramirez room to speak freely while guiding the discussion with questions about his background and academic interests.
“He asked me about my origin, why I liked my major, and how I’m devoting my life to it.”
Like Sulaimankhil and Gomez, Ramirez hadn't known about the event before seeing the camera crew on campus. After asking the crew what was happening, he was invited to participate.
Behind the cameras, students from Media 46 and Media 48 helped bring the production together. Fetzer praised both Kerwin’s initiative and the students who stepped up to support the project.
“In the beginning of the semester people are unsure about how it operates, but once they see how it's done and they get their hands on it's like driving a car!” Fetzer said.
For Kerwin, working alongside a younger generation has also shaped the message behind the project. He hopes to highlight students’ and everyday people’s successes, passions and dedication, and challenge the stereotype that Gen Z is lazy or unmotivated.
Kerwin said, “It’s all bullshit, and that's really what I want to get to, that is not the case! If you're on your phone and you're absorbed in it, you're ruling the world with that phone. You’re doing business, you have social contacts, it’s ridiculous!”