Faculty member William Dulaney (seated on motorcycle) is interviewed by History Channel producer Bernie Dudek as WCU student Phillip Chandler (left) holds the microphone boom to capture sound. The taping session took place at the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley. (WCU photo by Ashley T. Evans)

A Western Carolina University faculty member’s research into “outlaw” motorcycle clubs recently led to an opportunity for a group of WCU broadcasting students to gain valuable experience working behind the scenes on documentaries being filmed for The History Channel and Arts & Entertainment Network.

William Dulaney, assistant professor of communication and director of human communication, has conducted extensive research into outlaw motorcycle clubs, and actually spent 10 years riding with one. Dulaney chronicled the process of becoming a member of an outlaw club for his doctoral dissertation at Florida State University, and he also has published articles and book chapters on the subject.

History Channel producer Bernie Dudek interviewed Dulaney on Wednesday, Jan. 23, for a documentary that will be shown on that channel focusing on the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, and footage also was shot for an Arts & Entertainment “Biography” program about the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club.

The all-day taping session at the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley was supervised by Pat Acheson, WCU assistant professor of communication and director of studio operations. Six WCU students who are majoring in communication, with a concentration in broadcasting, took care of lighting and sound on the set, and ran the second camera. Footage shot by the students will be edited into the program, Acheson said.

Some of the participating students are affiliated with TV62, the university’s student-operated cable television unit, and they shot additional footage that will be seen later this spring semester on Channel 62, Acheson said.

Acheson said involvement in projects such as the documentaries provides many benefits to students, in addition to the thrill of working on a program that millions of TV viewers will watch, and seeing their names listed in the program credits.

“Our students are able to make contacts – to begin networking – with professionals who may employ them. Students are able to apply the skills they learn in class to commercial ventures, not just classroom exercises,” Acheson said.

“They learn what real working conditions are like – leaving campus on a cold, foggy morning at 6:45 a.m. to be on location, and on time,” he said.

The History Channel documentary will be broadcast in April, and the A&E Biography program will be shown later in the year.

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Last modified: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008