By: Frank MacEachern
January 23, 2015
STAMFORD, Conn. — Samuel Alabre, 21, is in his senior year at Dominican College in New York, where he is studying social science. But the 2011 Stamford High graduate who is also interested in music and the entertainment industry joined more than a dozen members of Future 5 for a tour of NBC Universal’s Stamford Media Center on Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t know specifically in the music business, but I just want an insight to see what is out there,” said Alabre, who is a disc jockey and does some music producing.
Alabre is an alumnus of the Stamford-based Future 5 program that seeks to help at-risk students graduate from high school and move on to post-secondary education.
Inside, they were met by Vinnie Fusco, general manager and executive in charge of production, who told them he was in an exciting industry.
“We have a lot of fun here,” Fusco said.
In comments before speaking to the students, Fusco said he was eager to help Future 5 when they approached the center.
“I really like to pay it forward when it comes to helping young men and women achieve their goals and their dreams,” he said. “If I can help a little bit it is a successful day all around for everyone.”
Thomas Agosto, director of students for Future 5, said they try to introduce students to as many different careers as possible. Some of the students are already interested in a career in the entertainment field and jumped at the chance to visit the center, he said.
The students were given a tour of the building, including “The Jerry Springer Show” set.
Senior Director Adam Sorota explained how the set is created and how the show is produced. Among the tidbits were the fact private detectives were used in order to ensure that the show’s guests were who they said they are.
Also, the show uses professionals to help some of the guests who may have have been emotionally affected by what they heard or said in the show.
“It is real, believe it or not,” he said as the students listened raptly.