McCall Jessica
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Jessica McCall -BTS with Jess "Anything arts and craft related I always enjoyed...."
Born in Williamstown, Jess attended Tanunda Primary School before moving on to Nuriootpa High School. These days Gawler is her home. At school she enjoyed arts and crafts, creating figures out of clay, but she also had a bit of a flair for literature with writing stories and creative literature. Fresh out of school she attended a course at University of South Australia that would help recent school graduates figure out what they want to do and give them some direction. "I knew I wanted to do journalism and TV presenting, but I hadn't been able to pin it down..."
Having a bit of a creative side, she was always heading towards (or being told to be) a career in visuals arts. She would even enter various pieces of art into the Gawler Show and take out many best exhibits. Always supported by her friends and family, it did look like painting and drawing would have been a great occupation for her, but she knew that it just wouldn't make her happy. Doing some drama in school and some extra curricular drama outside of school made her comfortable being in front of people, especially outside of school. It even led to her becoming a children's entertainer. "I just sent them an email on the off chance they might need someone.... and they did!"
The Gawler Show was postponed in 2021 to November. On a whim, Jess made contact with them to see if they needed someone. Whilst they already had an MC it was decided that Jess would also co-host the show. She's hosted every Gawler Show since. You may have even caught her Mc'ing at the Barossa Christmas Parade, Villawood Gawler Christmas Parade 2023, Gawler Christmas Carols, and even the recent Let's Go Caravan and Camping Show! The role of an MC at most of these types of events is to announce guests, give the public information and just general broadcasting of the event all with a mic and loudspeaker/PA. "The real turning point was the Gawler Show..." All of these experiences have led to Jess getting her own TV show called BTS with Jess on Channel 44. Studying her degree in broadcast journalism and working on her show as well as her other commitments has been a real challenge. But BTS With Jess (behind the scenes) has finally launched this month. Her time with the Gawler show made her realise that presenting and having her own TV show was really what she wanted to do. "I had an idea of the type of show I wanted to create" Jess reached out to Channel 44 and pitched her idea for a show. From there it was a case of meeting with Channel 44, taking on their feedback, creating a pilot episode and showcasing it to them. They were really impressed! BTS with Jess is all about the arts and youth. The goal of the show is to really connect with and inspire young people to take up a career, hobby, or activity that inspires them. Those young people who don't consider themselves particularly creative or motivated or able to achieve an art hobby will be really encouraged by the message from this show. Jess isn't just the face behind the show. She presents, produces, edits, directs, promotes, basically she does everything except create some of the graphics and film the show itself (because how could she?). A typical day of filming (sometimes back to back at different locations) will involve catching up with the camera crew, going to the location (all over Adelaide), filming as much as they get and then getting everything ready to edit at a later date. From initial pitch of her show to Channel 44, its been 18 months, and now its finally released. "The University of South Australia and Channel 44 have been so supportive. I'm still pinching myself I have my own TV show!" As well as some work with the Gawler Youth and Relay For Life through Cancer Council SA Jess really doesn't have much time for anything else!
BTS with Jess premiered on Channel 44 on Monday 8th of April. You can catch her show on Mondays at 7:30pm, with repeats at: Wednesday - 3:30pm Thursday - 8pm Fridays - 10:30am It will also air on CTV+ (the community tv streaming app) as well as her own YoutTube Channel - btswithjess
First shared on Gawler in Photographs ‘Humans of Gawler’ series 10 April 2024.
Photographs by Daniel James Down. Please click here to visit the Gawler in Photographs Facebook page.
Gawler History Team Inc thanks Daniel James Down (Gawler in Photographs) and the subjects of ‘Humans of Gawler’ for allowing us to preserve their profiles and photographs for future generations of Gawlerites to enjoy.
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