ENMU alumnus comes to KENW-TV

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ENMU graduate Allan Crawford, who got his bachelor’s degree in broadcast production, is back on campus, this time as producer and director of KENW-TV.

ENMU Communications

Eastern New Mexico University graduate Allan Crawford has returned as the producer and director of KENW-TV.

Crawford, who graduated from ENMU with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast production in 2001, is looking forward to “bridging the gaps between different aspects of production, like the news side and the editing side.”

“We are taking it to the next level. I’m building off of the foundation that is already in place here and applying new technology to it. We’ve got to keep the news viable,” he said.

Crawford is revamping the studio for the student-operated news program News 3 New Mexico. The updated space will include a desk with the News 3 logo for anchors and a sports area, while maintaining the green-screen weather area.

“We want to make it seem like we’ve got a really large studio, even if it’s in a small space,” he said.

The news producer became interested in the film industry during high school, when he worked with the sound engineer in San Jon’s Caprock Amphitheater during productions of “Billy the Kid.”

While searching for a work study job at ENMU, Crawford visited the studio, saw the flashing lights of the soundboard and knew “it was the place for me.”

After graduating from ENMU, he returned to Albuquerque for 12 years. He worked on a variety of television programming, ranging from nightly news to “Breaking Bad,” “Dr. Phil” and “Oprah.” He also worked for several networks, including Discovery Channel, Science Channel and ESPN.

“I worked in the sound department for ‘Breaking Bad.’ I went from doing the behind-the-scenes features that started during season two to being on the actual crew for the last season,” he said.

“It was neat watching the big final scene come together. It took a couple of weeks to film,” he said.

“One of the funniest moments I had on set happened on the final day of filming. I had to find a place to put a microphone during the scene when Bryan (actor Bryan Cranston) was wearing only an apron and underwear. You can guess where it ended up,” he said.

“I helped with an intervention show Dr. Phil had. We set up a sting operation in a house. The whole operation of setting up spy cameras was interesting.

“I did sound and camera for Oprah’s show. I assisted with lighting, too. There were two people doing like eight peoples’ jobs. The show has a certain look and we had to make sure we were conveying that.

“I like that New Mexico offers a lot of variety in the film industry,” said Crawford, who has two children, Emily and Ethan, and a wife, Amanda, who works as a sixth-grade math teacher at Marshall Middle School in Clovis.

“When I learned about the position at ENMU, I felt like it was time to come back and contribute. I want to pass on the practices I have learned to students. It is going great so far.”