Grad Hosts Television and Radio Show at Children’s Hospital

Broadcast Coordinator Anthony Grier hosts an interactive television and radio show at Seacrest Studios in Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

Full Sail grad Anthony Grier sits in front of an audio board at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children’s Seacrest Studios, smiling.

“Imagine being at a hospital and you're a kid and you're not feeling good, but someone comes to your room and they're like, ‘Hey, would you like to talk to Justin Bieber today?’”

That is the reality for patients at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where Full Sail grad Anthony Grier works as a Broadcast Coordinator for Seacrest Studios. At Seacrest Studios, founded by The Ryan Seacrest Foundation, Anthony hosts a closed circuit TV and radio program frequently visited by A-list celebrities and television personalities.

Creative problem-solving is one of the most important skills that Anthony uses. Managing a constantly changing schedule and a revolving door of celebrities can be quite the feat, yet Anthony tackles each day with a smile."

At Full Sail, Anthony enjoyed how his fast-paced recording arts classes allowed him to wear many hats and practice new skills, such as recording voiceovers and balancing sound effects for films. Now, he’s putting on a live show every day, constantly exploring new segments and ways to get the children involved, including fun activities like Mario Kart game shows or album release parties.

The closed circuit television show is broadcast directly to patient rooms throughout the hospital, so the children can easily watch and participate. Sometimes, they’re playing bingo, as they recently did with a group of volunteering Full Sail students in August, and sometimes they’re meeting celebrities such as Simone Biles, Terry Crews, or even Justin Bieber, who participated in the studio’s grand opening with founder Ryan Seacrest. Local weatherman Bryan Karrick also stopped by to host a segment where patients presented the seven-day forecast. All of these events are hosted by Anthony, who runs the audio board and produces the show.

When presented with this unique opportunity, Anthony had to learn who he was as a host. In his search for his on-camera persona, he found that one thing was most important while interacting with the patients and celebrity guests — positivity.

“I try to be that positive person all the time. As soon as I'm walking through the door, it's ‘good morning’ to everyone here. And then when that light turns on saying that you're on-air… I'm locked in,” he explains.

Monday through Friday, patients can call into the broadcast, where they can engage with guests or simply express their own thoughts. If a child isn’t particularly interested in the current topic, Anthony will research their interests and frame the broadcast around that, as engaging with the patients and making them feel seen is the most important part of the show. Though he is always ready to aid a patient when they need it and walk them through their nerves, they have often surprised him with their on-air bravery.

“My favorite part is all these kids have no fear and they're just excited. And they're just like, ‘I want to do this,’ and they're just being a kid… It's great because sometimes I even forget that I'm in a hospital because of that, because of all the positivity that's going on.”

Anthony goes to great efforts to always make sure patients are included no matter their situation.

“[Patients] just watch from the comfort of their room when they can’t come down, and they can use Zoom to call in. Maybe they still want to be seen by this person that's visiting, they want to ask their question. So, we just bring them a tablet so they can still be seen and still be heard and interact and have some fun. Or maybe there needs to be a bedside visit.”

Creative problem-solving is one of the most important skills that Anthony uses. Managing a constantly changing schedule and a revolving door of celebrities can be quite the feat, yet Anthony tackles each day with a smile. He’s looking forward to seeing what fun segments the future holds, and he hopes to work the voiceover skills and other creative tools that he learned at Full Sail into the broadcast.

To current Full Sail students, he says, “Keep dreaming while you’re [at Full Sail] and keep dreaming when you leave. Never stop dreaming.”