NEWS - FORMER WIS TV ANCHOR (COLUMBIA SC) TALKS ABOUT ROLE IN 'TRANSFORMERS'

 i knew about this article BEFORE i saw the movie, and i just saw it yesterday, and have no recollection of any scenes where theres any news anchors...except at the beginning, maybe? must not have been noteworthy..lol MICHELLE

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Wednesday, Jun. 29, 2011

Former WIS anchor talks about role in ‘Transformers’

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR.

Craig Melvin, the former WIS-10 anchor, stood in front of the camera for a live shot. But he wasn’t reporting a story for WRC-TV, the Washington, D.C., station he left WIS for in July 2008.
Melvin was on the set of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” acting as a reporter.
“It’s a scene in D.C. and there’s a lot of activity going on behind me,” Melvin said about the shot. “I’m just supposed to be describing the activity.”

Melvin filmed the scene for the movie, which opens in theaters today, about four or five times. Director Michael Bay, known for explosively cinematic displays, sometimes uses people who actually perform the role’s job description.
“He was looking for an actual news guy,” Melvin said. “With that being said, there was an actor on standby in case the news guy was awful.”
And the scene could’ve ended up on the cutting-room floor. (Let us know, because we’re not sure we’ll make it to the theater for this one.)
Melvin has already appeared as a newscaster on the small screen. In “The Event,” NBC’s recently canceled political sci-fi drama, he played an anchor.
“They sent a script and put it in the prompter,” he said. “We did it after the newscast. It was good. I was still in news mood.”
Melvin, 32, is a rising TV star, but not because of his acting. He’s anchored the weekend edition of the “Today Show” and filled in on the cable news network MSNBC.
“It was a tremendous honor to be asked to fill in,” Melvin said. “The most exciting part, my folks back home got to watch.”
Melvin, who served as emcee at the dedication ceremony of the Hootie & The Blowfish monument in October, said he missed Columbia. In October, he’ll marry Lindsay Czarniak, a WRC reporter whom local TV viewers might recognize from TNT’s NASCAR coverage. If you’re house hunting, Melvin’s Rosewood home is on the market, he’d like you to know.
It’s a good time to be in the news business in Washington, D.C., particularly with a presidential election looming and the Republican nomination wide open.
“I feel like what I’m able to do every day is God’s plan,” said Melvin, whose Facebook page long ago reached its friend limit. “I don’t feel like this is it necessarily. As far as news, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to do it.”