Jim Cramer’s ‘Mad Money’ filming Wednesday at IU

Assembly Hall will be enlivened Wednesday, when Jim Cramer and special guest Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and an IU alumnus, will tape the financial investing show “Mad Money” in front of hundreds of IU students as a part of his college tour.\nThe taping marks the culmination of almost a year of planning for the IU Mad Money Club. The Mad Money Club was established last spring to organize the student fans of the show who wanted it to come to IU.\n“Mad Money” airs daily and involves Cramer doling out tips on what stocks to buy and sell.\n“The show makes stocks fun for everyone,” said club treasurer junior Hank Graves. “(Cramer) is so eccentric and, with his energy, makes stocks exciting.”\nAccording to the IU club’s founder, senior Winston Kotzan, the club has 10 core members, but a mailing list of students interested in Cramer includes about 100 more.\n“The club made IU more appealing,” Kotzan said. “I got in contact with the producers of the show, and they wanted something more. So over the summer we made a film pitching IU.”\nThe video, which Kotzan said took the whole summer to produce, is filmed in a style similar to that of the TV show “24,” one of Cramer’s favorites. In the show, there is a message from the dean of the Kelley School of Business, along with different scenes depicting possible filming sites. \nThe scene of Assembly Hall – eventually selected by the show’s producers – had the IU cheerleading squad, the Marching Hundred and a flashback to former men’s basketball coach Bob Knight launching a chair across the court. Cramer often throws chairs on his show. “We also sent in an IU Mad Money Club coffee mug, which appeared on set as a prop,” Kotzan said.\nA month after the mug was shoved in front of the camera, Cramer announced on air that he would be coming to IU. A caller gave a shout-out promoting the IU Mad Money Club, to which Cramer responded by pulling a dollar from his pocket and yelling into the camera.\n“We’re getting Indiana University, you can bet your bottom dollar!” he said. “Which I actually have one here. ... Those guys love this show and I love them!”\nKotzan came up with the idea of having a T-shirt contest in which the winning entry would be worn by every student in attendance. The winning design was a combination of two entries featuring the business school logo and the logo of “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer on the front, and a quote from Cramer on the back saying, “I’m not here just to tell you about stocks. I’m here to teach you to think like Cramer!”\nCramer takes the court at 4 p.m. Wednesday to film “Mad Money” but will also being doing a short segment for another show, “Stop Trading.” The segment will be filmed outside Assembly Hall’s west side and is open to all students with tickets. Tickets were available for free last week.