Weekly Wrap-up (with a Shout Out)

Being closed Monday for Patriot's Day was really nice and our staff took full advantage of the three day weekend to travel to all kinds of exotic places like NYC, New Jersey, and, of course, a goat farm in Shelburne Falls.

We hit the ground running on Tuesday morning, however, with Community Action's Mediation & Training Collaborative (TMTC) beginning an almost day-long shoot in our studio. Thanks to a grant, they were able to hire two of our independent producers (Jimmie Bailey & Drew Hutchison) to set up the technical aspects of the production and run cameras. Drew & Jimmie helped the shoot to proceed smoothly and, as Betsey Corner of TMTC said, "they were worth every penny".

On Wednesday, our studio was again in use most of the day---this time by three separate shoots and a tour. In the morning, we recorded a video statement, for our website, by one of the candidates in Greenfield's upcoming election (Don't forget to vote June 8, 2010!). After lunch, a group from Ludlow Public Access Television (LPTV) in Vermont stopped by to check out our facilities. They are about to move into a new space and were visiting several nearby stations to get ideas for their architect to use in the planning and renovation process. Not long after they left, Mayor Martin and Sandy Shields (Director of Greenfield's DPW) came in to tape a new "Mayor's Memo" focusing on Greenfield's Solar Farm project. When they had finished, Philippe and Alicia spent the rest of the afternoon setting up for the Town Council Meeting which was broadcast live from our studio that evening.

Thanks to a respite on Thursday, Alicia finally had time to evict most of the dustbunnies from our studio. Her thorough sweeping job means that when the crews for "Silly Wizard" and "Kid Trivia" come in to record shows this afternoon their feet will not be producing crunching sounds as they walk across the floor. Yay!

In other news, "Valley Homegrown" director Richard Roy is participating in the World T'ai-Chi and Qigong Day Celebration here in Greenfield this weekend. A group meditation for world peace and awareness of T'ai-Chi and Qigong will be held Saturday, April 24th, from 10AM to 11:30AM at Beacon Field. The event, which is sponsored by J. R. Roy Martial Arts Studio & Dial/Self, will be held rain or shine. It's free and Richard hopes that he'll see many of you there.

Busy Week for Producing Content

Our field equipment (mostly the new HD cameras and Manfrotto tripods, but also some microphones, lighting equipment, and headsets) got a lot of use this week. The projects they were checked out for ran the gamut from a world record attempt to a local fashion show and we hope we'll be able to share them with you soon.

In the office, several organizations finished editing their programs including the Greenfield YMCA, The Mediation & Training Collaborative, and Baystate Franklin Medical Center. The YMCA's Sustaining Campaign show will premiere on Friday, April 23rd at 8PM.

Finally, our studio was graced with some special guests when Jonathan Mark brought a crew in on Tuesday afternoon to shoot an interview with Star Wars Defense Program whistleblower Robert Bowman and Drew Hutchison produced a two-part "Local Bias" with Garry L. Earles on the topic of bullying. The first of the two parts will air on Wednesday, April 21 at 5:30PM.

You can check our schedule or keep reading this blog to find out when all of this great new content will air.

P.S. Between Noon and 4PM today all of our editing PCs were being used by producers and about 75% of our field equipment will be checked out over this long weekend so I'm sure we'll be seeing even more pieces soon.