One interesting thing that happened at our office.

On Thursday morning, the crews for "Local Bias" and "Last Stop, Bingville" arrived at our studio for their shoots. They were joined by Robert Tobey, host of "Bread & Roses" on Valley Free Radio down in Northampton. Robert was here to observe part of the shoots and to pick the brain of "Local Bias" host/producer, and WMCB Board member, Drew Hutchison. "Bread & Roses" will, hopefully, soon be televised on both Northampton Community Television (NCTV) & GCTV. Drew, along with our Technical Director---Scott, acted as great sources of advice and encouragement. For those of you unfamiliar with Robert Tobey, he is also a photographer and writer for the Valley Advocate. I caught him snapping some photos of us working and it made me smile. ---Alicia

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING CANCELLED

The Greenfield School Committee Meeting scheduled for this Thursday, September 25th, has been CANCELLED.

The next scheduled meeting will take place on Thursday, October 9th at 6PM.

The Greenfield Town Council Meeting will go on as scheduled tonight, September 24th at 7PM.

Change in School Committee Meeting Time

The School Committee Meeting this Thursday, September 25th, will begin at 7:30PM, not 6PM, due to the school open houses taking place that evening. Please join us in our studios for this important meeting.

Arrrrgh! It's National Talk Like A Pirate Day!

New series premieres tonight on GCTV!

"Last Stop, Bingville" is a brand new, half hour, interview series hosted by Mark Wisnewski and produced by Drew Hutchison. The inagural show, at 8PM tonight, features comedian Lenny Zarcone. Be sure to tune in, you never know what Lenny will say or do next! Future episodes will feature interviews with local personalities and include questions about local perspectives on national issues.

Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage at GCTV tonight!

This just in from Homegrown producer Travis Roy: Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage will be joining Mark Schwaber and
Sara Gomes to perform an acoustic set tonight on Homegrown. We don't
get genuine rock stars in the studio that often, so please pass the
word along to any hard rock fans you may know.

Join us at 6:45PM (Homegrown goes out live at 7PM) in our studio (393 Main Street, 3rd Floor).

Greenfield Public Meeting News!

Some of you may not be aware that the Greenfield School Committee has recently joined the Greenfield Town Council, holding their meetings in our studio. This allows everyone to meet in a comfortable, climate-controlled, wheelchair accessible space that enables speakers to be heard by the audience. The school committee meets the second and fourth Thursdays (6PM), and the town council meets the third Wednesday*(7PM), of each month here at 393 Main Street, 3rd Floor, in the heart of downtown. Our studios are located in the same building as the Town Crier and the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and there is plenty of parking. On street parking is free after 6PM and the library parking lot is right across the street. If you need further information, simply call us at 413-774-4288. Please join us in person for these important meetings!

*September 24th NOT September 17th.

Franklin County Fair Parade Info.

We hope you enjoyed our live coverage of the 2008 Fair Parade on Thursday evening. If you missed it, you can catch it again today at 1:30PM, 12AM on Monday, and 6PM on Tuesday. You can also purchase a DVD copy from us ($16) to enjoy at home or come into our office to watch it for free. In addition, at 2PM on Monday you can catch the archival footage of the 1957 Franklin County Fair.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made our 2008 Fair Parade coverage possible: Camera Operators Jimmie Bailey, Shawn Cromack, & Sam Pyfrom; Hosts Russ Brown & Tom Dillon; Koch's Automotive Incorporated (413-773-9043) which donated the use of a flatbed tow truck with a driver; and all the people who did prep work or got us information we needed in the two weeks leading up to the parade.

We would also like to extend a hearty thank you to the following businesses and community members whose financial support enabled us to broadcast live from the parade route.

New Vlog Post!

Tim & Jimmie's videos are getting lonely!

Won't you please send them some friends? To submit your video, send an email to mail@gctv.org, call 413-774-4288, or drop a DVD off at our office (393 Main Street). Thanks!

In the meantime, here's another great mini-documentary from Tim.

Let's Talk!

I've enabled comments on this blog. (Hopefully you are seeing a comments button on the bottom of this post!) Please let me know what you think and if you have ideas for future posts. Thanks! ---Alicia

Producer Blogs & Youtube Channels

Now that we have a thriving blog, and our own Youtube Channel, we invite you to do the same. It's a great way for viewers to get behind-the-scenes info. about your projects. To start your own blog go to www.blogger.com and click on the "create your blog now" arrow. Then follow the directions to start your own blog. Once you have a blog, or if you already have one, e-mail (mail@gctv.org) or call (774-4288) the office with your blog address. We will soon be rolling out a new "Links" page on www.gctv.org that will include links to our producers' blogs.

For those of you who would also like your videos or show clips online, Youtube.com is your website. Simply go to www.youtube.com and click on "Sign Up" in the upper right hand corner. Once you have a Youtube account you will be able to upload short videos. You can even create a channel for your primary show. Check out Homegrown's channel as a great example. You can link your Youtube channel to your blog and, again, send us a link to the video so we can add it to our Youtube channel's favorites. We might even feature it on this blog!

Both Blogger & Youtube have good help sections and are fairly easy to use. Have fun!---Alicia

Producers, a new resource shelf for you!

As part of our ongoing office reorganization we have put all the reference materials you might need together in one place. The next time you are in our editing suite and looking for a phone book, music, instruction manuals, or a dictionary, head into the copier room. The top shelf of the bookcase in there is now our Producer Resource Shelf and even has a pair of headphones for use around the office.

Do You Have An Idea For A Show?

Have you ever wondered how GCTV works? If so, then this blog post is for you!

Hobbyists, aspiring actors/directors, craftspeople, concerned citizens---are you passionate about something and want to share your interest with others? Business owners, would you like a free way to reach potential customers? Groups, do you have an event coming up and want to get it on TV? Producing a TV show can be a great way to achieve these goals and it’s easy.

Shows can be filmed here in our studio (it takes about half an hour to train you on the cameras, audio, lighting, & directing) where they will be captured digitally or you can check out one of our very portable field cameras (just 5 to 15 minutes of training for the basics) and shoot your show on location (at your home, restaurant, business, community event, etc.).

Content is all up to you. Legally, your only restrictions are that your show can’t contain any calls to action (“buy my product”, “visit my store tomorrow”, etc.), political candidates can’t be on within 15 days of an election unless the show is a public debate to which all candidates have been invited, and you can’t sell the DVD of your show. You can, however, give your show away, post it on your Myspace or Youtube, or use it as an audition tape.

All of our equipment is free to use and our staff is here to help you every step of the way. Our field cameras record onto mini DVs, which can be purchased from us for $6 each. Once your program is finished, you will receive one free DVD of it. Additional copies can be purchased from us for $6 or less (depending on whether or not you supply the DVDs and duplicate them yourself).

To get started on your show simply give us a call at 413-774-4288 to reserve training or studio time.

Check out our Youtube channel!

www.youtube.com/greenfieldctv

Currently our Youtube channel contains our first VLOG post, Tim Lindop's "Gliders", Jimmie Bailey's "Cider Day", "Local Bias" clips, and "Homegrown" clips. If you are one of our local producers and you have videos that you would like posted on our Youtube channel simply drop us an email or give us a call! ---Alicia