By
Doug Cain
It's been a year of change in the fast changing world of Media & technology. A merger of our franchise holder -Time Warner - with the largest internet provider - AOL has taken a year of negotiating to conclude. And the City of Mpls. is finally getting a digital bandwidth infrastructure within city limits. MTN will be adding some new equipment in an effort to keep up. On the technology front - while DVD recording and high definition TV (HDTV) haven't completely moved in - the expectation is they will - with new digital television not far off on the horizon. New formats compete - and have stabilized a bit as we move further into digital video. We are choosing the DVCam format - with a little bit of Mini DV tape as well - to make it "accessible". And we hope to continue to serve the city, our producers and viewers well. Meanwhile - our producers keep producing !
Our most active member - Leon Mitchell -producer of " Community At Work", has spent untold hours producing his weekly program along with training in two assistants, Charlene Crittenden & Martha Sexton. Currently they are taping a weekly public policy forum from Lucille's Kitchen on Plymouth Ave. - which is carried live on KMOJ-FM radio (89.9 FM) every Tuesday at 9:30 am. and - after editing replayed later on MTN . One of the recent shows featured author Randall Robinson - who has written a book on reparations for those who suffered under the long sanctioned institution of slavery both here in the U.S. and abroad. Leon also gained access to a couple of speeches by Nelson Mandela - recent president of South Africa, who passed through town quickly at the end of last year. Watch for that in April. In Dec. 2000, to honor his hard work, Leon Mitchell was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his "excellent contribution to Hawthorne (Mpls.) community... videotaping and editing messages of Hope".
Another long-time producer, Dr. Chris Matteson, has been honored for her many skills and talents. Dr. Matteson started producing cable TV in 1980 at the St. Louis Park facility. Since then she has produced 156 TV programs including "Accent on Art", "Kid's Art" & "International Cafe / Internet Arts". She also composed the theme music for each of the shows, and won awards from ASCAP for these. In addition, a painting by Dr. Matteson - "Zydeco Flowers" - was selected by both the MN. State Arts Board and Governor Jesse and Terry Ventura for their official residence for viewing by the public.
Michael Rand and Keith Richotte didn't have to do much to heighten their "Purple FUNK" - just let the Vikings play off. Still in mourning, the producers have moved on to other sports to forget - but you can commiserate with them over the lost opportunities and future possibilities on Fridays at 7 pm. on channel 33 - or 17.
Alex "Acutus" Grant, in his fourth season of "Body Rock" - a music/dance show with feature segments such as Lake Tahoe underwater, an Al Gore campaign rally, a December blizzard - mixed in with danced video tunes of Acutus's choice. This season promises exclusive footage from the Titanic exhibit, a choreographed pyrotechnics display and a whole lot more. Watch for it on Fridays, 11 pm. Ch. 33/17.
Joshua Margolis followed up his action feature "Joanie Loves Tchotchkes" with a Charlie's Angels spin-off called " Joanie Loves Furbies" - with drama and social commentary spinning around the popular speaking toy. Josh rented the Heights Theater for a premiere showing party last November and both have been running on MTN's channels. Margolis did his editing in the Casablanca edit suite in short chunks and now he's taken the studio class with plans to make a series of programs in that manner.
Dr. Johnny Barker is a new producer who has run nearly the whole gamut of classes in a short time and produced to date six programs of special music. Barker is a composer, pianist, conductor and musical director at St. Peter's A.M.E. church who runs his own conservatory as well. His half-hour program features local composers, poetry, original compositions, and memoirs. His program runs weekly, Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm on channel 58/ or 67.
Saifaldien Harun, a recent immigrant from Sudan who was a journalist for some years in Africa has come to MTN to learn the production skills himself and began with a short class project covering Ramadan and followed it with a look into an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. The latter highlights his fellow students in an ESL class from a myriad of countries, explaining what has brought them here and why they want to learn English in this new land.
I - myself - have spent time editing highlights of the World Eskimo & Indian Olympics in Fairbanks, Alaska. A friend of mine, Jeff Butler works with the St. Croix band of Chippewa in western Wisconsin - and traveled with their young dance group who won the Gold Medal in their category. He video taped the festivities. We have compiled a variety of the competition categories - such as the blanket toss (a communally supported trampoline) and toe kick (a hanging ball tapped by the toe while elevating oneself by one arm), along with traditional forms of song & dance. It is quite an event - and this hour long program will be running on MTN this spring.
Page One: MTN Channels on the Move