As I sit along the edge of Nicollet Island in the warm autumn sun - which this year seems to just go on & on - surrounded by crunchy leaves and a gusty breeze ; there on the edge of the upper ledge of St. Anthony Falls rests a tangled clump of tree trunks & limbs. As the river keeps flowing downstream it remains perched in defiance, its roots exposed to the elements. I think of all the channels of television - of all the hours of programs streaming by - how many programs stand out - revealing something special for one viewer each day ? How many resonating moments perch in our hearts and minds for the moment as true ? Isn't that why we produce our own images ? To find something true and replicate it ? Isn't that the wonder of communication ? Connecting to an audience - getting noticed and hearing back. Here at MTN - individuals and groups come together to create a message - a document - a piece of a dream. Scaled to a do-able size. My job here will be to report on some of these projects - these efforts to communicate.
Some productions have been garnering kudos from "the press!" "Rock and Roll Girl"- an offshoot production from some of the crew and actors of the long-running "Prima-Donns" show, received a kick-off tribute from the mayor of Mpls. along with much anticipation and cooperation. A heavy shooting schedule through August has led to initial edits and a January 28, 2000 premiere at First Avenue nightclub where some of the scenes took place. Maureen O'Brien, with production support from Mark Engebretson, has given some production tips (see page 6 )which we pass on to assist others who plan to tape larger efforts. "Rock and Roll Girl" will show up on MTN as a series of 10 episodes involving a cast of characters who were scripted, casted, rehearsed and finally taped and edited into their current form.
Rachel Joyce has started regular production of a cooking series, called "Playing with Fire," featuring menu favorites of local and regional musicians who cook them and finish up with a meal. This show too has elicited quite a bit of publicity. At press time it was featured on the local (KMSP) entertainment program "The Buzz" and received many smaller notices in mainstream press. Watch it on Weds. nights at 8:30 pm (Ch. 33). Upcoming shows feature Esther Godinez, The HoneyDogs, Pablo, Autonomous, and All the Pretty Horses. Jeff Henneman returns to regular production of his fun-loving show "Captain Ringo Saturn" complete with computer enhancements and animation. He currently won a first place tie with "Viva and Jerry's Country Music Videos" as favorite MTN show, in an albeit quite unscientific survey, during our recent Member's Forum - community meeting. Check out his website - linked thru MTN.
Some other efforts appearing around our channel space this fall and winter include those of Luis Sanchez, who starred as "Dr. Four Eyes" in the short "20/20 Vision," by Chris Newberry, with the Honorable Governor Jesse Ventura in a marriage counselor role. Sanchez - hailing from Venezuela, has been begun shooting and editing a new series which will profile positive Latinos in the Twin Cities. This show is called "Huellas" (or footprints) and started off with comedian Rafi Perales and a conversation (in Spanish) with Cuban exile and long-time local Latin music producer Victor Valens. An upcoming show features Rafael Varela - long-time producer of a highly informative "Few Moments with Our Latin Friends" radio program on KFAI-FM. Luis plans to pursue more cultural programming with a sacred and folk choral group "Schola Cantorum de Caracas" and further portraits in the future.
Jeff Robinson has made great strides this year also - having assisted Leon Mitchell (see below), Kevin Jenkins & Lemmy 'O - among other access events all year long. Now he is starting his own series "Where U At?" - involving performance artists in the Twin Cities' multiple creative communities. He will be covering a rotating monthly collective of artists in an open stage setting called "Initiation" and an alternative arts school for training in the music industry called "Studio B". Speaking of Studio B - MTN's studio B is the site for monthly interviews with host, Brother Shane of "Community at Work" fame. Producer Leon Mitchell deserves the Persistance Award - continuing his weekly series almost single handedly. He is a mainstay around here - day after day, day in and day out. If he isn't carrying out two cameras to cover the bi-weekly conversations at Lucillešs Kitchen on Plymouth Ave. he is here rotating through the edit suites getting a handle on all the accumulated messages he has to process each week. Leon was out covering Kwaanza festivities the last week of 1999 for a second year in a row. Watch his results at 5 pm. Wednesdays on Ch. 32. Another positive development has been the collaboration of the Ebenezer and Glendale congregations' special studio class with Leon in his studio efforts. There's no replacement for experience.
A couple recent graduates of the Beginning Video class - Keith Richotte and Mike Rand have started a weekly series concerning a major interest of theirs - the Minnesota Vikings ! The show is called "Purple Funk" and features a quarter by quarter analysis of each week's local NFL franchise competition. Watch as the Vikings try to extend their season through the playoffs. My favorite part of the show is the creative use of our Amiga titling program to diagram important plays. Listen for the shrill whistle between periods also. A half hour of critical fun - replaying the plays of the previous week's game on Friday night ch. 33 at 7 pm.
After the recent Member's Forum meeting, valuable suggestions led to a new producer-to-producer communication bulletin board. Feel free to request assistance for your productions and pass suggestions on to one another through this old fashioned message system- nicknamed "The Connection." Another outgrowth is a move of the former Jupiter edit suite downstairs - to "Star". This "new" system is controlled by the Ami-Link edit controller - so it is an upgrade in quality for one of our older edit rooms. We are offering free training classes in it for our current beginning edit certified users - come on in and sign up for the one hour workshop.
And finally, at the end of '99, MTN's Van 2 has been out & busy; covering the two day Hmong New Year in downtown St. Paul over Thanksgiving weekend and documenting the City Children's Nutcracker at the State Theater again this year. Upcoming - staffer Todd Wardrope - after multiple projects submitted while working nearly full time - is kicking off a major new production - holding auditions for a scripted horror drama entitled "Nuada", to be shot this winter. His recently completed "Accessolonia" - mentioned elsewhere in the MONITOR - is running on our channels (32, 33 & 58, all A side in MPLS. only). Lots to watch, outside the major networks - locally. Stay tuned and come on in to make your own !!
Page One: MTN At the Millenium