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Monrovia Weekly May 03, 2016
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Community Media of the Foothills, the non-profit that runs the KGEM studio has produced over 80 volunteer shows this year. – Courtesy photo
Hello and welcome back to KGEM Corner, where we discuss all things community television in our wonderful City of Monrovia.
Community television is often called public access, because it has been put in place to allow residents access to the cable broadcast so they can volunteer to produce their own television shows about themselves, things that interest them and things of interest in our local community.
Community Media of the Foothills, our non-profit that runs the KGEM studio has produced over 80 volunteer shows this year. Sometimes those shows are produced by other non-profits, most times by residents.
So what is the process of becoming a public access producer? Well, first you need to have an idea. For example, recently a new producer came in with the idea to showcase his neighborhood for consideration as a new historic district. Great idea for a show!
So step one is to come in for an orientation. Our staff will give an hour overview of the studio and policies. Then the producer is eligible to host a show in our studio. This would require having some on camera talent to host it and also to have something to say. Our staff does a live taping of the show, making things pretty easy for you.
As for our producer interested in a historic district, well he may want to go “in the field” and shoot “b-roll,” or extra footage, to showcase historic homes. So he will make an appointment for another few hour course to get certified with one of our cameras for checkout. Or, these days he could even use his cell phone.
His show will not end there. He needs to edit it into something. He may have edit software at home or he can come to the studio where we have edit computers to use. Our staff can teach the basics of the programs and we find even people with no experience can learn basic editing if they put their mind to it in a few weeks.
So whether our new producer decided to sit down in studio and host a talk show or shoot around town, he has a place to make a show a reality.
Most of the time, the volunteer resident producers we work with started with no experience. Several times they have gone off and made careers with what they learned at KGEM. A little imagination and something to say goes a long way.
To see what those producers experiences are, check out the new volunteer video. Just Google “The KGEM Story,” go to foothillsmedia.org, or even better, call us at (626) 357-4974 or come by the studio at 847 E. Olive and add your voice.
