This article is written with you in mind, you, the community access television producer. Whether you film in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, Queens or Staten Island, if you are studying television production or if you are in the television production business at a community access studio, you will find some helpful hints inside this article. This article is about community access television production, in general, not specifically about any particular studio or station. kang te reja
This topic, the studio is a very broad topic. I will try to tell you as much about the studio that I can pack into this short article. First I will note that all studios are different. So this description is a description of some studios and in some cases, most studios for community access television.
The Building: Generally the buildings that house these community access studios are very secure. There are uniformed security guards in most of the buildings, and some have security downstairs and upstairs. There are sign-in books downstairs and upstairs, so there is double security. In the Staten Island community access building, the surrounding area of the building is secure in that there is a linked fence around the parking lot/entrance and a security guard right at the entrance to the parking lot. In the Brooklyn building, there is no parking lot (and sometimes parking can be near impossible). The area is secure in the respect that there is no parking and no standing -on the entire block of the building. There are no meters and no suggestions that anyone need park anywhere near the building. There are patrolling police officers in the neighborhood (It is a high-traffic -both vehicle and pedestrian- area). As always, the Manhattan building is in a busy part of Manhattan, goes without saying that parking there is probably near impossible unless you want to pay rent for your car. Most ideal situations in all three of the studios is to use public transportation, bike, bus or walk to the studios. (The Staten Island building is most accessible by automobile). Once inside the building, no matter what your "outside" life or personality is like, producers, staff, administration and interns expect respect and dignity. If you are drunk, high or in a particularly obnoxious aggressive mood, try and wait until you are feeling better before you approach the studio building. This will save you embarrassment and possibly suspension from the services of the community access studios.
Access: Most of the buildings have elevators and stairways to use to gain access to the studios. Most of the buildings have dressing rooms and rest rooms, and some have water coolers, cups and conference rooms. (Check with each individual studio to find out more details). There are certain rules and regulations that all visitors and producers must abide by. These are general courteous rules (that I have mentioned in some of my other articles). This is a place of business, so treat it that way. Generally there is no smoking and no drinking inside the buildings. Generally there are no animals permitted inside the buildings. If you need special permission to bring animals inside, ask Administration ahead of time. Generally, the law permits seeing-eye dogs or dogs needed due to physical disabilities,but it would be nice if you let people know -ahead of time -that you are bringing these into the building. The reason you need to alert staff is because sometimes staff changes and there might be new people on who have not yet learned policy. Another reason to alert is because if you need something special -for the animal , or special accommodations, then staff will know about this ahead of time. Almost everything will be done to accommodate you when you put reasonable requests in to Administration. Of course it goes without saying that most likely you will not receive permission to do anything dangerous inside the building (i.e. to bring in starving, growling pit bulls -that is just an example). So always ask permission when you need to do something that is generally against the building or studio policy.
Timing: Each studio, and each Administration has their own rules about timing. Follow these rules and you should have no troubles when producing your own shows. (For example, the Brooklyn and Manhattan studios have regulations about how long they will "hold" the studio for you if you do not show up at your appointed time. You might lose the spot for your show if you are too late. There are other timing rules about how far in advance you can reserve the studio for your own use, and other timing regulations that state when you must vacate the studio after your production is over. For complete details, see the studios manuals and or ask Administration what the latest rules are or if the manual has been changed in any way. Do not take anyone's work for timing or other issues. In the past, producers have been wrong with information, so take it straight from the manual or from Administration's word.
Availability: Most times, the studio is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. That means that if you want to reserve for a particular time or date, you need to arrive at the studio in well advance of that time or date to reserve the studio. Do not wait until the last minute. You will not have your spot for the time that you want it. Most times after seven P.M. are hard to reserve. If you want this time, you need to prepare to be at the studio well in advance of your reservation date. Check with your own studio for full details. Sometimes the easiest time to reserve might be o. n a Saturday or Sunday morning, but this is usually the hardest time to recruit producers to help on those shows. Nothing is impossible, so do not be dismayed. These are just examples. Arrive at your own studio to receive full details of what your studio expects. Never believe hearsay; just check it out for yourself.
The Studio Area: This area is for the actual filming of the show. The studio area (depending on which studio you are in) is an area that might have a small stage. Some studios have carpeted platforms that you can use. Some studios have pianos and almost all have the set of professional lights -in the ceiling area, and lights on light stands. Most have gels, mic stands and many different kinds of microphones. The Brooklyn studio has lavalieres, wireless microphones, boom mic stands, a large variety of light stands, and tons of other equipment for your show. The studio also has robotics cameras and regular studio cameras. If you find any equipment needing repair, always mention it to the staff or anyone working in the Public Equipment room. If you are given broken or rough equipment for your show, report that to Public Equipment and ask if there is a replacement for that. Do not plug any of your own equipment into the wall boards. These wall boards are for the studio equipment not for outsiders' use or for your own equipment. If you want to use your own equipment in the studio, first you need to report that you are bringing it inside the studio (to the security guard at the desk). He or she will record the serial number, model number and other information into the security log book. Then if you need to connect it anywhere, you cannot do that without permission from Public Equipment. The studio area is for studio shows, and it is not for field shows, so only qualified, certified studio producers will "count" towards your producer count to enter the studio. (Each time you do a show, you are required to have a certain number of certified producers with you or you will not be allowed inside the studio area). Only studio producers count towards this number of producers. Your family members can work as producers on your show after they have passed the courses that are for studio producers. Once they become officially certified you can have them work on your shows. Before that time, they are permitted in the studio only as hosts, guests, talent, performers, speakers, audiences or co-hosts. Your family or friends are not permitted to handle any equipment at all until they are officially certified producers.
Trash, Garbage & Recycling: It is to your advantage to take all of your trash, garbage and recycling out of the studio and control room areas. (No food or drink is permitted inside these areas). If you see trash in there when you arrive, clean it up and remember that you need to leave the areas clean for the next producers. No one wants to use a dirty studio. Most of our professional producers have consideration for the other producers and they do clean up. If you are one that leaves trash around; change your habits at least while you are at the studio. The way we producers succeed in business is by being courteous, respectful, reasonable and clean in all of our productions.
Hierarchy and Rank: We are in America here, so a good thing to remember is that you are no better than any other producer in the studio. You are a producer, they are producers. If you think that you have higher rank in community access just because you have produced hundreds of shows or because you are at the studio for years, then you have a mistaken idea. What you do have is more experience, that is all. So treat all producers with the same respect. Treat new producers with the same respect that you treat seasoned producers. We are all of the same rank, even if we are not all of the same experience. Everyone can learn from someone and most everyone can learn something from somebody else. You can learn from new producers as much as you can learn from a seasoned producer. it is all in the attitude and the attention that you give to your work. If you meet a producer who appears bigger than life, walk the other way and work with producers who are your equals. When you meet professional producers, they will treat you with respect, no matter how long you have been with the studio or in the business. Only egotists will look down on the newer producers, and those are the ones that you need to avoid if you want to be happy and successful in your productions. Of course, that is your own choice; everyone is an individual, and if you enjoy working with egotists that too is your own choice.
Responsibility: As the Executive Producer of the show, you are completely responsible for all equipment. You sign for it and you stick to your agreement. Therefore this is a great reason to ask only responsible producers to help out on the show. They will be handling the equipment, so recruit producers carefully.
ASK; Don't Tell: This is probably some of the best advice that anyone can give you while you are in television production. Ask people, do not tell them. Ask them how you can help. Do not tell them what to do. You can offer suggestions or you can say, "This is the way I do it, you make your own choices". By asking and not telling people what to do, you can develop better relationships with producers, staff and interns. No one wants to be told what to do as if they are a child or as if they do not know anything. Put yourself in their place. So, ask don't tell (and even this is a suggestion to you). Of course, you will make your own choices when it comes to your own productions. If you are close friends with someone, perhaps you might tell them something, but even then, your words and ideas are more accepted or listened to if you just put them across as ideas or suggestions not as demands or orders. One way to really turn people off is to type in all capital letters as if you are more important than they are (You come across like that when you type complete sentences or titles in capital letters). People can see your type; they can read your type so why shout at them? Notice the difference in how you get someone's attention? See what it looks like? It is like, HEY YOU MUST READ THIS! Some people feel that bold or italics are shouting also. The key here is to use the bold for one single word or for topic leads or titles (as I use the bold in this article at the head of each section. I bold the first words so the reader can skim the article and read first what he or she wants to read. Then the reader can go back and read the rest of the article. When people type in all caps, they are coming across as quite bossy and sometimes even inconsiderate of others. And when anyone comes across like that it is dull, boring, and most times uninteresting because humans want to be treated as equals. And producers are human too. (Read any book at all about blogging or groups or online conversation and you will read the same thing. Caps are shouting and there is no need to shout at anyone at all. If you use caps for one single word, that is a little different. But you can use bold for emphasis or a different font for emphasis or even quotation marks for emphasis
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