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School to Community Connection |
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Issue 99 The Media Center and Access Healdsburg: Do It Yourself TV! Did you know that you can start exploring your inner Scorcese right here in Healdsburg? One way to find out is with “Do it Yourself TV” at Access Healdsburg. Yes, right here in Healdsburg, tucked neatly into the Healdsburg High campus, is the Media Center, home of Healdsburg’s very own Access Healdsburg, a digital recording studio and television station for Healdsburg and Northern Sonoma County which broadcasts AH!TV on Comcast Cable channels 26 and 27. The Media Center was built as part of an overall modernization of the high school with the goal of providing a direct link between the high school and the community. Working with local government, the school district and Comcast, Inc., Access Healdsburg has put together a state-of-the-art digital TV studio with two suites available for use. Having a local public access TV station helps to build community by providing a way to share ideas, beliefs, talents, and opinions. Local students can explore filmmaking and television production as possible career choices; nonprofits can promote programs and services using a free media outlet; individuals can use it as a media tool for their civic, creative, political and educational activities; government can broadcast important information and City Council meetings. Access Healdsburg has a broad range of video production equipment including digital editing suites, field camcorders, one mini studio and another full size studio. Access Healdsburg staff and interns provide training and technical advice to allow community members to create their own television programs. Access Healdsburg can provide cost-efficient technical services and customized workshops for nonprofit organizations. Access Healdsburg also manages the cablecast of all programs. The majority of the funding for Access Healdsburg comes from a fee charged to all Comcast customers for Public, Education, Government programming. Access Healdsburg is also supported by local businesses and generous donors who underwrite the activities of the station. The remainder of Access Healdsburg’s operating budget comes from custom video and training services and membership fees. With the equipment and facilities at Access Healdsburg any member can produce a TV show. There are drop-in labs every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday to teach interested users the aesthetics of shooting video, the art of nonlinear editing, how to control Studio B or how to crew a show in Studio A. Any local non-profit organization or Healdsburg resident wishing to use Access Healdsburg’s services can become a member. Membership gives access to training, equipment and facilities along with channel time. The annual fees range from $15 (student or senior citizen) to $60/year (nonprofit organization). To join, visit the facility on the Healdsburg High School campus at 1026 Prince St. off of Powell, or the website at www.ahtv.org, or call 473-0888. Watch Access Healdsburg on Comcast channels 26 and 27 or drop by to find your inner filmmaker! By Julie Conklin, HUSD Communications Committee
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