ELCAT continues to offer video production experiences for students

Date: 10/2/2014

EAST LONGMEADOW – About a year and a half ago, East Longmeadow Community Access Television (ELCAT) received high definition (HD) video equipment and a new studio facility for $450,000 at East Longmeadow High School (ELHS), where students and residents continue to experience the inner workings of video production.

“Because we’re actually a town facility, an access center is really a resource for the community to give them access to production equipment, studio, and channel time on the town's cable channels,” ELCAT Director Don Maki said. “It’s open to anybody.”

Maki said he teaches two sections of a basic television production classes consisting of 12 to 15 students and a Wednesday night class that meets for two hours, which has historically been a film course.

“Any student can get involved here,” he added. “One of things we did early on was producing high school sports. We started with adults as announcers and videographers but felt that it was a great opportunity for students who might be interested in a broadcasting career.”

The new facility has allowed ELCAT to produce YouTube videos at a much quicker rate than with the previous technology, Maki explained. There are plans to have live streaming available in the future.

ELCAT produces videos of town meetings, weekly news updates, sports coverage, and events and can be found on the town's website.

Robert Lawless, a sophomore at ELHS who has been working with ELCAT for two years, said he works as a videographer and one of his main highlights this year was covering the summer concert series.

“One of the most satisfying things is just recording something that you wanted to record and seeing it on TV with your shots and just seeing your work getting put together into something bigger,” he added.

Ryan Foley, a junior at ELHS, said he focuses on sports commentating for ELCAT, primarily for field hockey and volleyball.

“First of all, it’s all right in the moment and you got to think of something interesting to say,” he added. “It challenges yourself to do that and make it clear and precise. And also you get to know people on the team and you make friends.”

Foley said he does play-by-play commentating, which requires knowledge of ELHS players and understanding of the rules of a sport.
    Bella Kacoyannakis, an ELHS senior, said she began working with ELCAT over the summer.

“I’ve worked with the news and I’ve done editing,” she said. “I’ve taped some B-roll for the news around town and some concerts with Mr. Maki. Its satisfying doing everything by yourself and seeing it on TV.”

ELCAT was founded around 1994 and was originally in a building on Shaker Road, said Maki. The ELCAT of that period was completely run by volunteers.

“They understood how a community cable access center could be like a mirror on the community and could reflect the community and what was going on in a community,” he added.

Maki said he has been ELCAT director since the fall of 2008 and at that time Kelly Glover was one of the first volunteers. A year later, Glover was hired as a studio assistant.

“I record the Council on Aging programs,” Glover said. “I also record the East Longmeadow Senior Friendship Club’s programs. Some of them are entertainment. Some of them are educational.”

Glover noted that the new studio facility is much larger than the previous facility, which was roughly the size of a residential living room.

The funds for the new facility came from accumulated money from a negotiated license agreement with Charter Communications for Public Education and Government Access support, which is 3.5 percent of Charter’s gross revenue annually from cable television in East Longmeadow, Maki explained.

"The money never goes into the general fund, it can’t flow into the general fund,” he added. “It’s only for cable.”