Picnic at the Opera is coming up and the UpNorth Media Center could use a few volunteers. I’ll take you on quick tour through what’s happening at the Media Center including a new wrestling show in the works and a fun romp around Northern Michigan with Andrea Dooley and friends.
Many of you may already know me while others of you probably don’t. Recently I became the new Program Coordinator / Station Manager at the UpNorth Media Center following the departure of the beloved Joe Carter. For those that don’t know the UpNorth Media Center is the Public Access station for Northern Lower Michigan. Currently our station reaches roughly 110,000 homes through Charter Cable and we get 20-30,000 views per month on YouTube with an average viewing time of around 15 minutes. As a Public Access station our aim is to provide the local community with access to a means of video production and broadcast. For you this translates to the fact that we have cameras and equipment that you can use to create programming.
A large part of my responsibility is trying to find people that are interested in using our resources to create programming or learn more about video production. Recently I have been seeking out people to create children’s programming and local sports programs. These seem to be two areas of programming that could be of great value to the community. Right now I am in talks with a local sports radio program to see what kind of show we can develop together. There is also a former pro-wrestler named Chad in Cheboygan who has taught himself to edit in After Effects and is planning a pro-wrestling round up show. Click here to check out his Facebook page with a sample of his work. I have also been working with Krystn Madrine, Lucas Nielsen, Andrea Dooley, and others to get a show going called “Out and About NoMI”. Krystn is in the process of editing the second episode which focuses on the Dogman 2 premier at the State Theatre. For anyone interested in volunteering some time and gaining experience there plenty of projects to get involved in. Currently I am working with the Film and New Media program at the Career Tech Center to teach News Broadcasting for an upcoming competition. I’m also working with the Visual Communication Arts program at NMC to help a sociology class create several videos addressing poverty as part of a service learning project.
Right now the biggest agenda item for me and the rest of the folks at the Media Center is the Picnic at the Opera . This event will be going on for six weeks every Wednesday starting January 22 from Noon- 1:00pm. We’re doing a live four camera shoot with a jib and an on stage camera. Miriam Pico will be hosting again along with David Chown and WTCM’s Jamie Kramer. Each week there is a musical guest as well as guest performers including The Starlets, Ben Whiting, Levi Britton, Jeff Haas and many more. For those of you interested in getting backstage we could use some help. Most of our slots are filled for camera operators so be quick if you want to man a camera. We could however use a number of people moving guests on and off the stage so if you want to be a part of this exciting live television production here in Traverse City shoot me an email or give me a call.
Morgan Burke-Beyers
248-891-3460