Vote now for People's Choice Award
List of Award Winners 2017
Producer Awards Night is next week
 This week: Cast your vote for the 
2017 People's Choice Award

The five top-viewed videos created by community producers are nominated for
Sponsor of the 2017 People's Choice Award
Brattleboro Community Television's "People's Choice Award for 2017. There is a cash prize thanks to sponsorship from Mondo Mediaworks, a local digital marketing agency which supports BCTV volunteers in creating local content that reflects Vermont views. From Mondo owner Luke Stafford:  "For a small town like Brattleboro, the quality of community-driven video content is simply astounding. Of course Mondo is happy to support BCTV and ensure that our mighty public station continues to stand out."
Deadline to vote: October 31. 
Please forward this to anyone who may want to vote.

The five nominees are:
  • 'Teaching at the Edge of Time' with Joanna Macy 9/17/16. Produced by Maria Dominguez. Joanna Macy, the environmental activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism and deep ecology, delivered this lecture about responses to threats to life on Earth at Centre Congregational Church.
  • Artist a la Mode: Wyld Nightz Band, November 2016. Produced by Kathryn Turnas. This local favorite is one of many bands hosted by Kim Timledge on 'Artist a la Mode' in BCTV's studio.
  • It Happens in Brattleboro: Lester Dunklee's Machine Shop. Produced by Gerry Del Monico. A tour of the iconic machining shop on Flat Street.
  • Keep Talking about Mental Health: New Help for Anxiety, Panic and OCD. Produced by The Brattleboro Retreat at BCTV. Gay Maxwell hosts a community dialogue on mental health topics featuring national experts. This episode's guest is Reid Wilson, PhD, international expert on the treatment of anxiety, panic, phobias, and obsessive compulsive disorder, speaking about his self-help protocol for therapy clients that transforms anxiety and worry from intimidating threats into challenges that can be met and conquered. 
  • Noam Chomsky 'Prospects for Survival' at UMass Amherst. Produced by Ezlerh Oreste. World-renowned linguist, philosopher, author and political activist Noam Chomsky's lecture "Prospects for Survival" was delivered at UMass Amherst to celebrate the inauguration of the first net-zero energy building constructed on campus. 
 ~ Next week ~ 
Celebrate our award-winning producers

When:  Thursday, November 2nd at 6:00 PM 
Where: 118 Elliot (at 118 Elliot Street) in Brattleboro
Who: BCTV producers, members, and fans. Open to the public.
What: Dinner, Cash Bar, Producer Awards, Videos.
Cost: Suggested donation of $5 per person.

BCTV's 50+ local producers have been nationally recognized and together with staff produce 1500 new local shows with over 1200 hours of local programming each year. BCTV's producer awards night is fashioned after major nationally televised award shows. It's a fun event and dress up is encouraged to honor the awardees.The People's Choice Award winner will be announced that night along with the following organizations and individuals who will be recognized for their outstanding work over the past fiscal year:
  • Community Partner of the Year:  Mitchell * Giddings Fine Arts
Mitchell * Giddings Fine Arts holds a signature monthly "Artist Talk", which is a dialogue with a featured artist discussing their process. Mitchell Giddings enlisted videographer Andy Reichsman to produce a series of shows documenting the artist's talks, titled "MGFA Presents," aired on BCTV and shared on the gallery's website. Producer Reichsman says: "The artists are some of the most articulate and interesting people around. The opportunity to document and share their artistic insights was irresistible."  Petria Mitchell, the gallery owner, says "We have had many positive comments from folks, both artist and public. It's great to have an outlet to share creativity and the artists' insights to a broader audience outside our gallery. Videos:  http://www.brattleborotv.org/mitchell-giddings-fine-arts
  • Municipal Partner of the Year: WSESU Act 46 Study Committee
Five members of the study committee came to BCTV to create a short video "Act 46 FAQs for WSESU," explaining their recommendations for a merger proposal. Committee member Jill Stahl-Tyler noticed that people's concerns were typically best addressed when they could talk one-on-one with their neighbors or friends.  "Knowing it was impossible to talk with everyone individually, we felt creating a video that answered the questions we heard the most would probably be the best way to effectively reach a larger number of people," explained Stahl-Tyler. 
  • Nonprofit Member of the Year: Guilford Community Church
Pastor Lise Sparrow, who had wanted to record the services at Guilford Community Church for years, finally found the right producer-Gerry del Monico, who records the weekly service for BCTV and online. Choir director Peter Amidon uploads choir anthems to YouTube to share the musical offering.  Amidon says, "Making our Sunday morning church services available on BCTV and online is a meaningful gift for those in our church community who are housebound and/or ill.  It is also a great way for people to find out about our church and our church services."
  • Volunteer of the Year: Interns Ben Somin and Jane Fenstermaker
In July 2016, two students who wanted internships contacted BCTV separately: Ben Somin, from Landmark College, who had DSLR camera skills, and Jane Fenstermaker of BUHS, who knew how to edit. Their timing was perfect. BCTV was seeking ways to partner with WKVT's Green Mountain Mornings to showcase local journalists talking about the news of the day. But, we didn't have the staff. For the first six weeks of the show, Ben recorded Chris Lenois talking with journalists from the Reformer and The Commons, and the same day Jane would edit and add B-roll from BCTV videos for upload that night. They both took on more responsibility than your average intern and worked hard to make the show a reality for the station. 
  • New Producer of the Year: Chard deNiord
Poet Laureate of Vermont Chard deNiord came to BCTV with an idea, and soon learned how to use BCTV's equipment to make it a reality for two different shows. Acting as both host and director, deNiord created "Poets Speak," a monthly interview show with area poets and writers talking about their work, their inspiration and how Vermont plays a role in their creativity. Next he created "You Come Too," a series of short videos in which he reads a new poem by a Vermont poet each week with visuals provided by local artists Brian Cohen and Eric Aho. deNiord found the staff at BCTV made the technical aspect manageable: "When I became Poet Laureate of Vermont in 2015, I began thinking about practical ways of bringing what the poet Ezra Pound called "the news that stays news" to as many people of Vermont as possible. I finally entered the studio after overcoming my trepidation of managing my own show and have now completed five interviews with poets Verandah Porche, Jeff Friedman, Dede Cummings, Bianca Stone, and Tim Mayo."
  • Producer of the Year: Gerry Del Monico
Gerry Del Monico became active with BCTV two years ago and instantly rose to become one of its most prolific producers. He mastered the technique of using a tablet to create and edit short pieces, adding music and narration and submitting it as a finished program. His regular series include, "Day Kitchen Demos," shot at the Brattleboro Food Coop, and "It Happens in Brattleboro," where he takes to the streets of Brattleboro in search of vibrant, sometimes quirky, and always entertaining stories from around town. Gerry is also the producer of the weekly Guilford Community Church service. He finds satisfaction in being a community media producer and the ability to help others. Gerry says: "A couple of weeks ago I was filming the church service, and someone came up and told me there's a 100-year-old woman who lives in a nursing home who wants to get to the service, but she can't. So she asked a nurse to DVR the service on channel 8 and she watches it. If I can make life better for someone like that, it's worth it to me. So that's why I share it - others enjoy it!"
'Day Kitchen Demos' videos:  http://www.brattleborotv.org/day-kitchen-demos
'It Happens in Brattleboro' videos:  http://www.brattleborotv.org/it-happens-brattleboro
  • Series of the Year: The World Fusion Show
Derrik Jordan is a local recording artist, singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and teacher who created "The World Fusion Show" at BCTV, featuring interviews and performances with a different performer for each episode. Jordan and his technical team, including Wyatt Andrews and Alan Stockwell, employed sophisticated audio capture techniques and created a different set for each show, depending on the guests' instruments. Jordan's inspiration, he says, is his network of talented friends who share his interest. "I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would host a TV show, but I realized a couple of years ago that I knew a lot of people who did World Fusion Music and I had a long standing passionate interest in the subject. This show contributes to  that culture and brings together this wonderful group of people to a wider audience to enjoy." The show has its own Facebook page and YouTube channel. 


 
In case you missed it...

BCTV Members Meeting: Thanks to everyone who attended and voted online. Board members Pauline Dean, Cassandra Holloway, and Chris Lenois were re-elected.

Upcoming Board Meeting
The next BCTV Board meeting will be Monday, November 13 at 6:00 PM in Room 305 of the Brattleboro Municipal Center, following the Annual Members Meeting. Meetings are regularly held on the third Wednesday of the month at 6 PM, and are open to the public. Please call 257-0888 to confirm. 
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