Connect TV: Training People with Disabilities for Careers in Television

[Guest guest]

Connect TV: Training People with Disabilities for Careers in

Television

by ine Maltese http://www.disaboom.com

ConnectTV is a unique project that trains people with disabilities in

television production skills, while also giving them the opportunity

to produce their own short documentaries and television programs, and

connecting them with others living with disabilities.

ConnectTV is a project of DCTV, a community media arts organization

that offers courses in production and access to professional-grade

equipment to the community. Unlike what many people think of when

they think of public access television, DCTV produces high-quality

work that draws a large audience. In fact, programming produced there

is seen by over 100 million people a year and has won more awards

than any other similar organization. This includes 15 Emmy Awards and

a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Many of the segments produced by ConnectTV are available online and

cover a range of unique topics of interest to people with

disabilities including a two-part piece on therapeutic horseback

riding for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Other programs of interest include a look at individuals who have

only recently had to deal with living with a disability, a view of

the journey of three teens with disabilities as they finish high

school, and a segment on a homeless woman who is also a successful

professional artist and her struggles with her mental disability.

Other upcoming pieces from ConnectTV include a segment on Alabama's

ABILITY House and a look at New York City Mayor's Office program for

mentoring workers with disabilities.

Additionally, some of the disability programming produced by DCTV can

be purchased on DVD from their Web site. This includes One Night Sit,

a look at gay men with disabilities in New York City and Taking the

Hill, which looks at veterans, many with disabilities, running for

political office.

ConnectTV also offers several online tutorials, available both as

text and audio files on the basics of television filming, starting

with turning on a camera and talking through focus, light and shot

composition. In depth classes are offered through DCTV.

Some of ConnectTV's current projects include trying to get their

segments on PBS and video conferences to connect people with

disabilities around the nation and world with the organization's New

York City team. ConnectTV personnel also regularly travel to

disability awareness events around the country.

The ConnectTV program is run by Arnold who started at DCTV as

an intern in 1997 and worked his way up, launching the first training

programs specifically for people with disabilities in 1999. One of

the programs to come out of those classes is what brought in the

income that allowed for the launch of ConnectTV.

Those with material they would like broadcast on DCTV or ConnectTV,

or individuals interested in taking the organizations' classes should

visit the Web sites for contact information.