The following adjunct to my data processing resume is meant to describe my video production involvement at Tampa's Public Access Center over the last ten years:

Production efforts under my own name at Access have been split fifty-fifty between my work behind the camera (principally technical directing using the remote production unit) and in front of it (hosting my own program of social commentary). Incidental to these major credits, I have crewed for other Access producers, learning by this exposure other folk's production techniques (but not indiscriminately including all of these into my own work). "Producing" at Access (by the way) includes a requirement for us to periodically demonstrate operational competance in all the functional areas (editing, camera, lighting, etc) affecting development of product.

As between those two production venues, it was my early van work (and even some single camera location work) that won favorable notice from my peers at Golden Cassette Awards (GCA), and encouragement from Access management. These programs were made from public events over which I had no actual directing role per se over production content itself; these were usually liturgical musical celebrations or musical theater done in a church auditorium. Nonetheless in 1987 I won the second place GCA award in Music for my taping of an annnual Town'n Country ecumenical celebration, inaugurating a recital sequence I called from that time on Choirs of Advent. My taping of Seminole Presbyterian's High Tops in 1992 earned me a fist-place award for Best Youth Single: I was that year also a finalist in two other GCA categories. In fact throughout my Access tenure I was fortunate to be a finalist in any category I entered, in any year I choose to do so. Much of my single camera location programming arose with thru involvement with the Catholic diocese of St Petersburg (including seminars and documentaries) and at St Leo college, and also with local Greek Orthodox, Episcopal, and Lutheran churches. I have also produced for the community, most notably a multi-location study of municipal housing redevelopment designed to liberate the "life-long" renter," called Tampa Heights Revisited (in 1991).

Eventually I came to be more involved in production life on camera, doing several seasons work as program host in each of the Center's several studios. These efforts were principally directed toward (quite literally) social commmentary, where content was mostly inspired by certain liberal Jesuit theologians and writings from the sociology of knowledge (ala Peter L Berger). My first group of programs (in round-table mode) was called catholicism (from the Nicene Creed with a notable emphasis on the small "c"). Next I went to ecumanism: the road less traveled, which was kind of an anthropological look at our communal religious experience through mostly location footage from a variety of sources. Next was a series called Toys in the Attic (and now the name of my production unit); opening each time with a vocabulary-building tune from Hair, it attempted to get some share of after-11 PM public access viewership. For the last two years I have been Contra Limbo, which meant to remind viewers that (among other things) most of the world so admired by Rush Limbaugh was tried and (still) found seriously wanting a hundred years ago. The CL roll-in used a montage constructed from June Allyson's early films; her response to the 2-hour sampler sent her last year is so far the highest praise I have received from anyone for my work.

Interspersed among these seasonal commitments, I produced and hosted specials simply titled commentary (subtitled by indicating some month and year) that had to do with the politics of public access. These efforts at investigative journalism were usually politely ignored by the local establishment, and not so politely by my peers.

While involved as an independant producer at Public Access, I have always tried to do more there. During Katho Kampfe's first tour as PAC manager, I tried three times to join Jones Intercable's staff: as a playback operator, as an equipment maintenance technician, and as Assistant PAC manager (then defined as having principle responsibility for creating the monthly newsletter). In the one instance of a response, I was told effectively that my best use to the community was as a producer (and gadfly), so at least some of my effort has gone toward accomodating that directive. But I have been content most of my life to just be a good technician, as my twenty years of prior experience as a systems engineer in computerized data processing might indicate. I would certainly appreciate any opportunity to bring my video production skills up to and beyond what they were in conventional programming, as soon as possible.

I may be contacted in Tampa via PO Box 2794; FL 33601-2794; or by calling (813) 209-0113.
E-mail daurril@juno.com, or leave a voice messages at (813) 209-0115 x2.

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