Appendix E:
Comparable Community Media Centers
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Started as a public access
television station in 1981 and became a role model for the transformation into
to a multidisciplinary
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Access to tools, training and
transmission for individuals and groups
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Organized as a cooperative of
public access and nonprofit media affiliates; each responsible for generating
their own funding.
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Completion of $1.2 million
capital campaign in 1997, now housed in a creatively renovated 6,600 square
foot space in a historic 1920’s library
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Annual budget: $1.2 million
Operating Budget: N/A
The Community
Media Center (
The
The Center
continues to expand in ways unforeseen when it started in 1981. A petition to
increase its radio station to 8,000 watts is pending before the FCC. The Grand
Rapids Institute for Information Democracy opens this fall. The concept for a
National Archive for Community Media is taking form. A proposal is before the
city commission to turn the little-used interactive Pulse ’98 access channel
into a live community programming channel utilizing the city’s 25 B-line tap
sites. And a new cable company will soon compete with
Having found
the future it once only dreamed about, the board and Koning are already talking
about phases two and three. The stage is set, Koning believes.
The
progressive plan for this facility was a progressive approach to a networking
infrastructure within Grand Rapids to have little tentacles reaching out into
all parts of the community and having mini-media centers all hard-wired back to
the central media center to accommodate switching, satellite uplink, downlink,
routing capabilities for RF for Internet service and data.
Phase three
will probably include some effort on the national level, partnering with the
National Federation of Community Broadcasters, National Association of
Telecommunications Officers and Administrators, National Alliance for Media
Arts and Culture, the
911 Media Arts Center,
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20 year history in
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Nonprofit arts center offers
low cost production equipment, workshops and a screening room for indie media.
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Various programs in
partnership with the City of
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“Young Producers Project”
dedicated to teaching young people critical viewing skills with a program
budget of $90,000.
2003 Operating Budget:
Contributed
Income: $285,000
Earned
Revenue: $180,000
Operating
Expenses: $465,000
911 Media
Arts Center has a twenty-year history in
With a
program budget of $90,000, the “Young Producers Project” works with fifteen
students per semester. There is one half-time staff member to oversee the
program. She focuses on running the program and conducting outreach with
program partners and participants. Six contractors, hired on an as-needed basis
for instruction, are paid $25-35/hour.
The media
center has partnered with the City of
Difficulties
of running a community-based media arts program abound. It is not easy to find
qualified volunteers to work as mentors for teens, as well as to train people
on new technologies. Because they deal with sensitive equipment, 911 prefers to work with older high school students, but they
have served middle school groups as well. Funding for film projects is also
hard to find. Fortunately, many organizations and individuals seem interested
in paying for the center’s equipment needs. Matching programs and grants are
also great resources for donated equipment. For instance, the City of
Working with
media offers 911’s community work great flexibility. Content can change easily
to adapt to new users and new subjects with limited stress on the organization.
Zeum at
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Founded in 1992 as part of
SF’s plan to develop a city block as an urban destination for youth
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Theater (120 seats), a
carousel, galleries, rooftop terraces and several studios now located on the
rooftop of the
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Production studios include
animation lab, video, digital imagery, sound and high tech class rooms for
children for multimedia experimentation
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Operated and owned by a
nonprofit
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Total revenue in 2003: $1.8
million ($1 million government grants)
2003-2004 Operating Budget:
Contributed
Income $1.13 million
Earned
Revenue $590,000
Operating
Expenses $1.72 million
As part of
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s goal to develop an entire city block as an
urban destination for youth, and more than a decade in planning, Zeum was
founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1992. The organization began
community programming in 1995 and broke ground on its permanent facility
in1996. The facility opened to the public on
Zeum Theater
has a capacity of 210 seats and is designed not only for performance but also
has advanced technological abilities for a variety of presentations. The Main
Gallery can hold up to 300, the rooftop terrace up to 200, and the Media
Gallery up to 120. The studios fit between 20 and 60
people. The entire space is available for rent, as are each space
individually. Zeum charges $8,000 to rent the full facility and $2,000 for a
half day in the theater. There are special arrangements for community and
non-profit rentals, but those rates are on a case-by-case basis and not
published.
Zeum’s
mission is to foster the creativity of all young people of all backgrounds by
providing a participatory arts environment, integrating the arts into classroom
curriculums, and creating opportunities for collaboration among the arts
communities, educators, partner organizations, and the younger generations of
San Francisco.
Recently,
A.C.T. became the primary resident of Zeum and presents and produces its second
stage student and professional performances at the Center. In addition to the
performances, A.C.T. also puts on a set of performance workshops. Also,
recently established with A.C.T. is a series of collaborative residencies, in
which teens participate with professional artists in workshops such as the
Digital Sound Studio and the Computer Arts and Crafts Studio.
The Center
has new interactive technology that has been designed for younger groups.
Studios include an animation lab and a more traditional space which has video
cameras, digital imagery, and sound. Zeum presents two production lab shows,
Dream On for field trip visitors, and Karaoke on the weekends. There is
also a high tech classroom that contains 22 Macintosh computers and allows children
to experiment with illustration, video editing, animation, 3D modeling,
multimedia presentations, web page design, Internet exploration and project
collaborations. From 1998-2001, Zeum raised over $3
million worth of capital to support the facilities for these programs.
Zeum is
operated and owned by a non-profit but heavily subsidized by the government
because of its educational and youth programs. Total revenues in 2003 were $1.8
million, with more than $1 million coming from government grants and another
$120,000 raised from private sources. In 2003, earned
revenues included: $120,000 in admissions, $175,000 in carousel tickets,
$50,000 in concessions, $130,000 in rental income, and $45,000 from other
earned sources including membership fees.
Appalshop,
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Multipurpose media arts center
including audio/radio equipment, a darkroom, film editing, 150-seat theater,
exhibition gallery, screening room and class/meeting spaces
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Summer training program for
high school students focusing on teaching radio and video production skills for
the past 12 years
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Programs managed with
assistance of Appalshop’s artists
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Program budget:
$95,000-$110,000. Grants fund the core of the programs
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Operating budget: $1.2 million
2003-2004 Operating Budget:
Contributed
Income $1.60 million
Earned
Revenue $530,000
Operating
Expenses $2.13 million
Appalshop is
a multipurpose media arts center located in the heart of the Appalachian
coalfields. For more than twenty five years, artists working through Appalshop
have been exploring the history, culture and social issues of the region in
film, video, recorded music and drama, theater, photography, radio, and print.
Appalshop has become a regional center for artistic and cultural expression.
Appalshop has
run a summer training program for high school students for the past 12 years.
The program focuses on teaching students radio and
video production skills. The goals of the program are two-fold: to build
leadership skills and provide media-proficient kids for the classrooms. The
students are permitted access to Appalshop film and video which they can use to
talk to their fellow students. The students also produce their own material.
Appalshop has
recently expanded the program to work with eight schools. In some cases,
equipment is loaned to the schools. If equipment is scarce, they use on-hand
equipment, i.e. tape recorders. Some of the schools have computer editing
equipment.
The education
director manages the program with the assistance of Appalshop artists. They
conduct residencies in the schools to complete the program. Last year, for
instance, Appalshop arranged for a film animator and a photographer to do
residences in the schools. Grants usually fund the core of the program. A fee
of $1,500 is collected from each participant, and this is paid back to the
student while under training.
The program
budget is $95,000-$110,000. Appalshop is trying to branch out and organize
exchanges for new programs. They believe any new program should be simple.
Appalshop has worked hard to prevent their programs from being perceived as
summer camps. They believe the training is intense and of high utility, and is
not meant to be recreational. The program director attempts to draw on lots of
different people in the community to make programming powerful. For instance,
Appalshop’s volunteer-run radio station involves more than 40 different shows
produced by different members of the adult community.
The Center’s full operating budget is $2.13 million. Appalshop has a staff of 35. The media center includes audio/radio equipment, a darkroom, 16mm film editing, video editing (1/2”, ¾”, Beta). Its spaces include a 150-seat theater, exhibition gallery, screening room darkroom, and class/meeting spaces.