Automation House
Lighting Director, Set Design, Video Tech (1977-78)
In 1977 Manhattan Cable TV designated 3 video facilities in NYC as "Local Injection Points" (LIP's) that produced local origination programming. Soon after I arrived in the city, I was lucky enough to be taken on as Lighting Director / Set Designer and occasional Production Director on the fulltime staff. (There weren't many paying jobs available in the upstart medium at that time.)
This is where I first met and worked with Bill Porter, who became my earliest collaborator when I formed The Communication Studio.
In the early 60's pre-eminent labor negotiator Theodore Kheel established Automation House in order to for "people to adjust in a rapidly changing world of automation and helping the individual to have a sense of participation in the society in which she or he lives."
Kheel's forward-thinking insight was to take advantage of emerging technologies (affordable video) and bandwidth (cable TV channels) in order to do some social good.
As a low-end video production facility, Automation House was perfectly positioned to be the point of implementation for anyone who was looking to develop new channels. We got to work on a bunch of 'em, as well as cutting-edge productions in the area of arts and politics.
BTW: MTV first appeared right around this time.
Corporate Training The late 70's saw the emergence of "media sensitivity" as a skill for anyone who was going to be in the public eye. Jack Hilton provided corporate players with an "in the trenches" sense of what it was like to be on that stage. We provided the stage. Urban Planning Joined with 3 other local community activists and urban designers to establish the Municipal Access Cable Channel L in NYC in 1978, modeled on the Municipal Cable Project that I had pioneered in Somerville, MA, during the previous years. Local Programming As a designated "local injection point" for higher-end cable TV productions, we were the production studio for entrepreneurs looking to produce programming for targeted interest areas. Art Performances Dance, Comedy, Theatre, Visual Arts, Criticism: We were a recording studio and a showcase.
"Sort of Professional" quality video studio services for the lower end of the media spectrum. A couple of steps up from "public access".
For many of us who were committed to local programming, one of the challenges at this time was to "Do well by doing good".
I forged long-term relationships with colleagues who saw the exciting opportunities that were opening up with the birth of new media.
In 1982 Automation House alumnus Bill Porter and I helped implement the Vision of Interactivity "before we called it The Web" as The Communication Studio.
Video studio, lighting, video editing, studio direction, graphics, technical