Picking up the Pace at Bedford TV After Covid Shutdown
Operations at Bedford TV are slowly returning to their pre-pandemic level, says Executive Director Brian Hebert, while “keeping a close eye on Covid and keeping everyone safe.”
In-studio programming, off-site streaming, and training sessions are in various stages of preparation and execution.
Masks are de rigeur in the office and studio suite in Old Town Hall, except when being actively recorded, Hebert said. “It’s a hybrid way to keep everyone safe while having everybody in the building.”
Some in-studio production has resumed, and Hebert said “we’re talking to other producers about getting studio shoots back up and running.”
Hebert succeeded Katie Duval less than three months ago. On his first day at work, “We were all masked, meetings were all remote, no one was coming in. Now we’re trying to get all of those things back to normal.”
Bedford TV is fully staffed, Hebert said. The production coordinator, Scott Brawn, and production assistant, Sam Pappas, have a few more days of seniority than Hebert. “We’ve got a good crew here; I would like to keep this group.”
Hebert said he has met with Town Manager Sarah Stanton and others in municipal government about returning to actual meetings of boards and committees, expected to begin as soon as June. “We have been running some tests and figuring out how to incorporate these as hybrid meetings,” he explained. “We’re figuring out exactly what we have to have.”
By integrating streaming and YouTube technologies, “remote and in-person are all in one feed,” the director said. Before the pandemic, the interactive platform wasn’t a consideration, he pointed out; meetings were aired the following day.
Bedford TV is streaming high school high school sports and other community events, he continued, and planning is underway to transmit high school graduation from Tsongas Arena in Lowell.
A series of classes will soon be announced, focusing on new editing software that was a gift from the Rotary Club if Bedford, Hebert reported. There is no on-site classroom work now, but “there are plans in the works for classes later in the summer.”
Bedford TV also has been working with the group Bedford Embraces Diversity on its Faces of Bedford interviews, which are expected to be integrated into the “Bedford Common” weekly news and feature compendium. The segment featuring a group interview with chairs of boards and committees hasn’t resumed yet. “We’re figuring out how to shoot that safely,” Hebert said.
“There are lots of plans creeping forward to being fully 100 percent, and getting people back in the door.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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