User:Achernow

Professional Bio

It all started when I got my first video camera. I don’t remember when it was, or if it was for Christmas or my birthday, but I do remember it was an old GE full-sized VHS camcorder. This is back when most people getting camcorders opted for VHS-C or 8mm. Of course, this was a second-hand camcorder so I didn’t really get to be choosy.My first taste of “professional” television came in the studios of Media One cable. (Media One has since been gobbled up by Comcast). It was in those studios right next to Palatine’s village chambers and Mayor’s office that I learned all about television. Sure sometime it didn’t look the best, sure it was old, limited equiptment, but it taught me to be flexible and to be able to work with what you have. Seriously, do you know how many different sets you can make with a few risers, some chain-link fencing, a couple of stools and Chirstmas lights?

After spending Junior and Senior year of High School at the public access studio and working on a number of shows, it was off to Marquette University where I majored in Broadcast and Electronic communications. At Marquette I quickly got involved with MUTV, the student television station where I became a well known and highly regarded member of the production staff (even serving a year as a Production department head). I was also the first Freshman to ever be on staff (as the station’s webmaster). MUTV and Marquette built upon what I had learned at the public access station. It also was my first taste of live programming. Through those four years, I learned not only how to produce a show, but the ins and outs of pre and post production as well. After I had mastered the station’s Media 100 system, I opted to teach myself how to use the Final Cut Pro station that sat in the corner of a lab because no one around knew how to use it. With just the knowledge of Media 100, I learned and mastered Final Cut Pro (and even taught a workshop on how to use it!). While at Marquette I also got the first taste of the “real world” at my internship turned part-time job with the Milwaukee Brewers baseball club. While it wasn’t traditional television, everything that I learned in television production applied equally to the production of the in-game “show”.

From there, I spent 2 years working at a small mid-western television station. There I learned using an Avid system. I also learned the art of multi-tasking many things at once while wearing multiple hats at the same time. Everything from running a camera to punching a show to rolling tapes needed to be done at the same time.

I’ve now moved from there to a mid-80s market station where I’m building on what I learned in the small market.