Use of Equipment and Facilities

Only Equipment and Organization Members may use SCAT’s equipment and production facilities free of charge to make programs that will be cablecast on SCAT's access channel. SCAT may rent facilities and equipment for alternative uses at its discretion.

Members are expected to clean up after themselves each time they use the equipment or facilities. Equipment may not be used in hazardous situations.

Members are responsible for notifying the staff of any problems with equipment. Members must not attempt equipment repairs on their own and may not change any wiring, connections or accessories.

No animals are allowed in the building except for seeing-eye dogs or, with prior staff approval, as part of a production. Eating and drinking are allowed only in designated areas. Smoking is prohibited in the building.

Producers may not use SCAT office equipment and supplies for sets. Producers may store their own props on the premises for no more than 24 hours, and must obtain permission from the SCAT staff in advance.

Credits

All programs made using SCAT equipment or facilities must credit Somerville Community Access Television.

Reservations

A member must file a Program Proposal/Cablecast Request Form prior to use of portable equipment for any program. Members may reserve equipment and facilities on a first-come, first-served basis.

Equipment and Facility reservations for the edit rooms, control room, studio, dub room and conference room may be made on-site or by phone at any time if a staff person is available and able to write up the reservation Equipment pick up and return may be made only during the posted Equipment Reservation & Pick-Up times, unless given special permission from a staff person.

As detailed below, there are limits on the number of reservations and/or hours per program for which members may use any given type of equipment free of charge. Over the maximum allotment, SCAT charges rental fees. Any member must give 24-hour notice to cancel a reservation. If a member fails to cancel, the use nevertheless counts toward the maximum allotment for that program. Members are permitted a 30-minute grace period between their scheduled reservation time and when the staff may determine to relinquish the reservation to another member.

Portable Equipment

Members may reserve portable equipment no more than 12 weeks in advance. They may take out portable equipment for up to 72 hours a week and for up to 4 times per finished program unless given a waiver by the Executive Director. Certification tapes are limited to two camcorder uses.

The person who reserves equipment must pick it up and return it, unless SCAT staff approves alternate arrangements in advance. When signing out equipment, a SCAT staff member fills out and initials an Equipment Check-Out form. The producer also initials the form. Before taking the equipment, the borrower must verify that the Equipment Check-Out Form lists all the items he/she is taking and contains everything the shoot will require. Producers are encouraged to set up and test equipment before leaving the building.

Members must return equipment at the time written on the Equipment Check-Out form. Members cannot borrow additional equipment until they have returned all items in good working order or have paid SCAT an assessment that SCAT may levy against the borrower(s) for equipment damages.

Editing

Members may reserve edit time no more than 12 weeks in advance. They may use up to 48 hours of edit time for any program. Members may reserve up to 6 hours of edit time per day, with a maximum of 12 hours per week per program, unless given special permission from a staff person. Certification tapes are limited to 8 hours of edit time. For projects on a non-linear edit station, SCAT members must fill out a project agreement form before being allotted storage on a computer or portable drive. Members may reserve storage space for two months for each project. If no storage is readily available, the member's name will be placed on a waiting list.

Members must check in and out with the staff person on-call when using the edit rooms.

Dubbing

To dub any program cablecast on SCAT’s access channel, a member may use up to 4 hours, or the amount of time needed to make 6 copies, whichever amount of time is greater.

Studio & Control Room

Members may reserve time in the studio and control room no more than 12 weeks in advance. Regular series producers may establish a regular studio reservation schedule with SCAT. Members may use the studio up to 2 times per program, with a maximum of 8 hours of studio use per week.

Members must check in and out with the staff person on call when using the studio. Before and after each studio use, the person who made the reservation must return all items borrowed from the portable equipment closet to the on-call staff person, put away all studio equipment and leave the studio and control room clean and neat.

Conference Room

Any SCAT member or members of any non-commercial group based in Somerville may arrange to use SCAT’s conference room. Reservations may be made up to 12 weeks in advance.

Host-Operated (HOT) Set

Any individual or organization that is an equipment member of SCAT may reserve the HOT Set. To use the HOT Set you must fulfill the following:

• Complete the HOT Set Training
• Submit a Cablecast Request Form
• Reserve a regularly scheduled series air time with the Programming Coordinator if the show is to be a live series.
• Abide by policies that apply to series programming

HOT Set programs may be aired live and may post the phone-in number and accept calls. The decision to accept un-screened calls live on the air is at the discretion of the program sponsor. However, producers are reminded that they are solely responsible for the content of their program.

Renting SCAT Equipment

Rental of any of SCAT's equipment and facilities is at the discretion of SCAT's Executive Director.

Anyone wishing to rent SCAT's equipment and facilities must fulfill the following:

• Be a current SCAT Equipment or Organization Member in good standing or become a Contributing Member
• Show a photo ID.
• Submit a signed Membership Form agreeing to abide by SCAT's Policies and Regulations
• Pay rental rates as established by SCAT's Board of Directors
• SCAT charges rental fees for the following:
• equipment use over the allotted amount per program,
• equipment use for programs that will not be shown on the access channel,
• equipment use when the producer receives $2,000 or more to produce the program, in the form of grants, payments, admissions, rentals, or any other revenue.

SCAT cannot be responsible for losses incurred due to equipment failure.

A list of rental rates is available at the front desk and on-line at www.access-scat.org.

Insurance

SCAT has an insurance policy for equipment while members are using it. SCAT pays the premiums and the policy is in SCAT’s name. Members are completely responsible for the SCAT equipment and facilities signed out to them. This includes responsibility for the actions of assistants, guests, and others.

In the event that equipment is stolen or damaged and the insurance company honors the claim, the member is responsible for the deductible payment charged by SCAT's insurance company. In the event the insurance company does not honor a claim, the member must reimburse SCAT for the equipment’s full replacement value.

In order for the insurance company to honor a claim in the case of theft:

• a police report must be filed,
• equipment must not have been left unattended,
• there must be proof of forcible entry, and
• equipment must not have been left in a car overnight.