Santa Claus will be at Somerville Community Access Television, 90 Union Square, on Tuesday, December 15 from 6:00 to 7:00pm. Parents are invited to bring their young children to the studio to tell him in person what they want for Christmas, or to watch Channel 3 and call him on the phone. The live TV show and studio event will include performances of Christmas songs by local musicians Jeff Jam and JoJo LaRiccia, host of the PBS TV series, JoJo’s Dreamcart. Tarsh Stacke, host of the SCAT TV show Tell Me A Story, will read Christmas stories.

Parents and viewers might be surprised that Santa Claus looks a lot like Tom Champion, Director of Communications for the City of Somerville. The program will be cablecast live on Channel 3 and replayed throught the holiday season.

The event is free, but families are encouraged to bring non-perishable food and/or toys for local non-profit collections.

 
Kicking off on Wednesday, January 6 from 3:30-5:30, SCAT’s Next Generation Producers After-School Film Production Club offers students the opportunity to create their own video projects, learn state-of-the-art television production skills, and work alongside other youth with similar interests. The teens will receive one-on-one attention from SCAT staff as they create the film and video pieces that they want to make, using SCAT digital cameras, microphones, and video editing computers.

Some of SCAT’s best work comes from Somerville High School students who were inspired to start their own video projects. Next Generation Producers have won awards for films, including an award from the Alliance for Community Media to Next Generation Producer Anthony Soto for his documentary In Tune with Rasta about the Rastafari movement. The goal of the Next Generation Producers After-School Film Production Club is to train and empower Somerville teens to create compelling, thought-provoking media.

The club is open to all Somerville residents between the ages of 14 to 18. The club is free, but commitment to the creative process is a must. Call 617-628-8826 for more information and an application. The club will meet on Wednesdays from 3:30-5:30 starting January 6, 2010.

Watch Eating Local in Somerville on your computer!

Eating local is a national movement that has been embraced enthusiastically in Somerville. A new documentary produced by SCAT Executive Director Wendy Blom called Eating Local in Somerville looks at all the ways Somerville residents take advantage of Massachusetts farms and backyard gardens. The benefits of the local food movement are both personal and political. Local food is fresher, tastier, and healthier for consumers, and it is better for the environment of the city, the country, and the world.

 Find out why Somerville is a leader in the local food movement. From community gardens and farmers markets to public school lunches, everyone is getting in on the act.

Check the Somerville News or SCAT's programming page for cablecast times on Channel 3.

Jessica Barnthouse is the new SCAT Membership and Outreach Coordinator/Youth Instructor, replacing Daniel Marques who recently left for Portland, OR. Jessica came to SCAT in 2008 as an intern, and then was hired to cover the on-call desk part-time in February 2009. Originally from Tennessee, Jessica has an BA in Communications Studies and English from Alfred University. She has worked on outreach for several documentary projects in Boston, including Point of View at WGBH. 

Jessica will build SCAT's membership and help to guide new members to expand their SCAT experience. She will also work with the Next Generation Producers, SCAT teen media program. Jessica can be reached at membership@access-scat.org or 617-628-8826.

Candidates’s Speak, a community service program on SCAT Channel 3,  is an opportunity for Somerville voters to learn more about the candidates for local office. Every candidate for Mayor, Alderman, and School Committee was invited to record a three-minute talk about their platform. The resulting program can be seen on October 14 at 7:30pm, October 15 at 11:30am, October 16 at 9:00pm, and October 19 at 11:30am. The program will be repeated the following week.

In addition, SCAT will collaborate with the TV program Greater Somerville with Joe Lynch, to present four half-hour forums for each contested race for Alderman and School Committee. The four programs are 1) the race for Alderman-At-Large, 2) for Ward Six Alderman, 3) for Ward Four School Committee, and 4) for Ward Five School Committee. Each forum will be moderated by “Greater Somerville” host Joe Lynch, who will question each candidate and provide equal time for answers.

This is an excellent opportunity for Somerville residents to compare the candidates’ perspectives before the election on November 3. The two-hour package of programs will be cablecast on SCAT Channel 3 every day between October 26 and October 31, with cablecast times from 6:00am to 8:00am, midnight to 2:00am, and Thursday evening, October 29 from 7:00 to 9:00pm.  Individual forums will be cablecast at various times throughtout the week, and will be posted on Web.

SCAT's second annual Creative Arts Festival took place on October 8. This fast- paced, live studio show featured talented Somerville performers in a typically Somervillian ecclectic mix. You can watch the show, which has been broken into six half hours, on SCAT throughout October on Channel 3, or on the web from here.

The show opened with Dan MacDonald, the 21-year-old troubadour who performs as Spitzer Space Telescope (photo above). Other acts include salsa dancing with Kristina Pujol and Seemore Johnson, jazz music by Audrey Ryan, belly dancing by Nadira Jamal, a Haitian gospel band, and bluegrass banjo by Chuck Interrante. The evening's hosts will be SCAT personalities JoJo LaRiccia and J. Rony Dorvil.

This special program is must-see TV for all Somerville arts enthusiasts. SCAT is where it's at. 

The screening room at the Somerville Theatre was packed for the Somerville Youth Film Festival on September 24. The Festival was presented by Somerville Community Access Television’s (SCAT) youth media program, Next Generation Producers, Home Inc., Somerville Cares About Prevention, Somerville High School and the Community Action Agency of Somerville. 

The festival included news packages and TV programs that were produced in summer programs by students of the Next Generation Producers and the Home Inc. classes at Somerville High School. As they created their video projects, students learned the complete process of media production, including research, scriptwriting, camera and audio skills, and digital editing. 

The Fall Workshop schedule is now posted and classes are open for registration. There are a few new offerings: Lighting for Video, Going Green with Chromakey, and Beyond the Basics of Final Cut Express.

You must pay for the class to reserve a spot. Classes have a minimum enrollment so register at least one week in advance to increase the chances that the class you want will run. Editing classes have a six person maximum, another reason to register well in advance of the first class.

Fall Workshops

On Friday August 14 Union Square became an outdoor theatre when the Somerville Arts Council and SCAT presented "Somerville... in Shorts!" to an audience of over 200 people. The evening began with live music by the rock band, Faces of Film. Next, Tim Devin presented "The History of Somerville, 2010 - 2100," a community art project. The main attraction of the evening was the program of short films and animations by local filmmakers, which were quirky and entertaining.

Many thanks to the Somerville... in Shorts! committee, Greg Jenkins, Rachel Strutt, Karen Aqua, Kathryn Ostermier, Jessica Barnthouse, Stephanie Scherpf, Wendy Blom, and all the filmmakers who generously shared their work with the community. Thanks also to the Somerville Department of Public Works which did a great job setting up the event.

Award Video click here

The news is out! SCAT won the 2009 national Alliance for Community Media (ACM) Hometown Award for Overall Excellence. This is the fourth win for SCAT in five years, and is a testament to the quality and variety of programs produced by SCAT members and staff. The presentation of the award took place in July at the National ACM Conference in Portland, OR. Congratulations to SCAT members, the Board of Directors, SCAT staff, and all of Somerville.