Behind the Scenes

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December 1, 2009 • Derek Stark
Filed under High School, Sports

Most people have never heard of the group that brings athletic events to local viewers, puts in hours of work, yet gets little recognition: Fort TV.
Fort TV is responsible for producing the content that is played on the public access channel, which allows people to view events they were unable to attend.
This member based group is advised by Mrs. Brokl and Mr. Hatlen, but has grown through all of the students’ hard work. Just four years ago Fort TV was made up of around ten members. Each member dedicates a certain amount of time to filming and editing.
“Our organization would be nowhere without our members,” Senior President Chris Scherer said.
Scherer is responsible for most of the technical aspects of the station.
“Chris has been in Fort TV all four years and has been very knowledgeable in the AV department since day one,” Advisor Sandy Brokl said.
Fort TV is very similar to the likes of PBS, in that they do not advertise for profit.
“The only income we receive is from donations and whatever we can get from the school district,” Scherer said.
This does not stop the School District from rewarding members with pay.
“It’s not a lot, but the experience gained by working on a television crew is priceless,” Scherer said.
Most people don’t realize all of the “behind the scenes” work that occurs in Fort TV. After the filming of the event, the members must import the video and program the final play out. The members must find time in their own schedules to get all of the work done. Scherer alone spends nearly three hours a day in the library to work strictly on Fort TV.
“The thing that people know is that there is no instruction manual or pre-designed system. It’s a system that has taken me all four years of high school to perfect,” Scherer said.
As this organization continues to grow in size, it will have to deal with a major loss as Scherer will be graduating this spring.
The organization will look to have someone step-up and to continue improving the system that Scherer created.
“Without this system and the dedicated club members we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Scherer said.