Step One - Membership Become a member of FACT. Membership is required. to become a member you must attend one orientation class and be a cable subscriber in our coverage area. If you are not a cable subscriber and live out of area you must complete five hour of volunteer labor for fact with in six months.
Step Two - Training Our training program helps you make better media. In order to use any of our free equipment you must pass one of the corresponding classes. Digital Production Or Studio Production.
Step Three - Production Use FACT's production equipment for free, and the media you make will appear on one of two channels and website.
Production Options at FACT FACT offers many options in helping you get your program up and running.
Make Your Own Program What Falls Area Community Television does best is help people make their own stuff. We do this by providing members with access to our equipment and facilities & training at no cost.
The key piece of community production at FACT is this Production Contract. This is an agreement between you and us that clearly states you get to use our cameras, lights, mics, editors, and live studio facilities, but only with the understanding that anything you produce must be cablecast on FACT's channels. Members are allowed to use equipment and facilities free of charge for a limited period of time, as long as certain expectations are met:
• Contracts are only issued to members in good standing who have been trained in the equipment they are requesting for use. • Copies of productions made with FACT gear must be broadcast on our channels. • Sole ownership of the program must be held by the producer.
Use our Equipment & Facilities FACT has a large inventory of production equipment available to the community for potentially free use, including one studio, portable HD video cameras, professional editing suites and a public computer lab.
PSA Soap Box The PSA Soap box is a one camera in studio production that allows community members to get the word out about their local event on TV.
Multi-Camera Television Studio Production We have a three camera, fully lighted, digital video studio lined into our master control desk. A four member crew can operate the master studio with our broadcast pix digital switcher, 8 channel audio mixer, Inscriber CG system and record on multiple formats (DVD, MiniDV Digital). This studio has been used for film, photo, video, and audio productions. We have the ability to record to tape or go LIVE to FACT cable subscribers.
Field Cameras FACT has a wide range of digital & HD video cameras in stock for member use. Cameras range from 3-ccd Panasonic to small palmcorder models.
Audio Equipment Our audio equipment is specialized for video recordings, and we have a variety of microphones (omni, cardiod, directional, lav) with any of the cords or adapters you may need. We have field audio mixers and portable audio recording devices in our stock as well.
Editing Facilities Our digital video editing workstations are Mac OS X plaforms running the newest versions of Final Cut X. FACT will also lend you temporary use of a portable hard drives in order to store your video media while you are editing.
Get your Program Televised Falls Area Community Television operates two cable television channels and residents and members may submit programs for cablecast to our 6,000 cable-subscribing households. There are a lot of options for submitting programs to FACT.
In-Studio Programming The most popular program format on FACT channels is the In-Studio Programs. These programs are entirely produced at FACT with partial technical help from FACT employees. These programs are produced either on a weekly or Bi-weekly basis and requires little technical knowledge of video production. In-studio program can be submitted as either a “Special” or a “Series” program. Special programs get a standard introduction and standard graphics.
Pre-recorded programming FACT will accept pre-recorded program submissions as either "special" or "series" type programs. Special programs are one-shot, stand alone programs that are scheduled according to timeslot availability on a short term basis. Series are a number of episodes of the same program that are cablecast in a fixed timeslot across many weeks or months. The series contract and timeslot lasts until January of the next year, when the timeslot may be changed at FACT's discretion. Any Great Falls resident can submit a Special program as a non-member. Series programs always require membership with FACT.
To submit or request a program: • Read and fully understand the our policies and more specific our programming policies You must agree to these policies or we cannot broadcast your program. • Become member Only Access members may produce in-studio programming, prerecorded programs. • Download and complete the program submission form. Download the cablecast request Incomplete forms cannot be accepted. • Non-residents are required to obtain the signature of a local Greater Falls sponsor willing to take full responsibility for legal abuses contained in your program. • Submit your completed forms with your program in either MPG2 or DVD. No VHS. If you are requesting a live program then a staff member will contact you for training.
Get Free Coverage Of Your Organization Event Under specific circumstances, FACT will produce programming for organizations. FACT provides the people and equipment to cover events, and the organization supplies the content and publicity.
Requirements for Free Event Coverage In order to receive free video coverage from FACT, your organization and event must meet the following requirements: •The event must be open to the public. •Submit an Application •Event must be approved by FACT Event Coverage Committee •The event must have demonstrable relevance to the Greater Falls community. •Without restriction, FACT reserves the right to post & air on it’s website & cable channels.
FACT TV Will Not Provide Free Coverage If •The event is commercial in nature or intended to make a profit. •The event does not have an audience in our coverage area. •The event is already receiving coverage from other media operations.
To Receive Free Event Coverage If your event is eligible for free video coverage, then the sponsoring organization will be expected to: •Accept full responsibility for the content of the program, talent, and necessary releases. •Provide FACT with relevant details about the event, such as time, date and location, and any descriptions of the event including topic, speakers, etc. •Provide FACT with any technical details relating to audio or lighting facilities that may exist at the event location. •Make every effort possible to publicize the broadcast of the finished program on FACT's channels and/or website. •Acknowledge FACT for providing free video coverage of the event, either during the event or other appropriate means.
What Your Organization Will Receive If FACT provides free video coverage of your event, your organization will receive the following services: •FACT will provide a single camera and operator for a maximum of 4 hours of production time, including setup and breakdown. •FACT will do simple post-production editing, not to exceed 5 hours, to prepare the program for our television channels. Additional time is available at cost. •FACT will provide one copy of the finished program to the organization requesting coverage. Additional copies can be made at extra cost. •FACT will share ownership and rights to the finished program with the event organizers. You may distribute copies of the program; however, if it is being sold, profits must be split evenly with FACT. •FACT will schedule the finished program to be seen on our cable channels and/or website, and will retain copies for future replays or other FACT promotional uses.Copyright of the finished program is held by the organization sponsoring the event. Requests for copies from outside parties will be directed to the organization's contact person, who may choose to allow FACT to sell copies. Original footage recorded by FACT staff and volunteers is owned by FACT and may be purchased by the event sponsors at cost. FACT makes its best effort to provide free video coverage of community events but in some cases we are unable to provide this service due to scheduling and availability of our resources.Also, while FACT intends to produce high quality programming of community events, and we arrange for the most skilled individuals to provide this service, many of our production crew and assistants are not trained professionals. If you have production needs that are outside the scope of these free services, or wish to produce programming that is not intended for broadcast on our channels or website, you may consider hiring one of FACT’s professional production team members. Download Application
Hire Us! Some individuals and organizations don’t’ have time to learn video production & would rather pay to have a video produced for them. FACT offers several commercial service options, ranging from the rental of our production gear to full service production teams. For more information click here
