A one time corporate guy, Mark Castillo is now, like many of us, a struggling student. After eight years working as a stockbroker for a number of well know financial institutions, Mark is now a full time student at CCSF. For the last season of IDTV he wrote, directed and produced. He also was the producer for the “Best of IDTV” and openly admits that “IDTV is one of the best experiences I’ve had,” in terms of building the necessary skills to be successful in the workforce. Things used to be very different for Mark. In 2007 Mark left his position at Lehman Brothers with a sour taste in his mouth. He admits, “It was scary,” but the behaviors of some of his corporate partners disgusted him. Although he points out that not all of them are bad, “Some of the people that survive those jobs are some of the worst people you will meet….You really gotta be a shark.” Though he was good with the intellectual aspect of his job, there were certain parts of the job he had a really hard time with. “I simply could not lie to people on the phone,” although he often witnessed some of his colleagues “high fiving each other after screwing someone over.” In 2008 when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Mark wasn’t surprised because he had seen that one coming for a long time. Luckily by the time it all went down, Mark had already moved on with his life. Mark starting taking cinema classes at CCSF, and from there his interest expanded into broadcast. “I like the art of cinema but really like the immediacy of broadcast.” Since being at CCSF, he has also taken broadcast writing classes, audio classes, announcing classes, and of course, the class that produces IDTV. He feels good about the skills he has been able to acquire since starting at CCSF. “The Broadcast Department here is terrific, I’ve had great teachers who really care.” Arthur Pines and Misha Antonich are the instructors for the IDTV class, and Mark feels like he has been able to really build his skill set working with both of them. After taking a suggestion from one of his instructors to take a broadcasting class, he admits that his introductory broadcast class with Arthur got him hooked. “It is really great to work with someone who is working in the field,” he says in regards to what it has been like to take Arthur’s classes. As far as what he thinks about Misha, “He really gives some of his self to the class. You really feels that he cares and you can’t put a dollar value on that.” Although life has changed completely for Mark in the past few years, he feels good about the direction he is headed for. “In a funny way I feel I’m working towards something I’m good at and I feel good doing, but I just need to get my hands around the skills to make it happen...I’m excited for the future now, and before the future was always cloudy.” http://idtvshow.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/idtvshow http://www.facebook.com/events/

Chun Yu Chiu is a rather reserved and quiet guy when you first meet him, and in class discussions, he typically lets the rest of us do the talking, which is okay because many of us on class have LOTS to say. But, what Chun lacks in class discussion, he more than makes up for in knowledge and talent. From what I gather watching Chun silently mill around the studio, setting up the projectors, playing with cameras, fixing the monitor I thought I broke by stupidly running into it (I’m a natural blond people), it’s pretty clear the man knows what he’s doing. Chun has told me “I hate math but I love computers,” then humbling adding, “I’m not really good at computers.” I’m sure there are many who would disagree with that one though, buddy. Chun got his start in animation, in which he has a certificate and did that for about three years until he made his switch to video about five years ago. He tells me he made his move from animation to video because “I’m not really that artistic and video is much more my style.” Originally from Hong Kong, he moved to the Bay Area in 1996. Raised a Christian, thanks to his grandmother, the first in the family, he attended church every Sunday growing up. After a brief hiatus, Chun returned to church and has been attending Golden Gate Christian Church on Geary and 10th since 2005. It is through his church that Chun really has the opportunity to exercise his media skills. He says that he is “always doing computer stuff, setting up projectors and Power Points,” for various projects and events for his church. He also shoots the talent show that his church has at their annual retreat in April every year. In addition, he shoots many Baptisms, especially for those Cantonese-speaking members of his congregation. Chun says that the skills he has gained at CCSF and through working on IDTV, his skills have improved immensely. He admits there is more he wants to learn. “I want to learn more about cameras, framing, composing an image and editing,” he says. “I also am taking Broadcast 110 at CCSF and want to learn more about creating content and story.” Chun also helped last semester putting together a “Best of IDTV” project that can also be seen on YouTube. Chun has hopes of having his own freelance video company, and feels that his experiences at CCSF are helping build towards that. No doubt Chun will have some really valuable skills to lend to this years production of IDTV, and there is sure to be success in his future. Thanks for reading more to come next week. Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube! Till next time, Jenn Brown http://www.facebook.com/ccsfidtv https://twitter.com/#!/idtvshow http://idtvshow.tumblr.com/

As I walked back into the IDTV studio at City College of San Francisco, I could feel the electricity in the air. I looked around at the eager faces of the students in the class, the amazing state of the art cameras, lights, switcher and audio equipment, and I thought to myself, “This is gonna be another amazing year!” For those of you unfamiliar, IDTV is a magazine style variety show that airs three times though out the year on Comcast Channels 27 and 75, each program running a half hour. IDTV can also be viewed at http://youtube.com/ccsfbroadcast, and I encourage you to check it out! IDTV entertains viewers with issues relative to the CCSF campus and the Bay Area from the perspective of a group of incredibly talented and diverse students enrolled in the class. But beyond that, IDTV gives students from all walks of life to really learn the essential elements involved in television and video production through hands-on involvement. All IDTV programs are produced, directed, written and everything in between, by the students. I have to admit that when I first enrolled at City College of San Francisco for the IDTV class, I really wasn’t expecting much. Maybe some rinky-dink cameras, a couple computers with a basic editing programs and maybe a microphone or two. So when I walked into the studio for the first time last January and laid my eyes upon all of the amazing equipment (which I have been told was not cheap!), and I sat down to a lecture one of our lovely instructors, Misha Antioch, was giving on the first day of class, I was absolutely blown away. I could barely even understand what the hell he was saying, and everyone else seems so much smarter that me, and what is that camera doing up on that crazy looking crane! It was so intimidating, so exhilarating, and I felt like a complete idiot for having such low expectations. The only thing I could think to myself was “Now why on earth has it taken me so long to get my butt down here?” I have since gained an immense amount of truly valuable knowledge that I can take with me and apply in the workforce, and I could not be more grateful. I can honestly say that I learned more about television and video production in one semester at CCSF than I ever did in the entire six years I spent at university, and for a sickening fraction of the cost. Amazing. This semester I will be blogging each week about a different student on the class so you can get a feel for who is making the magic, so stay tuned! Also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr !! Till next time, Jenn Brown