A local school is fundraising to build a state of the art television production studio.
The Theater Arts Production Community School in Fordham is in the process of raising funds and forming an ongoing industry partnership needed to build the television production facility for students that will complement a rooftop garden with an outdoor stage that is currently under construction.
Principal Ron Link said the school has formed a partnership with non-profit Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network that should provide the technical expertise TAPCo needs to construct a new television studio space, as well as a new control room, video editing room, classroom specifically for television production and an outdoor soundstage.
Assemblyman Victor Pichardo visited the school on Friday, October 26 and provided TAPCo with a $500,000 check towards their television production effort.
Pichardo said that when he was first elected he visited every school in his district, and shortly after visiting TAPCo, he was able to connect them with HITN, which had been looking to partner with borough schools as part of its educational mission.
The partnership between HITN and the school has been underway for about three years, said Pichardo, with Link saying that they HITN is providing students with learning opportunities, such as their Film Critic Bootcamp, at their Brooklyn headquarters.
Pichardo said that the television studio would be a continuation of the emerging partnership, and would give students the 21st century digital media skills that will directly prepare students for future jobs in the field.
“Our children deserve the best of the best,” said Pichardo. “We need to make sure that they are learning with the most updated technology of this field.”
Link said that he envisions using a rooftop garden, that is currently under construction and being funded by Councilman Ritchie Torres, as an outdoor soundstage with cameras, expanding on the possible uses for the sustainable outdoor oasis.
Design classes at the school came up with the renderings for the control room, classroom, soundstage in the garden with outdoor cantilevered cameras controlled from inside, and a studio.
“We will be the first school in the city – public or private – to have this for our students,” said Link, adding it its most appropriate for the TAPCo, a performing arts school.
Currently if TAPCo students want to learn how to be camera operators, videographers, editors or be on-air personalities, they are afforded the opportunity either as a part of HITN television station internships or are fed through a pipeline by HITN to a score of other programs, said Link.
