Live, from Brick Memorial High, it’s Monday night

By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI Joe Pasternak focuses one of the cameras on guest Peter Daniels during a taping of Mayor Joseph Scarpelli’s cable television program last week.

BRICK — It’s about two minutes to air, and at last, Mayor Joseph Scarpelli, the star of the show, makes his way through the studio doors. It was a close call, but the students manning the cameras never fretted — every taping seems to begin this way.

The two-member camera crew uses its last few moments to fix their preferred angles on Scarpelli and the night’s guest. Then, Television Production 3 student Andrew Scatuorchio, 18, gives the word.

"Quiet on the set ... we’re going to five seconds."

So began the Nov. 25 episode of About the Town, the mayor’s live biweekly television show that is taped Monday nights on Comcast Cablevision’s public access station B72. The mayor may be the host of the show, but it is a coordinated effort by district high school students that makes it possible.

Stephen Galgon, a television production teacher at Brick Memorial High School, reviews the monitors and checks the sound during a taping of the mayor’s program last week.

"The mayor’s show is the most complex one that we do because it’s done live and on a regular basis," said television production teacher Shari Simontacchi. "When the kids do the show, they’ve got to be at their best because it’s live, and there’s no chance to go back and edit."

At 11 a.m., students of Simontacchi’s sixth-period Television Production 3 class begin dismantling the set from the morning show and assembling the mayor’s set. Every morning, a school-wide broadcast of news, sports and weather is produced out of the studio in Brick Memorial High School, Lanes Mill Road.

The studio became operational in 1998 and is now used to produce about 10 types of programming on a periodic basis. At the time, $243,000 was put aside by the Board of Education and Township Council to build the facility, and a $150,000 grant from Comcast paid for its equipment.

Students of the district’s various television production classes are required to participate in a certain number of shows per marking period as part of their grades. Final preparations for the 7 p.m. show begin around 6 p.m.

The night’s crew is Scatuorchio, who plans to pursue a career in television production; Joe Pasternak, 16, an aspiring on-air meteorologist; and Stephen Jordan, 17, a cooperative business education student who said he enjoys the work, and has been a part of each About the Town taping this year. Stephen Galgon, 23, of Brick, was the teacher and lead producer on the set.

"I wish I had something like this when I was in high school," Galgon said. "With this experience, my college work would have been much easier."

With the show rolling, Galgon and Jordan watched the set through monitors in the nearby control room, occasionally instructing the camera crew to make adjustments. Scarpelli is an animated subject, Galgon said, and sometimes the camera angles need to be adjusted to keep him in the center.

As a host, Scarpelli is friendly, talkative and disarming. Tonight’s guest, Peter Daniels, president of The Medical Center of Ocean County (Brick Hospital), said after the show that the mayor made it easy for him.

"We like to get a little up close and personal with our guests," Scarpelli said early in the show. "Tell us a little about Pete Daniels ..."

The audience learned that Daniels is an avid fan of Notre Dame football, has held his position at the hospital for seven months, and loves the Jersey Shore.

A staple of the show is the viewer call-in session that allows the audience to interact with its guests. Aides from the mayor’s office typically man the phones in the control room, typing in questions to be relayed to Scarpelli and his guests over a monitor.

"We put out anything that’s not repetitive," said Edward Moroney, an assistant of the mayor. "Any question that has anything to do with our guest usually has priority."

It began as a slow night for callers, but the questions soon flowed in. Is the township prepared for possible snowfalls? How can people get more involved in volunteering at the hospital? Will the town acquire traffic lights that detect fire engine and police lights? Scarpelli is a tough one to stump.

"He’s got to be on his toes and know a lot about what’s going on," said Brick Public Information Officer Bryan Dickerson.

The show progressed without a hitch, but Galgon warned that "the night is still young," and with 40 minutes to go, the chance for chaos remained. The only problem that night was a brief moment when the screen cut to a community bulletin board graphic that runs when there is no original programming. Galgon rushed to a second control room, flicked a switch, and solved the problem.

When the show was finished, Galgon switched the channel back to its bulletin board format. About the Town will now rerun several times over the next few weeks. The students began moving around the furniture and equipment on the set to ready for the next morning’s school broadcast.

"We have a lot of fun doing the show," Scarpelli said afterward. "It’s informative to the public and affords them a chance to ask questions in a nonstructured environment. It’s a great thing for the kids; it’s hands-on experience."