Brother Michael Jones was born in Tennessee. After serving in the U.S. Air Force
Michael returned to Bridgeport where he has called "home" for about
forty years. With an interest in cooking, he attended Bullard Havens Regional
Vocational Technical School taking evening classes as a chef apprentice. During
that time he got to work along side Julia Childs and had the pleasure of cooking
for Betty Davis. Michael spent most of his career cooking for many Fairfield
County restaurants, country clubs, and nursing homes. He was one of the first
African Americans to own a fish and chip take-out establishment in downtown
Bridgeport.
Later in his career Michael began volunteering at the
Thomas Merton Soup Kitchen. After two years they offered him a job as a part-time
chef and he worked at the soup kitchen for 9 years. Since his retirement
Michael still does community outreach with the Thomas Merton Soup Kitchen.
He also started speaking about his struggles and street experiences to the
Bridgeport Rescue Mission, Street Ministry, and Sacred Heart University.
His outreach efforts were featured in a book called, “Touching People’s
Lives: A Service Learning Reader” edited by Ralph Corrigan, in which
he discussed “The Deterioration of Our Communities.”
While participating in Street Ministry out in Washington
Park in Bridgeport, Joan Neves, a public access producer at Sound View and
also a participant the Street Ministry, asked Michael if he would like to
be on TV. Michael regularly appeared on her public access program called “Voice
of the People.” Sound View’s former training manager, Adam Shopis,
approached Michael and asked him if he would be interested in becoming a producer.
After Michael completed the training course, he volunteered helping other
public access producers with their programs. Eventually Michael began producing
his own program called “Fellowship Community Service” which airs
Tuesdays at 11:30AM. Fellowship Community Service has been airing for 5 years.
Two years later he started another program called “People of Excellence”
which airs Mondays at 6PM. In 2003 Michael began to produce “live”
studio programs as well. Michael says “It’s been a blast
of a trip and a travel experience. I love it! I love it! I love
it!” According to Michael, his programs offer “spiritual encouragement,
a way to help people look at the better side of life and to reach inside themselves”
and “as a motivator and an encourager.”
In 2003 Michael received Sound View’s highest
Tommy Award--the Christopher M. Bowley Excellence in Access Award. A very humble
Michael said “Everything clicked. I still don’t know a lot
of things and I keep on bothering the people that work at Sound View, but they
keep helping me out little by little by little and I’m improving. You
can’t buy this type of education that I got here at Sound View.”
The field digital TV production classes are continuing to be a great success
here at Sound View. Many of our existing producers are transitioning from analog
to digital with minimal difficulty. New producers are also being trained and
certified on the Casablanca Avio System. Organizations are taking advantage
of our training programs as well. Middle school students from the Diocese of
Bridgeport recently completed the program and are underway with the creation
their own programming centered on school activities. Their shows will be cablecast
on our educational channel 78. Members of the Fairfield Senior Center completed
learning digital equipment and are now producing new shows with their newly
acquired knowledge. Our newest group is from Career Resources and they are anxious
to apply what they are learning to producing career training programs for our
educational channel. Producers that have completed the Casablanca digital class
are training on our more sophisticated Premiere Pro edit systems as well. If
you or your organization want to receive TV production certification, please
contact our training manager, Ashley Anderson at 345-0100, ext. 15, or email
to Anderson@soundviewtv.org.
TV public access resources in the six towns we serve, John Ecay, technical director
and Dave Coe, our production technician, came up with a concept that would achieve
two objectives: 1) educate and promote the resources and assets that our towns
offer; and 2) utilize the talents of our public access producers and Sound View
staff in producing a weekly show. When John pitched this concept to some
of our producers, he was impressed with the enthusiastic response generated
by them to volunteer in launching “Niki @ Noon.”
The one hour “live” show featured a host, guests, and videotape
coverage of timely events and entertainment happening in our communities.
Along with Sound View staff and a dedicated and talented volunteer crew, Niki
@ Noon started in late December 2004 and continued into April 2005 on our public
access channel 77. We had exceptional studio camera caliber in Tommy Award
winner Michael Jones, along with Vinny Sarullo, Bob Adams, Tony Thibodeau, and
staff member Ashley Anderson. Our on-location crew included Sean Corvino,
Bob Romano, Barry Jackson, and our “man-the-street-- Zeek”, Ezequias
Reyes. Tommy Award winners Jim Miklos, Steve Korosh, and Francisco Rodriguez
were joined by staff members Manny Young, Ashely Anderson and John Ecay to round
out our audio, wireless, graphics, and technical production crew. Niki
Dera, a 2004 Tommy Award winner, was a natural fit to be the host of our Friday
lunchtime show, (and thus the original name “Niki @ Noon”).
While the program highlighted public events, local arts and entertainment venues,
it creatively incorporated area non-profit and government agencies, business
leaders and volunteers. One initial segment featured a visual history
of the Town of Stratford. Past guests represented the American Red Cross,
the Cardinal Shehan Center, the Barnum Festival and Ringmaster, Career Resources,
Southwestern Community Health Center, State Senator Bill Finch along with State
Representative Charles Clemons Jr., and the Bridgeport Bluefish.
Niki @ Noon went on location to showcase, interview and videotape artists including
female impersonator Jim Bailey performing at the Bridgeport Klein Memorial Auditorium,
The Coastal Chordsmen, poet Richard Fewel reading from Rainey Faye Bookstore,
among others.
According to Sound View’s president Tom Castelot “We accomplished
our objectives with the show. Best of all, the camaraderie of staff and
producers was a winning formula for this team project and we want to further
nurture it.” Producing an hour long “live” show requires
quite a time commitment and effort to sustain momentum. The volunteer
crews put in more time than they originally planned to devote.
In late May, early June, Sound launched a reformatted version of Niki @ Noon
but condensed the show into a half-hour magazine-style program. “We
are very fortunate that Niki Dera will continue to be a key player, and most
of our producers will continue to dedicate their production expertise to the
show. The show, renamed NTV, will still focus on local talent, events,
organizations, and achievers in our viewing area,” said John Ecay, the
show’s executive producer. Some impressive lineups are on tap including
actor Lou Diamond Phillip’s recent performance at the Playhouse on the
Green and comedian Bob Newhart’s April 30th performance at the Klein Auditorium.
“NTV” is already launched. Please check our channel schedule for
cablecast dates.
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