ONE MAN’S STORY AS A COPLEY/COLONY PRODUCER

“One morning I got to the beach real early, just before dawn, and this whale was washed up on the sand. I thought the whale was dead. But when I bent over and touched it, the whale’s body was still warm. Suddenly, a big eye opened up and looked at me. I ran and told some lifeguards, and pretty soon, the local newspapers came. I thought, ‘Wow, this is my first big story.’ It was an incredible experience.”

Grant Bjorn was at Huntington Beach on that early morning two years ago to shoot “Surfline,” his public access cable program. The 34-year-old Costa Mesa resident started the show three years ago for local surfers when he made the jump from home camcorder to Copley/Colony Cablevision’s professional three-quarter-inch video equipment.

“I always wanted to get into video work, but it was so expensive,” he said. “Then I read in a local newspaper about this new thing called public access coming into our area. I thought, ‘Gosh, you can use these cameras and use this editing equipment for free?’ I couldn’t believe it.”

Bjorn went through the certification classes and produced his first episode of the slick “Surfline,” a cross between a sports show and MTV. In an attempt to find surfers to appear in future episodes, he listed a phone number at the end of the first show.

“I’ve had people calling me ever since,” Bjorn said. “Interest in ‘Surfline’ built up fast.”

Bjorn has produced 10 episodes of “Surfline” so far. In addition to highlighting local surfers in action, cut to exciting, fast-paced music, Bjorn features interviews and segments that range from surfboard construction to Frisbee-catching dogs. He is currently working on a special episode after interviewing cleanup crews and an oil industry official at Newport Beach after the local oil spill recently.

“I’m just thankful for the opportunity that public access provides,” said Bjorn, who is now working for a professional sports video company that he hopes to produce for one day. “Copley/Colony has to provide this equipment because it’s part of their deal, but they go out of the way to get people involved. I really don’t understand why more people don’t take advantage of it.”