Classroom to Studio

If your ambition is to get on the air through your local cable company or television station, area broadcast officials say, you are A) a rare breed, and B) probably underestimating the work ahead.

Still, several of those officials said they welcome inquiries from would-be video producers. The first step, they said, is education.

At Jones Intercable in Oxnard, officials offer a 14-week course in video production that meets twice weekly, 2 1/2 hours each session. The course is offered twice yearly, beginning in September and February, and starting next February will carry a $10 fee.

About 40 students, many of them from Oxnard High School and Oxnard College, recently completed the course, station manager Robert Cowie said.

“We go over all the aspects of video production,” Cowie said. “We have not run across anybody doing anything as elaborate as this.” More information is available from Jones Intercable at 485-3888, Ext. 208.

At Ventura County Cablevision in Westlake Village, community programming officials offer CRE-8, a free, six-hour course on video production. Other workshops in editing, lighting and sound are sometimes available. More information is available from Ventura County Cablevision at (805) 379-5300 or (818) 889-7370.

Ventura’s Cable Channel 6, which provides local programming to Avenue TV Cable Service and Century Cable, both in Ventura, holds no regularly scheduled courses. However, manager John Robinson said the station does offer unpaid internships.