New Ulm Community Access Television (NUCAT) is a service available to all citizens of New Ulm. Our mission is to create television programming with the intent to inform, educate, and entertain by highlighting local issues, events, and people.

Cable “access” means that the medium is available for anyone to share or create and NUCAT provides many ways to get involved. If you do not have any experience creating visual media, have no fears — we are always looking for volunteer production assistants. As an assistant you will get hands-on experience running cameras, operating audio equipment, and the ins and outs of the editing process. At NUCAT we film many different types of programs including concerts, parades, talk shows, and speaker presentations. It’s a great way to learn the ropes.

We also offer one-on-one classes in the use of our mobile A/V equipment and in-house television studio equipment. We start with the basics and work our way up from there. You will be taught how to operate a professional level HD camcorder, how to upload the footage to a computer, and how to edit the footage using Adobe Premiere, the same software many Hollywood productions use. Once trained you are able to check out equipment and reserve studio time free of charge.

Do you have an idea but you’re not quite sure how to make it happen? We can help with that too! A NUCAT staff member can guide a volunteer with an idea to a completed project. We can help edit scripts, discuss location options, secure talent, and production assistants. We want to help make your project the best it can be. Once finished the final product will be shared on the cable access channel and will be yours to keep and share online or make DVD copies.

More and more people these days have their own camera equipment and editing software at home and that’s great too. Not all programs we air need to be created with our equipment and resources. If you prefer to work alone and would like to share your content, that is an option too.

If you have more questions about how to be a NUCAT volunteer stop by our office located in the lower level of the New Ulm Public Library. You can also call 507-359-8290 or email the coordinator at stevens@newulmmn.gov.

Editor’s Note: The City of New Ulm presents a weekly column highlighting activities in different departments in the city government. Once a month the city will answer questions from readers. Questions on New Ulm city issues can be sent to comments@ci.new-ulm.mn.us.