Charles Chamot of the Chamot Art Gallery on First Street gives credit to Richard McCallister for coming up with the idea for the “Jersey City Arts” cable show.
“Richard wanted to do something for the arts community,” said Chamot. “So he contacted me and we worked on the idea for the show.”
McCallister operates the Channel 1 cable station from City Hall, which broadcasts a number of city events, including council meetings.
Chamot said Jersey City Arts would start off as a half hour interview program, profiling different artists in the Jersey City arts community.
“I’m going to be the program coordinator and Richard will be directing the program,” Chamot explained. “The interviews will conducted by Kim Snyder and will be done in the artist’s studios.”
According to McCallister, some of the details regarding the program still have to be worked out. By next week, McCallister estimated, he would know when the interview program would begin airing.
“So far we have four programs taped,” said Chamot. “We interviewed two painters named Lisa Portnoff and Ron Morrowsan. Also, we have spoken to William Rodwell and Bruce Morozko, who are sculptors.”
Chamot added the first episode of Jersey City Arts will feature him explaining the purpose of the program. “The shows we have taped still need to be edited and dubbed,” said Chamot.
Snyder, a downtown resident and professional actress, stated the purpose of the Jersey City Arts program is educational.
“We want to enlighten people in Jersey City about the arts community,” said Snyder. “The Jersey City arts community is famous in New York City and in Europe, but a lot people in the city don’t know about the artist we have here.”
Snyder described the Jersey Arts program as a work in progress.
“We’re working things out with the program,” said Snyder. “The show will probably go through changes.”
If the program turns out to be a success, Chamot said the content of the show would expand to skits and commentary.
“We would like to combine public television with MTV and Saturday Night Live,” Chamot explained. “We could possibly do skits satirizing the city. Of course, that is all in the planning stage.”
Snyder said she would concentrate on the interview aspect of the program for now.
“Working in front of the camera is very different from working on stage,’ said Snyder about her role as an interviewer. “Camera work is a lot more intimate.”
Although she has been on stage and in movies and television, this is Snyder’s first chance to work as an interviewer.
“Playing a part and reading someone else’s lines is easy,” Snyder explained. “But it’s very hard to be who you actually are on camera.”
Snyder said the program may also move out into the community, drawing viewers’ attention to different arts festivals.
“We might profile events like the Cathedral Arts Festival held at Grace Van Vorst Church on a yearly basis,” Snyder stated. “Jersey City is a place where arts festivals need to be explored.”
Chamot agreed that a cable program would be a benefit for the arts community in Jersey City.
“The council just renamed our district the Powerhouse Arts district,” Chamot state. “What the district needs now is attention. If the arts community in Jersey City doesn’t get attention, it will be dead.”
Chamot hopes the programs will begin airing in May at a suitable viewing time.
“The program would probably be on in the evenings,” Chamot stated. “The last thing we want to do is compete with prime time television. We want everyone to see this show.”