ing to MCAT’s editing bays. On the days they finish their shoot quickly, they stand outside the station’s building on the corner of Spruce and Higgins, waiting as long as it takes for the doors to be unlocked.
Walking inside MCAT, anyone can catch a behindthe-scenes glimpse of the station’s characters. At one editing cubicle sits Emmet the Aging Punk Rocker, aka Rabid Dog. (Those are the only monikers he’s willing to give.) Emmet has hosted his show, “The Awful Truth About Society,” for 14 years and, with his recognizable mohawk and leather jacket, is as close to a celebrity as there is on public access television. On the show, the anarchist Christian unleashes various diatribes about society. He kicks over the table and eats Cheetos, meandering wildly through topics from gays in the military to Michelle Obama’s promotion of healthy eating. (He’s against both). Another high-profile producer, Frank Anos, can sometimes be found at MCAT’s offices, too. His antiabortion call-in show, “Metaphysical Concepts, Viewer Discretion Advised,” has resulted in 435 calls of complaint to MCAT over its four-year lifespan. On the screen during the program, Anos shows a photo of a dog being skinned alive, which he pulled from a PETA website. When callers inevitably complain, he tells them that abortion is worse. Emmet and Anos stand out, but their shows repre- Christian Ackerman has been making horror and sci-fi films at MCAT since he arrived in Missoula 13 years ago. “MCAT was my YouTube,” sent only a sliver of what viewers can find on MCAT. Be- he says. “I started putting my stuff out there and I started getting noticed.” tween channel 11, the civic channel, and the more and edited the eight-minute film in 72 hours for MCAT’s mad at someone,” Michael says, collecting himself. “It’s cause producers would have keys to come and go,” Baird wide-ranging channel 7, viewers can catch city council Do It in 72 Film Festival. They won first place and really easy to start chaos, but it’s a better man that takes says. “The Bahá’í started at 7 and they’d go until they got meetings and other public gatherings, discussions on hisreceived a standing ovation from the festival crowd after the time and gives a word of encouragement. That’s what tired at about midnight or 1 and then start tapering off. toric preservation, lectures from the University of Monthey needed. That’s what I needed. In the beginning we They got a lot of national attention because they were its screening. tana, quirky short films from high school students, As the men finish their lunch at the Savoy, they offer were all rough, but now we’re this band of brothers. It’s proclaiming the end of the world several times and they documentaries, religious shows and music programs. As showed up in Harper’s magazine.” a play-by-play of the awards ceremony with the kind of amazing the way things have fallen into place.” producers come and go, the programs also change. But In 1998, MCAT went through some inner turmoil thrill usually reserved for winning an Oscar. For this no matter who’s creating content, MCAT provides a winwhen the board fired Executive Director Randy Ammon group of misfits, MCAT may as well be Hollywood. dow into public, civic and educational life in Missoula. When Joel Baird joined the MCAT board at its incep- over issues that, to this day, remain murky. People con“When I came to MCAT they were looking for an It’s a place that allows everyone—local politicians, budactor for a segment called ‘Flashback,’ about Vietnam vet- tion in 1990, the nonprofit dealt in SVHS tapes and cam- tinue to have strong feelings about the situation on both ding filmmakers, free speech proponents, conspiracy theerans,” says Tony Askins, who hosts “Talk of the Town.” eras that were twice the size of a bowling ball. The sides, lauding Ammon as a beloved leader who was dedorists and activists—to be seen and heard. He starts to choke up. “It was very, very powerful. I went common person didn’t have the means to make a movie. icated to community access television and free speech, Michael’s group of producers, who work under the from nobody to an actor to the cameraman to my own Computers weren’t powerful enough for editing and while others expressed concern that he wasn’t keeping name E.M. Stage&Light (the E.M. stands for Eric talk show in a month and a half. I love what I’m doing.” there were no smartphones or moderately priced digital up with new technologies. Ammon sued the station and, Michael), typically spend six days a week at MCAT in EdHe pauses and points to Michael. “He made me some- cameras. The station’s access center saw far more public after the board dissolved as part of a settlement, MCAT iting Suite 2 making shows like “Music in Montana,” “Talk struggled to overcome the blow of a small-city scandal. producers during that decade. body again.” of the Town” and “What’s In Your Garden Missoula?” A few years later, in 2002, Baird was asked to step From the beginning, MCAT was charged by local govMichael shakes his head. “You made yourself someThey’re working on another creative series, “The Ides of ernment to provide “Missoula residents and organiza- up as director. “I was the reluctant hero and I also felt body.” March,” and a film called Zombie Brides from Planet X. tions with the equipment, training and like a scab,” he says. Another one of their series, “Eight MCAT operates under two main philosophies. One channel time to produce programs Minutes,” has aired once a week for based on their interests and concerns.” is supporting free speech for the public. The other is to nine episodes. The esoteric short draThe money, taken from cable subscrip- provide access to anyone who wants to make a show. In mas are shot in black-and-white and actions, is a kind of tax on the cable com- that way, it is unlike most other arts and community noncompanied by beautiful, often pany for being able to make millions of profits, because beyond its basic tenets, it doesn’t supmournful piano music created by dollars running its network through the port any one message. Michael. The show’s tagline asks, “We’re very chameleon-like in our public face,” Baird public right of way. Per the Communi“What will you be thinking when time cations Act of 1984, the city of Missoula says. “What people see are what the producers contribute comes for you?” It’s described on its collects the money from the company to the channel. And producers change all the time. One Facebook page as “a miniseries filled and passes on 65 percent of what they day we’re the golden child and the next day we’re the with characters who are beguiled and evil harbinger of what-have-you.” collect to MCAT for its programming. demoralized … so blinded by desire Perhaps the most controversial period for MCAT pro“So our budget is flexible,” Baird that they cannot foresee the pain and explains. “If there are a lot of cable sub- gramming started in June 2000 when white supremacist trouble that are bound to ensue.” scribers, our budget would grow bigger. Matt Hale began producing his show “Race and Reason.” The producers spend 40-plus If the cost of cable subscriptions goes MCAT ran the show according to its First Amendment behours a week shooting and cutting to up then our budget will also grow liefs, but many people were outraged that the station make these programs come to life. gave it air time. Baird says the Montana Human Rights bigger.” “We’re not getting drunk on a corFrom the beginning, MCAT had a Network eventually stepped in and produced a counterner,” Michael says. “We’re not beating MCAT Director Joel Baird has seen the station evolve since its inception wild mix of programs. One prominent point show, which aired directly after Hale’s. wives, we’re not doing heroin. We’re in 1990. The nonprofit’s library of shows has been transferred from SVHS “We want to be in partnership with the community show during the mid-1990s was a six-hour doings something positive and good.” to DVD and now are being converted to computer files. sermon every Friday produced by and yet give that broad view of what people are thinking, Last month, the producers finished leaders from the local Bahá’í chapter, a re- too,” Baird says. “That was one of my defenses on [‘Race an episode of “Eight Minutes” called “In A few other men, including Michael, tear up. The ligious group that seeks to unify the principles of all and Reason’] was, ‘Don’t you want to know that someThe Eye of the Beholder,” wherein Declan Redmond, aka body in this town holds this view that the white race is major religions. barbecue is gone. “Red,” plays a tramp whose bad luck leads him to getting “Back then MCAT was more ‘Petticoat Junction’ be- the best race? Would you rather they were leading in se“My grandfather taught me that it’s really easy to be beat up and, eventually, hit by a car. The crew wrote, shot
missoulanews.com • June 27 – July 4 , 2013 [15]