wfn.org | UMCom offers free video production to annual conferences

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 14 1999	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{026}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - United Methodist Communications (UMCom) is
providing a new, free video production service to help annual conferences
tell their stories.

UMCom Productions, a unit of UMCom, began offering the video production
services on Jan. 1 to help annual conferences explain and interpret the work
of the church, and to improve connections with local churches and the
denomination worldwide. The production department is providing the service
in cooperation with the Conference Resourcing Team, another agency unit
charged with ensuring that annual conferences find the people and resources
needed for effective communications ministry.

Steve Downey, UMCom Productions director, said the agency created the Video
Production for Annual Conferences service for three reasons: to highlight
stories of the church in action in the individual annual conferences; to
support conference leaders who know the stories and want to use video to
tell them; and to respond to conference communicators who have asked for
assistance in creating customized videos.

The service is designed for conference leadership who have a message they
want to communicate but lack the creative, technical, or financial resources
to make their ideas a reality, according to a brochure announcing the
program. 

"Our purpose is to deliver compelling stories about the work of the people
of the church in ways that generate strong, positive emotions in the minds
of the viewers," Downey said. 

One of the strengths of video is its ability to build a bond between the
message of the video and the viewer, he said. "Like a good sermon, a video
leaves the viewer connected to the message, the viewer internalizes the
message, (but) video is more directed."

It is important that people at all levels of the church have access to the
different communication tools available to promote the church and connect
the conference and the world, Downey said.  

UMCom officials hope annual conferences will see the service as another tool
for strengthening their constituents' feelings toward and knowledge about
their conferences. 

"I'm delighted that our agency is able to do this," the Rev. Judy Weidman,
UMCom's top executive. "This is how the system was meant to work."

UMCom Productions expects the 10-  to 15-minute videos to not only show
people in service but to communicate the outcome of the service and its
importance. 

To use the program, conference staff members will need to articulate a
clearly defined message and have a plan for delivering it to an audience
that would want to see it, Downey said. "There is nothing worse than a video
with an important message just sitting on a shelf."

Although the service is free, there is an application process. Applicants
need not be experienced in video production,  but should be skilled in
identifying a good story and be able to learn the strengths and limitations
of video. Successful applicants are required to spend time with UMCom
personnel developing a script, working on location, and doing screening and
evaluation.  The agency will work with a single contact person in the
conference who will make decisions about video content.

"The process of creating the video is a partnership," Downey said. "UMCom
and the conference will each bring different and necessary skills and
knowledge to the project." 

For more information or applications, contact Downey by e-mail at
sdowney@umcom.umc.org or by calling (615) 742-5450.

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472