Months of work preceded minutes of TV retreat

Katherine Malle will.

As director of the Albany diocesan Media Office, Ms. Malle began work on the TV show more than a year ago when the idea of a televised retreat for the Jubilee Year surfaced. In February 1999, she started figuring how many shows would be best, what their format should be and how she could make sure they were seen throughout the 14-county Diocese.

"Three consecutive nights in prime time were essential," she said, recalling the goal that will be met on April 10-12 at 8 p.m. (see ad below). To achieve that, she began meeting with local TV affiliates about possible dates. Other meetings began as well as a committee of diocesan and parish personnel discussed how the Bishop's key points could best be communicated.

While he worked on the scripts for the three nights, the committee created ways to illustrate them with what has become known as "video parables," short segments in which Catholics from around the Diocese talk about the Bishop's themes.

Actual videotaping began last fall when Ms. Malle and Patrick Murphy, a producer with the Media Office, started capturing nature scenes that would complement the Bishop and parables. They also taped interviews with the 18 people featured in the parables, later editing their comments to match the Bishop's.

Meanwhile, Kim and Reggie Harris were working on music for the retreat, keeping in touch with the Media Office to make sure their composition was literally and figuratively in tune with the contents.

Over six days this winter, the Media Office taped the Bishop's portion of the programs in three different locations: St. Paul's Church in Troy, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany and Annunciation in Ilion. Then it was back to the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Albany to put everything together.

"It takes one hour to edit one minute of the broadcasts," Ms. Malle explained. That meant she had to set aside up to 90 hours for the final editing of the three half-hour shows.

"It took 11 hours to create the 30-second opening of the retreat," Ms. Malle said, indicating the perfection she and Mr. Murphy were striving for. "Technical problems created extra stress when we had to send equipment to Canada for repair."

All of this was done while also making sure the Media Office's other TV projects continued: the "Table of the Lord" Mass, "Capitol Compass" and "Catholic Charities at Work."

The Bishop's programs were completed at the end of March and delivered this week to the three stations carrying the retreat. But the Media Office's work wasn't done; Ms. Malle and Mr. Murphy also had to create promotional spots for radio and TV, and newspaper ads to alert viewers to the retreat.

"It was a team effort," Ms. Malle said. "Family Rosary gave us a grant to help with the costs, and Rueckert & Shanley [an advertising and public relations firm] donated some of their services for promotion of the programs. Also, every Catholic who contributes to the annual Catholic Communications Campaign had a hand in it since those funds were used. We couldn't have done this with that help."

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