Brown Television is back and expanding this semester with more episodes of student-run TV shows such as last year's "Mt. Olympus," "Campus Liquors" and "BTV Primer," the premier of "The Ratty" and additional student short films.
Beginnings
A group of students including Doug Liman '88, director of "The Bourne Identity," and David Bartis '88, executive producer of "The O.C.," founded BTV in 1987, according to the BTV website. At the time, the organization boasted more than 300 members and was the single largest student group on campus.
The station, which has won a national award for excellence in news broadcasting, had its ups and downs, but remained running until 2006. All shows went off the air for a two-year period, while the station became a medium for movies then stopped all broadcasts.
Revival
But BTV was not dead.
In 2008, a small group of students came together, wrote a budget proposal and was granted funds from the Undergraduate Finance Board to renew the station. BTV officially relaunched in 2009 and began showing reruns from the 90s.
The station, thirsty for new material, held a pilot competition in early 2009. More than 15 shows entered the competition, and four were chosen for production based on the quality of the screenplays and their appeal to the University's audience.
Episodes, however, have been few and far between because of students' busy schedules and the challenge of putting together shows from scratch, according to the station's executive producer, Sam Eilertsen '12.
"Time is the main challenge," he said. "Getting people and getting them to stick to it is what we need. Actors are used to it, but it's more difficult for the crew."
Fantasy, myths, college life
Current shows, though, are nothing if not creative and full of potential. "The Circle," a complete five-episode show about a university resisting evil forces that have overtaken the world, has set the bar for the station's quality. The story revolves around the feats of an orphan at the university, which serves as a safe haven from the dark powers.
Eilertsen, who worked on "The Circle," said the show, which has generally received positive ratings from viewers, had high production value because of its special effects.
Another show that began last year and hopes to continue this semester is "Mt. Olympus," a series about the Greek gods and their college exploits. "Our show asks, ‘What would it be like if the gods lived amongst us?' What happens if you take a normal person and give them extraordinary powers? How does that work in our society?" explained Ben Jones '13, the show's producer.
"Mt. Olympus" began with Arik Beatty '10, one of the executive producers and co-directors of the show, and some of his friends.
"The whole thing started as a joke," Beatty said. Last year he lived in a house with 12 people, so the group called it Mt. Olympus. "We started thinking, wouldn't it be funny if we were actually 12 Olympian gods going to school?"
The idea jump-started a screenplay about the gods and their decision to disguise themselves as college students to have a bit of fun in modern times.
Hestia, guardian of the Sacred Flame on Olympus, is left behind, but decides she too wants to join in the fun. Without her, the flame goes out, and the gods find themselves stuck in college with no powers. The result is what Beatty calls "all hell breaking loose."
But the show also explores deeper topics such as "struggles with identity," he added.
Beatty noted that the group wanted to focus on Hestia because she is a lesser-known goddess, which allows the writers some creative freedom. Her role as the guardian of the Sacred Flame has kept her innocent and relatively naive, and "for once in her life, she would like to have a bit of fun."
The first episode received positive reviews at its screening, Beatty said, adding that the series will have a five-episode story arc. Currently, the second episode is in post-production, the third and fourth are being filmed and the fifth is still being written.
Campus comedies
Not all shows have to do with the fantastic or the mythological. Some, such as "Campus Liquors" and "The Ratty," take place in an everyday liquor store and the Sharpe Refectory, respectively.
"Campus Liquors" is about two friends who work at their local campus liquor store and the events that occur there.
"The Ratty," a sitcom created by Andy Newton '11, Jeremy Noah '11 and Benjamin Gold '11, is about "four friends — normal Brown students — and their misadventures," Newton said.
While "navigating the twists and turns of life and Brown," the characters "are all brought together by the Ratty. It's sort of their sanctuary," said Newton, who is a writer and director for the show. Newton and Gold said they hope to air the first episode this school year.
TV for the future
With the termination of Brown's cable system this semester, BTV has stopped airing its shows on television, becoming a purely Internet-based station. This will necessitate a few changes, Eilertsen said.
Currently, the shows are running 30-minute programs, the standard for normal television. Eilertsen thinks shows that have not yet begun filming, such as his new program "Fever Break," should run about 10 - 15 minutes per episode in order to "fit the attention span of the Internet and student schedules."
But moving the station to the Web also has its benefits. This transition will allow BTV to incorporate more student short films into its programming. Also, the Internet has looser restrictions on episode release dates than television. This means creators will have the freedom to air episodes whenever they want, instead of adhering to strict schedules.
Eilertsen remains optimistic about the future of the station. "It is growing at a very fast pace, but we don't know if the pace is evident yet," he said. "Next year, we will have more BTV."
