If you've been

flipping channels in Peachtree City recently, there is a good chance you

may have seen "McIntosh Prime Time."

The program,

produced completely by High Chief Productions, a group of students from

McIntosh High School, is enjoying success on Channel 19 on AT&T Cable

in Peachtree City.

The program

features a broadcast of the previous week's McIntosh football game and

then gives news about all of the other sports taking place at the school.

Recently, they broadcast a Lady Chiefs playoff volleyball game. The program

is averaging 2,400 viewers and ties ESPN's "Outside The Lines"

program in the weekly Georgia Sports Programming Nielsen ratings. The

program was the brain child of junior Buddy Woolf.

Woolf did a

program similar to "McIntosh Prime Time" at his former school

and began looking into doing a program in Peachtree City last year. At

first, he hit several brick walls. Some channels did not want to broadcast

a show and many groups were not comfortable with a program being produced

entirely by teenagers. When Intermedia was recently bought by AT&T

and Ken Faust became the manager in Peachtree City, Woolf's luck changed

and a deal was instantly made.

Woolf and his

crew begin work on the Thursday night before each game. They prepare the

tapes, the cameras, the wiring and the equipment to make their preparation

Friday before the game that much smoother. Friday, the producers of the

program call the groups advertising on the program and make sure that

the money is in. They relax at Woolf's house after school and play Nintendo

and then head to the game for 90 minutes of pregame preparation.

At 7:30 p.m.,

the broadcast starts. There are three cameras, two on top of the press

box and one on the field called "the action cam." They record

the game on four tapes and conduct postgame interviews. After the game,

they relax before a grueling weekend of editing.

Saturday the

editing process begins at Woolf's house. The crew edits on a computer

and uses two VCRs and a super TV monitor. They put the game together and

then add all of the transitions, credits and the opening. Next they render

and format the program and then record it. The editing process can take

anywhere from 10 to 15 hours, which is about a third of the total time

that putting together one episode can take.

Tuesday, the

crew watches the tape and makes sure that everything is on there and correct.

They deliver the tape to AT&T Cable Wednesday morning and at 6:45

p.m. Wednesday, "McIntosh Prime Time" is aired.

The crew of

"McIntosh Prime Time" is Woolf, Cecil Wang, Mike Bowman, Phillip

Rice, Ben Allen and Mike Ilnicki. Woolf and Bowman are in the broadcast

booth calling the game, while Wang is on the field as the producer. Rice,

Allen and Ilnicki run the cameras and also participate in the editing

process. All of the members of the crew sell advertising to local businesses.

The show has

performed so well that they have no more ad space and have had to turn

advertisers away until next season.

The next season

will begin with boys basketball in the winter and will be followed by

boys and girls soccer in the spring. Other sports will be broadcast as

McIntosh teams make their respective regional and state playoffs. There

is even talk of more programming done by High Chiefs Productions in the

future, and Woolf has his sights on making a TV movie for next year. There

is even the possibility of a live broadcast of football games next fall.

Also coming

in the future are digital cameras that Woolf claims will greatly enhance

the production values and a wider audience as AT&T Cable expands.

The group is

interested in television production and likes being in front of the camera

as well as behind it. The business side of the business can be frustrating

for them at times, but the experience is enjoyable for all of them, if

also extremely tiring. Some of them may follow this interest in college.

McIntosh Prime

Time wouldn't be as successful if they didn't get support from all over.

The students at McIntosh have been extremely supportive, as has Principal

Greg Stillions and assistant Principal Mark Mickleboro. The program also

has a good relationship with all of the athletes and with the coaching

staffs of the athletic teams, especially Coach Butch Prosser. They also

receive assistance and advice from Terry Love and Woolf's parents.

High Chiefs

Productions has had a lot of fun this fall and experiences to last a life

time, including one episode in which Allen was flipped off while getting

a shot in the Eagle's Landing huddle. Most of the crew will take the winter

season off and hand over the reins to the next group of students that

want a taste of life in television.

Many young

people want to get into television, but few have the desire or the direction

to follow through with their dreams at such a young age and to be so successful

at it.

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