Nonprofit Veterans-TV Demos Training Program at NAB Show

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Veterans-TV (VETV), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing professional, hands-on TV production and post-production training to veterans of the U.S. armed and uniformed services, is at the 2022 NAB Show to explain how the program works.


Representatives, found in Booth C1821, are also on hand to talk about the remarkable mobile production unit that’s home to VETV classroom sessions, and to discuss ways broadcasters and technology suppliers can continue their good work to help veterans find purpose and employment in broadcast production careers.

VETV was founded in 2018 to help returning veterans prepare for a post-war life training in a new career path — and a path to a calmer, more peaceful way of life. VETV students learn on professional-grade equipment, gaining the knowledge and skills to apply for entry-level positions at professional broadcast stations. As graduates of the program go about finding employment, they will benefit from access to numerous VETV resources and contacts to assist in their search.

“The broadcast community has done so much to support VETV — from building and equipping our mobile classroom to volunteering and leading hands-on training sessions,” said Bob Lefcovich, president of Veterans-TV. “We’ve got our beautiful classroom ready to go and we’ve made our way through the worst of the pandemic, so now we’re finally positioned to launch programming for our first class of students. But we do need ongoing support to move forward — quite literally to keep the lights on — and to fund student scholarships, as well. I think NAB Show, the heart of the broadcast community, is the perfect place to showcase VETV and how it leverages the tremendous ‘heart’ of broadcast to support veterans while addressing the industry’s need for skilled workers.”

With equipment and infrastructure donations valued at $3 million from dozens of broadcast companies, VETV equipped the renowned 53-foot Denali Gold mobile production truck, donated by NEP and currently located on the Grass Valley campus, to serve as its mobile classroom. Formerly the control center for some of America’s most popular live awards and live performance shows, the truck now is staged to support training across audio operations, video switching and control, camera operation and shading, graphics and virtual sets, production replay, and editing — each taught by highly experienced professional working in a volunteer capacity. The six-week courses are slated to begin this summer.

“We dreamed big at the start of this project, and so many individuals and organizations came through for us to make our mobile classroom a reality,” added Lefcovich. “Now we’re hoping the community will come together again to support VETV as we launch classroom training. Like any nonprofit, we depend heavily on volunteers, but we still need to take care of our operational expenses — taxes, power, and so on — and we all know those aren’t small when you’re running a production truck! We hope to raise $80K by the time of our first class this summer, recruit at least two additional trainers per subject area, and to graduate a dozen trainees by year end. I believe we can do it!”

Further information about VETV, the organization’s training program, and sponsorship opportunities are available online at www.veterans-tv.org.

1 COMMENT

  1. As a disabled vet attending NAB this year I was surprised and delighted to learn of this program. I applied immediately and shared the information with all of my veteran networks as well as my business connections in the hope that they will contribute.

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