Cable's newly rebranded MCN6 has planned four hours of special Valentine's Day movie-watching.
What formerly was known at Metro Cable Network is becoming Minnesota's Community Network, said acting MCN6 director Stuart DeVaan, a former WCCO-TV broadcast engineer. "We are going to do more with the internet [MCN6.org livestream], more social media with a focus on producing Minnesota-made content," he said. "We are producing Minnesota-made movies. We have two hours blocked out highlighting either short films or feature films. The idea would be to interview the artist and then play their films."
He added, "We are not cable access, so we don't get any funding from the cable companies, but we are more ubiquitous. We're on all the cable networks throughout the Twin Cities metro; in over 62,000 homes. What we are doing is more of [a] sponsorship underwriting model; building a sales team to find sponsors for, say, if someone wanted to produce a game show."
Hey, if Ellen DeGeneres can do it. …
"Because we are a nonprofit, we don't have to make a lot of money to make something like that a reality," said DeVaan, who also plans to use "the latest, greatest technology to bring multicamera video production cost way down and then setting up so we can do remote bands, remote dance — basically remote events."
While talking to DeVaan, I realized he was in a position to help with a couple Fancy Ray-related image problems. I asked if the MCN6 archive footage from "Get Down With It" that captures me — rope in one hand, an apple being tossed by the other — threatening to put Fancy Ray on a spit and roast him like a pig could just disappear? Oh, and could we also dump Fancy Ray's 20th anniversary retrospective, anchored by me, during which I was nicer than usual because I was there to "honor" the "Best Lookin' Man in Comedy"? I can live without another colleague saying, "The other night I couldn't sleep so I was flipping channels when I saw. …"
DeVaan burst into laughter repeatedly throughout my entreaty, to which he responded with seriousness before saying, "I know you're kidding."
As for Valentine's Day, between 6 and 10 p.m., the network that now mostly broadcasts religion shows and movies in the public domain is airing the "Minnesota-Made Short Film Showcase," said producer Russell Johnson, a Twin Cities Film Fest development team member. Johnson, interviewed below, plans to air a new showcase every month in addition to feature films that will be a regular part of programming.