Elaine A. Bays’ office at the Jefferson Center in downtown Roanoke is adorned with photographs of actors David Huddleston, the late Patricia Neal and William Christopher (Father Mulcahey on M*A*S*H*) that were taken some years back at the now-defunct Vision Film Festival in Roanoke. There is also an autograph she received from George C. Scott when the latter was in Tazewell during the production of his last film, “Country Justice,” a story about coal mining.
“He very much liked coal miners,” says Bays, who appeared in the film as a Virginia State Trooper that had the honor of arresting Scott and later releasing him. “He was very nice, [and I] spent some time with him. I got to sit back and talk with him and hear about why he wanted to be a part of that project. He was very approachable. He was funny.”
These days, Bays limits her on-camera appearances to local television productions such as “Focus on Community Policing,” a video she’s done for the Roanoke County Police Department. The production was shot as one of many produced by Roanoke Valley Television, Channel 3, a government and educational station where Bays serves as Cable Access Director. RVTV, which produces and airs original programming on behalf of Roanoke City, Roanoke County, the Town of Vinton, and their school systems. Local governments fund RVTV as well.
RVTV airs four monthly shows. “Inside Roanoke” and “Roanoke County Today,” deal with local government matters, while “Spotlight on City Schools” and “Accent Excellence” focus on the Roanoke City and County school systems.
“We actually write the scripts and go out and do the shooting and do the editing,” says Bays. ‘Really what we are producing comes from the requests from the school systems themselves. Everything we produce is an original production.” RVTV’s monthly programming for the schools is a half-hour in length and normally comprises five segments focusing on significant topics relating to the schools. “It’ll talk about different programs, it may profile a specific administrator or student, information just in general, and that’s for both the city and the county,” says Bays.
The process of bringing a televised production from conception to broadcast essentially “is to meet with the client, figure out what their objectives are, and, then, decide which vehicle we’re going to use. Is it going to be a P.S.A? Is it going to be a ‘stand-alone’ production?” Bays describes a “stand-alone” as “a video that is a six to eight minute video that can be shown on its own.” While RVTV’s monthly shows are already set, “the variable,” in Bays’ words, “is [that] every month we do five different segments on each show.”
RVTV also airs live coverage of meetings of Roanoke City Council, the City Planning Commission, and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, followed by taped re-airings of these events. Additionally, RVTV presents “Reconnection,” a broadcast spotlighting Roanoke County Parks and Recreation, and “Roanoke County Business Partners.”
Bays majored in Radio and Television Production at Virginia Western Community College, then received a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management from Bluefield College. She began her professional career with Media Works, an independent production company in downtown Roanoke, before forming her own company, Video Ventures, which she ran from 1986 to 1994. After selling that firm, she moved to RVTV.
Among current projects in the works at RVTV is a production promoting economic development in the town of Vinton and the advantages that community offers, videos for the City Police Department on texting laws and school bus safety, and another production covering domestic violence. Work has also just concluded on a new video for Roanoke County—an orientation piece that all new County employees will view and which will air on RVTV, as it provides what Bays calls “very good information about the individual departments.”
When it comes to producing non-public affairs programming, Bays feels the chances of that happening are likely to be nil. “Our criteria are local government and education. However, when things come to the Valley that are shot within a certain locality—let’s say Roanoke County Explore Park—we can certainly cover that on one of our television shows. It has to be for a local government or school. If one of the localities is co-sponsoring an event, then we can help promote it as well.”
By Melvin E. Matthews, Jr. [email protected]
