NBC Transmitter (Mar-Oct 1941)

16 NBC TRANSMITTER PROGRAM PRODUCTION GROUP There is every reason why Radio City should be the center of training in all phases of radio production. The concentration of ambitious young men and women of sound background in the midst of New York’s intensive production schedule and with the finest of facilities should logically produce the reinforcements in an expanding industry. But the amazing infant medium, maturing in the brief span of twenty years, was too concentrated in the strenuosity of expansion to have time or breath for such considerations. True, there were a number of attempts at dramatic training, a class for actors, meetings, etc., but these were in almost every instance short lived. One outstanding exception is the announcers class. Sponsored by Pat Kelly and under the direction of Dan Russell it grew in fame over a period of years and furnished announcers for stations in virtually every part of the country. It is now under the energetic direction of Gilbert Martyn and bears watching. The Program Production Group was organized in August of 1940 to provide the needed training in all phases of radio production and to give those who might possess specialized ability a chance to display it. Designed for practical results, each position or work assign ment is carefully planned to match a comparable function in the company itself. A regular schedule of production provides for a half hour recording each week. The director draws his cast from those on the regular company payroll who are interested in acting. Announcers are assigned as a result of competitive auditioning in Mr. Martyn’s class. Sound effects are produced by a staff sound man and an apprentice working under his supervision. The writing of original music and dramatic underscoring is a valuable part of the work. A library of original music is being assembled for the group’s use. The basic idea of the group to sponsor and develop original talent is further carried out in the production of new scripts. To watch a script undergo the test of production is the finest training possible for a prospective script writer. There is as much if not more to be learned from the production of an uneven or partially inadequate script as from the presentation of the works of radio’s top writers. To this end fifteen out of twenty-seven productions have been scripts not previously heard. Directors, announcers, sound men and composers all benefit from working against deadlines and under broadcast conditions. Writers discover what happens when other personalities come into contact with their words. All learn to think in terms of radio. In the six months of its existence, the Program Production Group has made steady progress in the solving of its problems and the extension of its possibilities. It has proven itself a healthy organization which has produced results. Stanley Miller, one of its original directors has since become Assistant Program Manager in Charge of Production at WMRN, Marion, Ohio. Charles F. Hill, who composed the original music for the first fifteen productions, joined NBC’s music division. Eldridge Packham, the Croup’s present musical director, followed him into music, jim Beardsley, Gillette Malcouronne. Sanford Doremus, Bill Roche and Howard Flynn have gone to outside stations with additional experience gained as actors, announcers or production men. One of the most encouraging aspects of the Production Croup is the noticeable maturing of the work of many of its people over a period of months. The assurance and poise which come only from familiarity and participation are unmistakably emerging where original talent lay.