filming for quilting arts tv pt 3: the process

Before arriving both the hosts, publishers, sponsors, and producers of the TV series have a boatload of work to do. The host and publisher work together and find a good group of guests to appear. They need to find varied and interesting artists who are also willing and able to share their work onscreen.Vivika DeNegre with F+W media, Me, Susan Brubaker Knapp, hostess of QATV.

Teams of staff members help schedule all the guests, trying to fit everyone for an entire season’s filming into just under four days of filming. They have to figure out which segments will work together in which episodes. The hostess films a ton of “intros and outros” as well as small segments to fill any time gaps. The guests fly into the studio location, with all their stuff and with the help of excellent staff, get to show off their thing for the cameras.

Suzan Engler’s husband, snapping a quick shot of her onscreen from the “green room.” Another staffer watches through each filming to make sure nothing gets missed. She also takes publicity and still shots for Instagram and Quilting Arts online presence.

The current system is to film three artists per day with each guest shooting two or three different segments. The guests arrive a day early to settle and set up so they have the opportunity to meet the current day’s guests and watch as they film.

I had the great pleasure of watching Suzan Engler film several segments on digitally printed quilts. I loooooooove her work!

The filming isn’t linear so Susan Brubaker Knapp, the current hostess of QATV, has a complicated chart and photos of what to wear for each segment and is changing tops and jewelry constantly all day long. 

Look at the superstars I got to hang out with for a day! Vivika, Susan, Jane Haworth, Luana Rubin of Equilter.com, and Joe Cunningham. There were a couple of other artists there including the Pixeladies (Deb and Kris) and Enid Weichselbaum.

Next post I’ll walk you through set-up and prep for my segments. Feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.