The very first Beyond Today programs were recorded Nov. 16, 2005, and the first one was aired Dec. 18. Over the first year 40 programs have been recorded. Beyond Today is currently airing on 190 cable-access TV stations and 18 radio stations across the United States. More than 5,000 people have responded by telephone or online.

With the click of your mouse or by tuning into your local cable-access TV station, you can view or listen to programs with varied topics such as "The Four Seasons of Parenting," "The Debt Trap" or "What Next America?"

After the new studio was built and outfitted, a lot of work was put into choosing a name for the program. President Clyde Kilough announced the program's name Beyond Today: Understanding Your Future, on Oct. 6, 2005. "Selecting a title was actually a tremendous challenge, and we evaluated nearly 300 suggested titles!" said Media and Communications Services operation manager Peter Eddington. With a name and a new studio, production began in November 2005.

Laying the Groundwork

Before production can begin on Beyond Today, important groundwork must be laid. This starts a year in advance with a 10-person production team planning programs, hosts and guests for the following year. In October 2006 the production team met to decide and outline the second year's programs, which will run through December of 2007.

There are three hosts for Beyond Today: Steve Myers, Darris McNeely and Gary Petty. Each host does four programs every three months for a total of 40 programs per year (four per month except for April and October).

The host is responsible for writing his script and contacting his guests for their input. Then a teleconference is held one to two weeks ahead of the recording date with the host, guests and producer.

Then it is time for the host, the guests and all those involved to begin the production at the home office. A production meeting is held the morning before recording begins. Recording of programs takes place in the afternoon. Editing of the new material takes place over the weeks following the taping.

There are 14 people involved with the actual production of the program.

•Producer—Clyde Kilough.
•Director—Peter Eddington.
•Technical director—Clay Thornton.
•Lighting director—Mr. Eddington.
•Cameras—Lloyd Gholson, Melvin McQueary, Jerry Merritt, Beth Pulliam and Marvin Staggs.
•CamCrane 200—Aaron Booth.
•Audio mixer—Clint Porter.
•Makeup artist—Connie May.
•Teleprompter—Michelle de Campos.
•Scenic director—Mr. Eddington.
•Production schedule coordinator—Steve Nutzman.
•Time buying agent and telephone response coordinator—John LaBissoniere.

In addition to all this, Howard Davis spends many hours putting together the commercials for the program.

The first year has been very productive, with more than 5,390 people asking for booklets and The Good News as a result of viewing the program. UN

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Some Beyond Today Studio Facts

"On Camera" Set and Studio

•Media center studio covers 690 square feet (23 feet by 30 feet).

•Layers and angles of set pieces are specifically designed to give perception of depth to video image seen on television and Internet.

•Six 15-inch LCD monitors mounted in rear side walls are used to broadcast subject theme and Beyond Today logo.

•"On set" table finished in Avant Honey formica with Matrix Gray base.

•Four Yorkdale armless, custom chairs with scarlet fabric.

•24-inch diameter Church seal on right-hand panel for "Church" projects.

•37-inch HD flat panel LCD TV for display of program subjects behind host.

•Upper ceiling (roof) sprayed with acoustic foam for soundproofing. Ceiling and walls sprayed with black paint to ensure "invisible" space on camera.

•Construction of media center space and three new offices done for $70,000.

•Outfitting media center for Beyond Today with lighting, audio, set, cameras, video editing system and production supplies done for $110,000.

Lighting

•Strand 100 digital lighting console controls twelve 2,400-watt Strand CD80 dimmer packs and 39 lighting instruments.

•All lights turned on at full power use 24,000 watts of three-phase power.

•Colored gels and theatrical patterns ("gobos") decorate set walls and panels.

•Surge protection and battery backup protects audio, video and editing equipment.

Video Editing

•Apple's Final Cut Pro HD Studio used for editing projects.

•Apple's 7-terrabyte Xserve disc RAID used for video footage storage.

•Two Mackie HR624 active studio audio monitors used for audio mixing.

Audio and Communication

•Four tan-colored Countryman E6 hardwired earset microphones used on set.

•Two Tapco S-8 studio monitors used for audio playback in studio.

•Mackie premium 16-channel analog mixer with Onyx Firewire card used for mixing live audio.

•Porta-Com six-headset wireless intercom system for producer communication with camera operators.

Cameras and Video Equipment

•Four Sony HVRZ1U high-definition video cameras mounted on Bogen tripods and Vinten dollies.

•Camera number one outfitted with Listec T-2000 teleprompting system.

•Three stationary video cameras and one moving video camera on CamCrane 200 6-foot jib arm.

•Focus Enhancements MX-4DV video switcher sends "switched" program material to Sony DSR 25 DVCAM recorder.

•Each camera also records DVCAM master footage.

•Cameras connected via Firewire to video switcher.

•Marshall Electronics dual-screen and quad-screen rack-mountable LCD monitors used by producer and technical director to view cameras and video composition at producer's desk.

• Beyond Today is recorded in SD (standard-definition digital), but is upgradeable to HD (high-definition digital) when appropriate.