You might look at my title and feel the urge to roll your eyes. Get on screen? Really? Isn’t the average person always on a screen these days? But when I say on screen, I’m not actually talking about watching endless loops of TikTok videos on your phone or tablet. I’m talking about being in the video.

These days, being in the video can mean a lot of things. Decades ago, before there were videos at all, being on screen meant you were on live television. And that’s how Public Access Channel 8 started out in the seventies. It might surprise some of you to find out that we have a television station here in town. But in the tradition of Los Alamos having a little more than anyone ever thought possible, we do. Public Access Channel 8 is located at the community center, in the basement on the Fuller Lodge side. I sometimes wonder if any community center has hosted such a diverse array of organizations. How often do you see a museum, a visitor’s center, a Youth Activity Center, a YMCA Teen Center, and a Public Access Television Channel share a facility?

Public Access Channel 8 has been a 501(c)3 non-profit since October 9, 1981. The first agreement between the Los Alamos County Council and PAC8 is dated October 31, 1979. But that’s the first formal agreement. An additional agreement to operate cable access services is dated January 14, 1982. PAC8 has been broadcasting County Council and other county committee meetings since long before live streaming internet was a thing!

Throughout their long history with our community, PAC8 has offered young people a place to get experience in the creation of television media. A lot of you might be aware of a good number of LAHS graduates who got their start here locally and then moved on to acting, script writing, and movie production. But there are also more than a few remarkable individuals who grew up here and began distinguished careers in the PAC8 control room. In one notable case, broadcasting Los Alamos County Council meetings gave way to highly successful talk shows, and eventually the Emmys!

But times, they are always changing! These days, PAC8 has really grown in what they offer. If you’re a local business looking for advertising ideas, PAC8 offers commercial videography and editing services. The Executive Director of PAC8 is also a FAA licensed remote pilot. That means the organization can offer drone videography and photography services. PAC8 has even taken that a step further and is offering classes in drone operation to the community!

In fact, the current menu of services offered at PAC8 is what made me think of this post during the holiday season! I was reminded of old home movies thanks to Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. While Clark Griswold is trapped in the attic wearing clothes pilfered from a storage trunk, he passes the time watching old home movies. How many of those old movies exist in our basements, attics, and storage units? Whether they’re on reels or VCR tapes, how cool would it be to save them for embarrassing posterity on a thumb drive? What about your old vacation and holiday photos? Would you like to have them on that thumb drive too?

PAC8 offers media transfer services along with videography services that make getting modern, shareable video files of your special events easy! Just visit their website for a full menu of services and pricing. If you take a look at the rest of their website, you’ll find a variety of videos uploaded to YouTube. Everything from Homecoming Parade footage to recordings of the Los Alamos Living Treasures presentations. Honestly, if you want to see a strikingly comprehensive snapshot of events throughout the last several years of Los Alamos, you really need to take a look at the productions page at PAC8.

Starting in April of 2023, you can check back to see a listing of the classes they’ll be offering over the summer. Everything from drone operation to basic video production. If you spend some time watching the videos on the production page, you might run across some successful student projects from past classes. You never know, your kiddo might become the next big indie film producer thanks to a summer class you signed them up for on a whim. Stranger things have happened here in Los Alamos!

In the meantime, if you’re looking to talk real estate and not video production, give me a call! I can take some pretty good videos with my trusty smartphone, but I love to talk real estate in Los Alamos and I’d love a chance to chat with you!

Happy Holidays!