APTN launch a qualified success

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Those who made it to the Forks had a great time at the Sept. 1 launch of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network - until the fireworks were set off.

Close to 6,000 people gathered in the Forks - a national historic site where the Red River meets the Assinaboine River in the downtown heart of the Manitoba capital - and watched an entertaining three-hour live stage show. The rest of the country tuned in to the new network only saw bits and pieces of that show because the on-air television production frequently cut away to interviews or pre-recorded promotional videos.

Just as the stage show was ending, the fireworks anchored on a grassy knoll to the left of the stage were set off and at least one projectile mis-fired and shot into the heart of the audience. Winnipeg police were not called, but Fire Chief Peter Kloos said firefighters did respond. Kloos confirmed there had been a mishap during the fireworks display, adding that there were no serious injuries. The explosives regulatory division of Natural Resources Canada, the government department responsible for the licensing of fireworks displays, continues to investigate the incident.

Calgary-based Fiatlux put on the fireworks display.

"It's incredibly unfortunate and saddening to work up to a climax and then have something go wrong like that," said Racelle Kooy, the APTN communications co-ordinator who also served as the project manager for the inaugural broadcast and celebration.

"The company does the Symphony of Fire and they just did the Pan Am games, so they're a reputable company, but something went wrong."

While the stage show was generally perceived as a success, reviews of the television production have been less favorable. Anchors George Tuccaro and Evie Mark showed their nerves on several occasions and several production mistakes marred the debut.

But that's the risk of live television, industry insiders say. TV production is an immensely complex and pressure-packed undertaking and, with the rush to get on the air by Sept. 1, APTN was not ready to show its best face to the world on its first official day.

An estimated 30,000 people watched the launch on television.

"That's quite surprising and happy for us considering we weren't in the program guide," Kooy said, adding that cable companies have not given the new network the best spot on the dial. "We're doing the best that we can on that. Our office has a director of regulatory affairs and that's a big chunk of his job. Being low would be easier for everybody but we suspected we would be placed high. If we were placed low, we would have displaced someone."

Kooy said just getting the launch on the air was an accomplishment that many people can take pride in.

"We were facing a very tight deadline and, yes, it was a bit of a scramble," she said. "It's a beginning. We're also growing. This is new. We had great, experienced people working for us or with us and we put it together in six weeks. The decision was made in the end of June that, yes, we're going to do something. That was a fully fundraised event and I was so amazed with the volunteers. Winnipeg came through for us. In total there were 172 volunteers. When I saw how the Aboriginal community in Winnipeg came out and supported us, I was touched and amazed."

Launch night was an unforgettable occasion for many of the people who have worked for years to make the network a reality. Abraham Tagalik, one of the driving forces in getting APTN on the air, had a look of pride on his face as the dignitaries gathered in a tent a few hundred metres from the stage where the show was scheduled to start a few hours later.

"It's amazing," he said, shaking his head and looking around at his many friends and colleagues crowded inside the tent in formal dress. "Just sensing, here in Winnipeg, how much Aboriginal people are claiming APTN as their own. They see it as a beacon of hope."

Tagalik said the board expects programs that are challenging and exciting to wach will soon hit the airwaves via the new network.

"That'll be a challenge, but we're taking a two-fold approach to it. We want to provide a service to Aboriginal viewers but we also want to inform, educate and entertain non-Aboriginal people. We take both very seriously," he said.

He said there are no pre-conditions imposed as a condition of receiving the CRTC license and that means APTN can - and Tagalik said it will - air programming that shows Canadians some of the less attractive aspects of their nation's history.

The seven-year license guarantees APTN a spot in the basic cable package and an income of 15 cents per household per year. That means the network's operating revenue will be between $12- and $15-million annually.

"That's not a lot of money in the television business," Tagalik said. "It will be a challenge to meet our schedule with that amount."

APTN and independent producers working for the network will have to get creative as they raise money for the various productions, but it appears that, now that there is a visible, national market for the work, Aboriginal producers will find it easier to secure funding for their projects. Telefilm Canada head Laurier LaPierre attended the network launch and Tagalik said he is enthusiastically working with APTN to get some money flowing.

J.C. Catholique, the chairman of the APTN board, smoked a pipe with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Rod Bushie just minutes before the show began. Catholique told Windspeaker the ceremony was a reminder of the importance of the new network to Aboriginal people.

"We're travelling on a healing journey," he said. "The pipe will help us to stay in focus. We're all from different nations, different tribes but we all want to work together."

Aboriginal writers, producers and filmmakers see APTN as a great opportunity. Catholique said his board has already received between 300 and 500 proposals.

"It's a great opportunity to tell our story in our own way from the Aboriginal perpective," he said, "and not only in Canada. We have relatives all over the world."

Independent Native producer Zoe Hopkins, who worked on segments of CBC-TV's All My Relations (which will be aired on APTN), is excited about the new network.

"It's smooth sailing from here on in," she said. "When I develop an idea, I now have a platform to take it to."

She said that will make it easier to get funding for projects and allow her and other Aboriginal film- and documentary-makers to get their ideas down on film or video tape.

The launch may have occurred in Winnipeg, considered a southern base by the people from Television Northern Canada who successfully secured the APTN broadcast license from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, but it will be a while before Winnipeg becomes the broadcast centre for the new network. A site is under construction in the city's downtown area but it won't be ready until mid- to late-October. Programming continues to be broadcast from the TVNC's Yellowknife broadcast centre until that time.