University Community Video Media Documentary

Minnesota Media Arts needs your support to launch our concept & treatment phase for a documentary project about University Community Video (UCV), a pioneering organization in community media access and the "Guerrilla Television" landscape of the 1970's. UVC was formed in 1974 through a collective merger of University Student Telecommunication Corporation (USTC) and West Bank-Video Access Center (WBU-VAC).

Over fifty years ago, UCV introduced portable video "portapak" production & editorial training sessions and produced the TV series "Changing Channels" that featured community focused content broadcast on KTCA-TV Channel 2, (TPT) in St. Paul Minnesota. These innovative programs were one of the earliest examples of  “alternative media broadcast programming” in the United States, produced and edited using the groundbreaking “portable video production and editing technology.

In the early 1980's, UCV rebranded itself as Intermedia Arts, moving from the U of M campus and expanding into a multi-disciplinary arts organization in South Minneapolis. 

University Community Video/Intermedia Arts
 "Changing Channels Series" Collection (1974-1978).
MN Media Arts is continuing to research and confirm the CC series metadata, broadcast timeline,  program titles, length, producer and copyright information. Our goal is to both utilize the collection assets in our documentary and to secure a wider release of the digitized content making it available both for research, educational and entertainment purposes. 

Your support will help preserve our cultural legacy by telling the story of this pioneering Twin Cities media organization. 

Thank you for your consideration in supporting this cultural legacy preservation project.

Learn more about our documentary project, UCV’s Changing Channels 50th anniversary and tell us about your UCV Experience, please visit our MN Media Arts UCV project webpage

In 1979, Craig Sinard produced an insightful documentary about UCV and the Changing Channels broadcast series, we hope to utilize some of his footage in our new project. Watch online:
Video Access in the Twin Cities - A Study of UCV