After 31 years of working for the Great Neck/North Shore Public Access Television, executive director Shirley Ann Bruno said it was time retire.
Bruno will officially step down on Nov. 30, but, she said, she will remain involved with the station beyond her retirement.
“I plan to stay involved even though I will not be executive director anymore. I am a resident so I will be involved,” Bruno said. “I will be a consultant for PATV. Public access television is my fiber, I’m not going away.”
Prior to working for PATV, she had taught at Newtown High School in Queens where she created a television study course and a curriculum for television workshops.
Bruno began working for PATV in April 1984 as a part-time coordinator when Cox Cable was looking to hire someone with a background in the field to help manage the studio after an agreement was made for a public access station.
Cox Cable, with Bruno’s assistance, was offering public courses for the community on how to use production studio equipment.
“The goal was to be a skills-focused course,” Bruno said. “We had some interns from different colleges and as the years went on, we were able to bring people on as staff.”
In 1991, Bruno went from a part-time coordinator to the full-time executive director after PATV officially became a New York State not-for-profit organization.
Since becoming executive director, she said, she has experienced an abundance of special moments at PATV, including winning national awards.
“We won, on a national level, the award for best Public Access Television in 2004,” Bruno said. “It was very exciting to go and get recognized for a national award.”
PATV went on to win the award again in 2008 and 2013, something that she called “absolutely amazing.”
On top of the national recognition and awards, PATV was also nominated for an Emmy for their 30-minute program “World War II: Our Veterans Stories” in 2013.
While they did not win the award, Bruno said, she considers it one of the more “special moments” during her career.
Bruno and PATV are currently working on another 30-minute veterans project video about those who served in the Vietnam war.
“The Vietnam veterans program is something that is very, very special to me. It is something that I have wanted to do for years,” Bruno said. “We have interviewed close to 50 veterans for the program.”
Though she has enjoyed the successes of PATV programming, Bruno said, working with teenagers and various staff members and watching them reach notable positions in the television production field has also been a rewarding experience.
“Many schools do not have video equipment and so many students want to pursue it as a career. This allowed them the opportunity to learn the skills and see if its for them,” Bruno said. “Many people who have come through here have gone on to various notable positions in the field.”
Bruno said she remembers when Chris D’Elia, who currently works in production for Comedy Central, came in to PATV for the first time as a 14-year-old and produced a once-a-week program with his friends called “4:00 p.m. Live.”
“I knew he had it when he walked through the door,” she said. “He went on to win an Emmy and I was so thrilled for him.”
Bruno also noted that Brian Kilmeade from the Fox News Channel morning show “Fox & Friends” was trained at the PATV studio.
On Nov. 20, Bruno will be accepting the “Chuck Sherwood Leadership” award from the Alliance for Community Media in the Northeast Region.
“I know Chuck Sherwood since I met him in 1984 when he was running a station called Channel Working Group, which was a municipal channel in New York City,” Bruno said. “He was the only one around in Long Island or New York City that could figure out what this was all about and he really helped us and has been a support through the years.”
“He has always been a friend and has always been someone I can talk to,” she added. “To win an award in his name is very satisfying.”
Although she is retiring, Bruno said, she wants to stay involved with PATV because it should be something that is a mainstay in the community.
“It’s free for people to create shows. It enables them to do shows,” she said. “Where else can you do that?”
As for retirement plans, Bruno said, she has nothing specific in mind but wants to do a lot of things she did not have ample time to do when she was working.
“I love photography and want to spend more time with that. I want to babysit my grandchildren. I live in Lake Success so who knows, I might try to learn golf,” she said. “I want to visit friends that live in different states, go to the theatre and the movies more. And of course, I will definitely be here helping out as much as I can.”
She added that she believes she is leaving PATV in the right hands.
Erica Bradley, currently the director of Technical Operations at PATV, will become the new executive director when Bruno officially retires on Nov. 30.
“I know she will be amazing. The staff is great. Everybody will carry on and it’ll be fine,” Bruno said. “I have to thank the board of directors for not trying to micromanage because they’re there and first concern about the community. I couldn’t ask for more from them.”
On Nov. 19, PATV will be holding an event celebrating Bruno’s 31 years of hard work and her retirement.
PATV promotes and produces television programming of an educational, literary, cultural, and civic nature for cablecast in the incorporated villages of Flower Hill, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome, Plandome Manor, Plandome Heights, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, and Thomaston.
