PHT Video request for CPC — File 202209

To: The Community Preservation Committee From: City of Somerville, Planning and Zoning, Historic Preservation Subject: Request to use up to $8,000 of Prospect Hill renovation funds for video tour Date: September 20, 2016 The City of Somerville requests the Community Preservation Committee approve the use of up to $8,000 of the remaining funds from the FY15 CPA funded project Prospect Hill Tower Renovation to fund a video that would provide a virtual tour of the Tower. There is $72,575.17 remaining from the original request of $500,000 for the project. Once the video project is complete, the remaining funds will be returned to the CPA historic resources reserve so the funding can be used for other historic CPA projects. The primary purpose of the video is to serve as an accommodation for those who cannot physically climb the Tower. In order for the City to be able to offer programs that allow participants to climb the Tower, it must provide reasonable accommodations for those who would not be able to climb the Tower themselves. This video is one of two accommodations that will be available. The other will be real-time virtual tours using smart devices during events. Users will call a guide using the video call feature on Skype. The guide will use their smart device to show the user what they are seeing and hearing as they climb the Tower during the event. The City has selected Hendrix Productions to produce the video. Diane Hendrix is a former PBS producer at WGBH and is a Prospect Hill resident. You can view samples of her work at www.youngworldinventors.com and www.africanmakersmedia.com. Her approach is to create a ‘you are there’ feeling for viewers, building a sense of history, pride, and awareness of community experiences over a century and earlier. The video will weave the past and the present with Revolutionary War visuals, murals, documents, and archival photos of the monument’s construction, combined with recent footage of events on Prospect Hill. Hendrix Productions will crowd source materials from Somerville residents and will enlist Somerville residents to serve as ‘actors’ in the video. Hendrix Productions was selected with input from representatives of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Arts Council, and City of Somerville Communications. Hendrix Productions will work with City staff, including representatives from the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, to ensure the video meets the needs of those who it is intended to serve. Budget Director, Producer, Writing $2,500 Camera: 2.5 days @ $400/day $1,000 Editor & Assistant: 50 hours @ $30/hour $1,500 Musician $300 Sound sweetening, color correction $450 Camera cards and hard drives $350 Office expenses, administration, printing, supplies $200 Subtitles $700 Contingency (12.5%) $1,000 Total requested from CPA $8,000