A communications inspiration in TV

Sujoy Sarkar is the owner of Clearwater Filmworks, which is a film company associated with Chabot College’s KCTH channel 27. Channel 27 is Chabot’s local station which airs in Hayward, Union City, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and San Leandro. Clearwater Filmworks is an eight-year-old company that took four years to network its name to the industry. The company provides an access to studio facilities to generate income for the college to help support its operational costs. Sarkar also works with multiple production companies that are affiliated with Hollywood studios.

Sarkar has helped many students develop their skills, and consistent products have been the result. Sarkar is always at the TV station to help students and give them great ideas. He has shared a lot of information from several major production companies in the Bay Area. Sarker is willing to help those with the qualifications to get jobs in the mass communication field. “Don’t be afraid to ask anyone for anything,” he said.

As a former student of Chabot College, Sarkar’s first job was in the TV studio. Sarkar is a professional specialist who encourages all students to get involved in real production. “It’s a very competitive field. You need to get all the experience you can, paid or unpaid,” he explained. Students can learn to produce movies and videos, and they also get the opportunity to interview directors, film stars and attend advance screenings. The studio also receives behind-the-scenes footage, or B rolls, from almost all major motion pictures before being released.

Sarkar arrived on campus in 1973; at that time it was channel 26. It was the first instructional television video station in the area. “We had eight Ampex one-inch tape players and recorders that sound like 747s about to take off whenever you turned on one of the machines,” he recalled. With five campus channels, each classroom had a monitor which sent videos to any building through its patch panel.

Don Sherwoodmayo did all the news during that time period. In 1976, he left Chabot with a degree in photography, and by 1978 he got his mass communications degree at Cal State Hayward. In 1979 he started working at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office video unit. He was involved in law enforcement and in charge of police training by providing the first crime scene video for court room evidence.

If anyone wants to get involved with television productions he or she should come by the television station and talk with Sarkar. He will help you in anyway he can. “Our goal at Chabot College’s television School of the Arts is to let our students get involved in productions that utilize the latest in equipment and actual production for major studios and companies. So when students graduate, they will have the needed skills and experience that will help them get jobs in the entertainment field,” he said. He is always looking for editors as well as creative ideas for more shows to air on cable. Where does he see his company in five years? “In five years Clearwater Filmworks will be partnering up with the major studios to produce motion pictures,” he replied. Chabot College Television Studios is an opportunity for anyone to get hands-on training in real-life projects.