NewEnglandFilm.com

Ron Mitchell was raised in Cambridge, MA and first discovered filmmaking through his uncle, Musa. His uncle introduced Mitchell to super-8 film and taught him about the tenets of filmmaking when he was in elementary school.  At Brookline High School, he learned about the television industry from a mentor and teacher, Dennis Becker.  Because of these two childhood influences, a fascination for film and television was born. 

Mitchell earned a degree from Emerson College.  Following graduation, he went into media sales.  He gained a taste for advertising, but never lost his passion for production.  Working at various production companies, he created a curriculum for young adults — a tool for high school aged kids to learn all the techniques of film and video, but in a “hip way that they could relate to.”  He hoped it would get financing from foundations but ultimately, the funding never came, so the ambitious young man set out to find employment at a television station. 

He bounced around a bit from CBS New York, to CBS Boston and to NBC Boston.  He took a full-time position as a cameraman and editor for CBS in Boston.  Meanwhile, he kept working on his own ideas.  He appreciated how The Phantom Gourmet was what he calls “self-syndicated,” meaning that they worked out all the problems of their show before bringing it on the air and it was entirely self-financed.  He especially liked how they weren’t waiting to for someone to tell them when they could air, because they purchased the airtime themselves.  He used this example to create his own show — with both entertainment and substance — and introduced it to the people of Boston as The Unscene. 

Scott Caseley: What is The Unscene? 

Ron Mitchell: As was said by one of last season’s interviewees, Earl Graves Jr., president and CEO of Black Enterprises, Inc., "You have a better chance of becoming a bio-physicist astronaut, than becoming a pro basketball player."   

There are so many opportunities to become successful but they’re largely overlooked in our society.  Not everyone is going to be a top-name musician or professional athlete, but the "unseen" opportunities for success in business and the arts offer just as much potential to achieve a great, high profile lifestyle.  Business and the arts provide hundreds of thousands, if not more, more opportunities for success.  

SC: Where did you come up with the title? 

Mitchell: The Unscene is a program that focuses on stories that we don’t hear, that aren’t told enough in today’s media.  More often than not, all we hear about are the fluff or the bling bling about today’s celebrities.  We don’t hear enough about the other folks who are at the top of their game who helped the celebrities get to be as successful as they are.  Say for example you have 50 people in a room, but only two of them you’ve heard of.  [The Unscene] tells the story of the other 48 people who helped make those two successful.   

SC: What can people expect from this show?  

Mitchell: It is a half-hour television program, divided into four segments.  One celebrity segment, two reality segments, and our final segment, which is a music or comedy segment.  Each entertainment profile that we do is based on an individual celebrity or the people involved in creating a top-name movie or national celebrity event.  When we do a profile on a film or event, we focus on the individuals that create that product as opposed to just reviewing the film or event.  

In our celebrity segments, we try not to rehash the same stuff you see on Entertainment Tonight.  We try to show our audiences the path that the celebrity or project has taken in order to become successful.   

The next two segments we refer to as reality profiles, though they are not reality segments in the traditional sense.  We tell the stories of real people who are successful in the areas of business, art, and entertainment — we’ll introduce you to top entrepreneurs and business executives in several fields, allowing them to tell the audience how they became successful.  The idea is that the audience can utilize their stories as examples of what they can do to achieve their own goals.

We like to end our show On A High Note.  That’s what we call the last segment. Through interviews, national performers share their stories of inspiration, whether it is about a particular song, or their careers in general. As in all of our segments, we try to show our viewers a template for success that they, in turn, can utilize to become the best artist that they can be.  

SC: You mentioned using The Phantom Gourmet as a template.  Can you explain further?

Mitchell:  Though they had the support of the station, they were truly independent, more than any other production I had ever seen.  I used their business template and tried to create a company that I thought could be commercially viable. In 1995, it would have been very expensive to buy airtime, but by 2003, it was so much cheaper because there were so many cable outlets seven years later.  Last fall, we ran our first season after three and a half years of development and although the company didn’t generate a lot of profit, we put forth some great episodes and had a very successful season.  We had some good ratings, for a show with a small advertising budget.

SC: What separates this show from others like it? 

Mitchell: We want to dispel the myth that the only way to be successful is to be a celebrity, a rock star, or a gangster.  We feel sharing inspiring stories about the most innovative and successful people in business and the arts is more important than stories about the top entertainers. 

SC: Who is your audience for this show?   

Mitchell:  Our audience is anyone from 18-54, very wide, with a contemporary cosmopolitan feel.  We didn’t anticipate being as successful in the higher ranges of those demos, but it’s evident there are folks in all ranges who want to be entertained and inspired by true stories of success. 

SC: Where can people catch it? 

Mitchell: Our second season premieres March 22nd, and from there it will air Saturday nights at 10:30 pm on TV38.  We’ll be running a full season thru May. 

SC: Who are some of the guests you have lined up? 

Mitchell: In our season premiere, we’ll be featuring a profile of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.  We also have great stories from top-ranked businesspeople like Beth Williams of Roxbury Technologies.   

SC: How are you getting the word out about your show? 

Mitchell: This upcoming season, we’ll continue to utilize the Internet as well as non-traditional live event and guerilla marketing techniques to spread the word.  But we’ll also begin to utilize more traditional marketing techniques, running more television and radio promos announcing our premiere to a wider audience.  In addition, if your readers feel they know someone who is a fascinating person leading an extraordinary life please log onto our website. Send us an email…we’d love to hear about them. 

Visit www.theunscenetv.com.