bcc.media had its first recording day for “Intro”, a new TV show made for “tweens”, young people who are transitioning from being children to youth. The media foundation is now coming out with a good viewing option for this group, put together by a team of employees and dedicated youth workers.
By Johanne Reiersrud – Photo by BCC
It is early Friday afternoon at Ryen in Oslo, and Alexander Tombre (28) has taken time off work at his engineering company in Fredrikstad. He is one of the hosts of the brand new TV show, for youth between 11 and 14 years old, currently recording.
The studio, furnished as a kind of vlogging studio, is tasteful, but has neon lights and bright colors. Alexander sits in front of a computer screen, at a desk, and speaks to the camera in front of him.
Making the message interesting and understandable
Over a span of six episodes coming out this fall he will, along with another host, discuss different themes connected to the Christian faith and bible teachings. With the help of animated films they will also explain words and phrases that young people in the target age might be wondering about. The Bible is full of images and stories that are not necessarily a part of a teenager’s everyday language.
“It is exciting to be along and create a concept for a TV show that is both captivating and that I hope will make the gospel more understandable for this age group. It can be challenging to explain things in a simple way, but I am dedicated to this target group, and I hope they can get help and enjoyment out of the upcoming program”, says Alexander.
He remembers well how it was to be this age. When he started at the youth meetings as a 13 year old, he discovered more personal interest in the teaching than he had as a child.
“Even though I did not understand everything, I knew that I wanted to learn more. I felt that the message we heard at the meetings was a life I wanted to live myself”, he explains.
“Wanted to do something good for this age group for a long time”
Trine Sandersen is directing the project. She says that bcc.media has wanted to do something for this age group for a long time. This vision has led to the development of the TV show “Intro” with the main purpose being to explain the Christian message in a simple way using everyday language.
“We hope to be able to explain things in such a way that the majority of young people can relate the content to their own daily life. In addition, we hope that the TV show will be fun and well put together, so that the young people want to see it. We landed on the vlog concept and we think it will hit the mark in combination with the hosts that have joined us”.
Trine says that the hosts are chosen because they are enthusiastic youth mentors who spend a lot of their free time with the target audience.
“The hosts are also young enough to remember well what it is like to be in this age group”.
A TV show that can gather tweens and mentors together
“BCC has been dedicated to productions for young people and children the last several years. The Sunday school project is an example of this. However, the “tween” group might sometimes feel like they are sitting around waiting for something to happen”, says Elise Schøll, editor of the TV show.
She says that when “Intro” is ready for sending, then the local churches are encouraged to make the evening special for those in the target group.
“We encourage setting things up so that the target audience can watch the transmission with youth mentors that are a little older. The episodes are transmitting during weekends, but will be available online for streaming any time after publishing. We hope that this is an invitation to memorable evenings together, where these youth get a chance to talk about themes from the program”.
In addition to the transmissions, “Intro” will also use social media actively. Publishing of content will happen several times a week, showing the diversity of the BCC youth, and there will be small challenges as well as possibilities to be interactive.
A successful recording with the premiere coming soon
Friday night three episodes have been recorded after which Alexander says his goodbyes. Carine (31) and he are taking turns hosting. Even though the role as host has taken him a bit outside his comfort zone, he thinks that the recordings have gone surprisingly well together with support from the director, the project leader, and the rest of the crew. During the recording, he has thought about the young people in the target group.
“I carry these young people in my heart, and my biggest wish is that we can reach into as many of their hearts as possible too”.
He hopes that the TV show will ignite interest and contribute to strengthening the faith of many young people.
Trine Sandersen is also very pleased with the day’s recording, and looks forward to seeing the reception it receives by the target group. She thinks they will learn even more about how to reach the group once the TV show is out.
“Intro” premieres October 3rd, with uploading on brunstad.tv and the BCC media’s YouTube channel after the premiere.