New production company launches local music TV program

Friday is the big night for Theresa Radtke and Radtke Media Productions, the production company she started to produce a new local television program, “Your Music & More.”

She said it’s been her dream for decades to produce a show that integrates local music and behind-the-scenes action and drama. The pilot show will air June 14 at 7 p.m. on Bethlehem’s PBS 39.

Putting together a production team to create the show was much like getting off the ground with any startup business.

She assembled a team of producers and recruited talent – two local music groups, Whiskey Hollow and Sara and Jeff Teets of Mindmaze. Her team recorded a pilot in December, with Radtke funding much of the production costs on her own, hoping to gather financial support once the “product” is launched.

Radtke Media Productions is hosting a watch party for the pilot eposite at SteelStacks for supporters and companies that she hopes could become underwriters for the show, so it can become a regular local music feature.

“We’ve invited friends and family and potential sponsors that we hope will be supportive,” she said.

Radtke estimates it will cost about $6,000 an episode if she and her team shoot two episodes at a time.

The show is hosted by local musician, Scott Marshall, who interviews performers and also talks about other issues of musical interest.

And while the program is a good-old-fashioned TV show, the production team is incorporating new media into the overall project of “Your Music & More.”

“We’re also using social media because it’s out there and you have a lot more outreach with it,’ Radtke said.

Clips from the show will be available online and potential guests can submit their own videos, which may be added to the site, or the musicians may be asked to perform on the show.

She said the goal is to create a community of fans to build interest in and support for the program.

For a deeper look at Radtke Media Productions and the road to creating “Your Music & More” check out the June 17 edition of Lehigh Valley Business.