By GABRIELLE MARTIN, Staff Reporter.
As a young man, Bob Pryzbylski had no idea that he wanted to go into the television industry; but when a friend invited him down to Atlanta, Ga. to help out at a public access station, Prysbylski thought it seemed like a pretty good idea. He had no idea that decision would lead to a career as a television producer and director. He had no idea that years later, at the age of 53, he would be working on his seventh documentary.
In Atlanta, Pryzbylski helped out in crew positions on all types of shows. Being a public access station meant the station was funded by the city of Atlanta and anyone could propose an idea for a television show and get air time.
“There were puppet shows, there were religious shows, there were cooking shows,” says Pryzbylski, “I learned right there how to think artistically. You don’t just point a camera at someone.”
Before long, Pryzbylski moved from doing camera work for the shows to directing some of them. He began to think that the television industry was a good fit for him and not just at the public access station in Atlanta.
“I knew I didn’t want to stay [in Atlanta] because it was too weird with all of the different people coming in,” says Pyrzbylski.
So he moved back to Michigan and enrolled at Delta College. He graduated in 1987 with an associate’s degree in television production. He then transferred to Ferris State University to complete his bachelor’s degree.
Pryzbylski is now working on his seventh documentary for Q-TV, “Settling In: Immigrants and Cultures That Built Mid-Michigan”. He says he got the idea because Q-TV is celebrating its 50th anniversary and he wanted to do a documentary that would interest a broad audience. The documentary, which he is working on with Christine Santiago Drake, will air in March.
Pryzbylski’s first documentary that he produced and directed for Q-TV was “Vanishing Voices of WWII”. He interviewed local WWII veterans and went on a trip with them to Washington D.C. to see the WWII memorial, which none of the veterans had seen before.
“It was so emotional,” says Pryzbylski, “I couldn’t have asked for a better first documentary experience.”
Three of the documentaries that he has directed have been nominated for Michigan Emmy’s, including the documentary that is closest to him – a documentary about the Korean War. It is his favorite because of the relationship he had to build up with the veterans.
“A lot of them told me that they had never told anyone their stories. Not their family, kids, wives,” says Pryzbylski, “We were all crying during the interviews. I was crying; the cameramen were crying.” In his office, Pryzbylski has posters from each of his documentaries; but the poster from the Korean War documentary has a special addition – it is signed by almost everyone he interviewed.
In addition to working on documentaries, Pryzbylski also produces and directs “Soul Issue: The African American Perspective” for Q-TV, and he does projects for the community and the college. He also works on Currently Speaking, a student-produced show out of Q-TV, where he tries to teach students valuable lessons about the industry.
“You have to be well-rounded. You have to know how to light properly. You have to know how to mic someone,” he says. Being well-rounded and knowledgeable is something that his co-workers at Q-TV find most valuable about him.
“Bob always has input for you,” says Matthew Murphy, TV Operations Producer at Q-TV, “I’ve never shown Bob anything that he hasn’t had some kind of input [on].”
Tom Bennett, Chief Technologist at Delta College and the man who hired Pryzbylski, says, “He’s always had the personality that’s necessary to work in this industry – not just to be creative, but to work with people.”
While Pryzbylski seems to have a natural knack for the media industry, he attributes his success to an additional factor.
“Sometimes it’s just who you know and being in the right spot at the right time,” says Pryzbylski, “You never know who can help you out.”
