9-5-17 Interview

9-5-17 Steve Patmagrian grew up in an artistic household, but he resisted going into the arts until, on a lark, he and some friends went backstage at The Players and Steve was captured by the idea of creating something from nothing. He volunteered to do set work for the Players in his first year of high school and worked on every show straight through graduation. After Graduation he was appointed designer and technical director He had found what he was meant to do. But there is no easy way to define or label Steve’s career. Having attended Ringling School of Art and Design Steve has been a set designer, stage manager, sound and lighting technician, event planner, videographer, technical director combat instructor. New Atmosphere Productions, Steve’s studio and special events Production Company, had a 25-year run staging imaginative happenings for Sarasota Film Festival, Mote Marine, Historic Spanish Point, Sarasota Memorial Hospital and other area nonprofits. He has created custom props and sets for The Golden Apple, Venice Little Theatre, The Players, Manatee Players, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasolo, The Starlite Room and the Asolo. Listen to this charming, funny, unique man describe a life which cannot be categorized only admired.

3-19-13 — Audio Interview

Bill Wagy is a much in demand “video producer” but this is only his most current identity. He says that he has had to keep re-inventing himself and believes that he will continue to add new identities. Confirming my belief in the importance of teachers, Bill tells the story of his “rescue” by Irene Planaseck, his high school speech/arts/drama teacher who “pulled him up and got him to do a public speaking something” and then put him in all the school plays; effectively turning a skinny (5’6 and 85 lbs) “scaredy cat shy guy,” into a high school star. And being “skinny” got him his first job as the “spotter” for the Redskins, who were broadcast on WMAL in DC, where he was hired because he not only knew football but could fit in the tiny both between large commentators Sam Hoff and Len Hathaway. From there he jumped to the job as the Sports Director at WIS the biggest radio station in South Carolina where by the age of 25 he’d won states Sportscaster of the Year Award. Listen to this charming, funny man talk about his stint in television and how got into video production.