Build your brand. Support New Mexico film.
The NM Educational Access Channel broadcasts on Comcast 96 and is one of the four Public Access channels granted to the City of Albuquerque. Public access television was created by the Federal Communications Commission in the late 1960's to provide a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create television programming for broadcast through the local cable company. Katharsis Media recently partnered with the City of Albuquerque to manage the Educational Access channel. Content for the channel is limited to local, educational content. Local means that either it is produced locally or that it is produced by a resident of Albuquerque or Bernalillo County. Educational means that the content either: a) teaches, trains, or brings awareness; b) showcases student work; or c) is produced by student(s).
 
Through this partnership, Katharsis Media is able to offer distribution on the channel to local producers, brand awareness campaigns to local businesses, career training for emerging filmmakers, and production grants to local production companies.
 
The need is great. 
In order to keep the access channels, Comcast requires 120 hours of programming per week, 40 of which must be original, first run programming. This requires an incredible amount of staffing and resources to aggregate or produce. In addition, each apprenticeship that we offer costs $33,000 in wages alone (not including employment taxes or oversight). We also host several interns each year, costing rough $5,800 per internship. In 2025-2026, we also hope to give out production grants to local filmmakers totaling up to $40,000. 
 
Internships, apprenticeships and production grants are vital to the New Mexico Film Industry. Currently, we do not have enough local trained filmmakers to support the current industry--especially in above the line roles.  This means that instead of hiring local residents, production companies hire from out of state. It also makes us more dependent on outside productions since we do not have consistent and steady homegrown productions.  Katharsis Media's apprenticeship and internships programs are one of the only programs in the state that currently provide on the job training and a pathway directly into IATSE Local 480. 
 
Production grants are necessary for local filmmakers to continue their craft and to be able to pay a living wage to their crews. If we want New Mexico to continue to be a hub for film production, we cannot rely solely on outside productions, which will go elsewhere as soon as they find a higher tax incentive. We must be diligent in building a robust local film industry that is not reliant on outside productions.
 
2025-2026 Goals:
In 2025-2026, The NMED Channel will train 4 full time apprentices, 40 interns, provide $40,000 in production grants, as well as produce multiple programs in-house to support the many needs of the channel, with a total cost of $710,201.
Here's how that breaks down:
Staff wages: $241,621
Office space & Utilities: $26,400
Insurance: $ 3288
Marketing costs: $25,000
Office Supplies: $5000
Miscellaneous: $10,000
Parking: $3132
Production Grants: $40,000
Internships: 232,000
Apprenticeships: 123,760
Every dollar you donate helps us to reach these goals--thank you so much for your donation! 
 
Partner with us. Build your brand. Support New Mexico Film.
Katharsis Media is a 501(c)(3) and your donation may be tax deductible.